The Shifting Price of Prey

Chapter Forty-Seven

‘It’s an auction site,’ Finn said to me and Hugh. ‘The online auction runs all the time, but once every ten years they hold a real-time “Special Auction” in conjunction with the Carnival Fantastique on the Summer Solstice, which is tomorrow night. That auction has a listing of rare items for people to bid on. Plus there’s another section, a bit like “Want it Now” on eBay. People list hard-to-find items that they want to buy, either for cash or by offering something in exchange, then the Forum’s procurers step in to source the lots. If they do, the site’s updated ready for the real-time auction.’ He flicked his fingers and called an electronic tablet. ‘Tavish downloaded screenshots from the website.’

I peered over Hugh’s shoulder as he read.

Forum Mirabilis

Where anything can be ordered, bought or bartered: contraband spells, banned substances, exotic slaves, rare epicurean delicacies, magical beings or even your heart’s desire, if you are prepared to pay the price.

Finn brought up another screen and, with a grim look at Hugh, said, ‘We think this might be related to the kidnap victims at the zoo.’

The screen showed an entry from ‘RiverCat1’: Wanted: Female ailuranthrope. Panthera tigris – any subspecies preferred, though would accept any female ailuranthrope of any big cat species. Must be pure bred, not bitten, and of breeding age.

There was a tick in the column headed: Sourced.

‘Weretigers are obviously not as extinct as everyone thinks,’ I muttered.

There was a note added to the ‘Sourced’ column: ‘Subspecies Panthera tigris tigris (Bengal tiger). Female comes with one pure-bred cub, also Panthera tigris tigris (Bengal tiger) – male; aged six. Lots can be offered separately or together.’

They were going to auction off the ambassador’s wife and her kid. I hugged myself, chilled despite the summer heat. ‘That’s sick.’

Hugh rumbled agreement. ‘However, it does explain the Bangladeshi ambassador’s insistence on his diplomatic immunity.’

‘Damn. He’s worried about people finding out, isn’t he?’ I said. ‘Though really you’d think that would be the last thing on his mind.’

‘The longer a secret is locked in fear, the more impossible it becomes to release it, even when a more immediate danger threatens.’ A puff of worried dust escaped Hugh’s headridge. ‘But now we know the motive behind the kidnap, it should be easier for us to help the ambassador.’

‘It doesn’t explain why they took the zoo employee too.’

‘No doubt we’ll find out,’ Hugh said, ‘when we find him. Which is more important right now.’

‘This should help.’ Finn handed the tablet to Hugh. ‘There’s a lot more info about the Forum in it. It’s been around since Roman times in various guises, but now all the pre-organisation, leading up to the actual auction date, is done online. It also talks about the gold coins the Emperor’s werewolves throw around.’

‘They’re a recompense of sorts,’ Hugh rumbled angrily.

Finn nodded. ‘They’re given as payment to the person who has had something taken from them by the Forum procurers. The person can either choose to keep the coin and realise its monetary value, or use it to attend the auction and buy back that which has been taken.’

‘You mean those who’ve been kidnapped?’

Finn shook his head. ‘Some of the Forum’s listings are of things, not living beings.’

Right. ‘So you’re saying whoever’s got the coin can turn up at the Forum, hand over the coin and get their relatives or item back?’ It was too easy. ‘What’s the catch?’

‘It’s not a straight exchange. The coin’s only an invitation to attend the Forum and barter. The coin-holder is asked for additional payment of some sort.’

‘Like what?’

‘Apparently it’s different for everyone. It’s to discourage coin-holders from turning up or, if they do, to make sure the Forum doesn’t lose out.’

‘Crap,’ I muttered. ‘It’s probably some Faustian or first-born child thing. But at least the coins are a way into the Forum.’ I looked at Hugh. ‘We’ve got two: the ambassador’s, and the one the werewolves threw at Max. So we could use them to infiltrate the auction, couldn’t we?’

Hugh nodded. ‘An option to consider, Genny. Though I hope it won’t come to that. It would be better all round to stop the auction before it even begins.’

I shot him a wry grin. ‘Is this where you tell me to stop trying to teach you to suck eggs?’

‘Your input is always welcome.’ Hugh’s pink teeth sparkled in a gentle smile. ‘If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t ask for your help. ‘Now we have this’ – he waved the tablet – ‘to give to the IT bods at New Scotland Yard, there’s a good chance we can find the exact auction location. I’ll get it off to them right away.’ He called Constable Lamber over, showed him the tablet and started issuing instructions.

A sudden thought hit me. ‘Am I on the auction wanted list?’

Finn shook his head. ‘Tavish did a thorough search.’

Relief washed over me. ‘Good to know I’m not going to end up on the auction block.’

‘Yeah,’ Finn agreed, clasping my shoulder. ‘I hate to say it, but the Autarch did a good thing giving Tavish this info.’

I snorted. ‘Only because he’s got a showdown scheduled with the Emperor. He’s probably worked out that if the police get in on the act, it’ll weigh the odds in his favour.’

‘Ahh.’ Finn gave me a ‘should’ve known’ look. ‘Still, at least it gives the victims a better chance.’

‘Yeah,’ I agreed, hoping it would save them, and determined to help any way I could. Only, unease pricked at me. The Empress card had said ‘save my children’ – Bastien and Dilek, presumably – and helping the police nab the Emperor would do that. But if the Emperor was nabbed before I got a chance to ask him my question about the fae’s trapped fertility, where did that leave me and the fae? Okay, so it might be that the Emperor’s price for telling me the answer was to get him out of clink. Only while Hugh might be pro-fae, I doubted the human law would see that as a good reason to let the Emperor go, so realistically, it wasn’t a price I could pay.

Crap, maybe I’d made a mistake giving Hugh the info about the Forum. Maybe this was what Tavish meant when he said he’d had a prediction that I could screw things up, and leave the fae’s fertility permanently trapped? Only he was the one who’d sent the info over. Damn. I needed to speak to him.

Heart thudding, I called. And got his voicemail.

Keeping my voice low, I started leaving him a worried message—

Finn’s hand closed over mine and ended the call. I looked at him in surprise. He slung an arm round my shoulders and subtly turned us so we faced away from Hugh. ‘Tavish and I already talked about this, Gen,’ he said quietly. ‘If the Emperor ends up in goal, then it could work in our favour. We can get him out, free and clear, the same way Tavish planned for you last Hallowe’en, if you were ever arrested for that human’s death. We’ll make the Emperor an ùmaidh.’

An ùmaidh. A temporary changeling. The sidhe don’t only leave them in cradles when stealing human babies, they and the lesser fae use them, if needed, to escape human law. An ùmaidh might not ‘live’ long, a month at most, but then human justice for fae and vamps is swift and fatal. Severing part of your soul and sacrificing some flesh, then forging it to a fresh cut log or an animal, isn’t a huge price to pay if you’ve got a one-way ticket to the guillotine.

I frowned, murmured. ‘Can one be made for a vampire?’

‘Tavish says yes.’

Right. ‘Good to know,’ I muttered. ‘Though would’ve been helpful if he’d bothered to return my calls and tell me.’

‘I think he’s got a lot on his plate just now.’

I shot him a narrow look. ‘Like what?’

‘When I went round, there was another fae there, but I never saw who she was.’

‘She?’ I asked, curious.

‘Yeah.’ Mischief flickered in Finn’s green eyes. ‘They appeared to be having a domestic, as far as I could work out.’

I gaped. ‘Really? Tavish has a girlfriend?’

‘Seems so, yeah.’

‘Wow. When did that happen?’ I pursed my lips. ‘Wonder if Sylvia knows? Nah, she can’t, she’d never have kept that to herself.’

‘Yeah, she and the rest of the dryads do like a bit of juicy gossip,’ he grumbled. ‘I’ve already had most of the herd ask me what my early morning visit to you was about.’

I poked him. ‘Blame your brothers for gossiping about me being an item with Sylvia and Ricou. It caused Sylvia hassle with her mother.’

Faint heat coloured Finn’s cheeks. ‘Look, forget about that now, Gen. There’s something else we need to sort out.’

Oh, yeah. The whole Helen/Malik/Spellcrackers/Finn working or not for me thing. So not something I wanted to get into. ‘Now’s not really the right time, Finn.’

‘Not that, Gen,’ he said quietly, then pointed at the cambion’s tent. ‘Hugh says you’ve been hit with a massive dose of fertility rite magic, about five times more than normal, even without taking into account the rest of the stuff the idiot had in his cauldron. Add that to the Fertility pendant problems Tavish says you’ve been having, and it’s not surprising you were rolling round on the ground.’

‘It was pretty surprising to me,’ I said, then mock-grumbled, ‘as was my impromptu shower.’

‘You’re drying out’ – Finn glanced down – ‘which is a shame—’

‘Hey!’ I stuck my finger under his chin and pushed upwards. ‘Eyes up, okay?’

He gave me a quick grin, then sobered. ‘So the fertility rites were about increasing the fecundity of the land long before the witches co-opted them for making baby witches.’ He waved an arm at the semi-circle of tents. ‘Look at it. The place is halfway to a drought, and the shows have sucked the natural magic dry. The ground is starving. It was reaching out to all the fertility magic inside you. You’re lucky it didn’t absorb you.’

Swallowed by the earth. I shuddered. So not a great way to die. ‘Guess I should say thank you again, and mean it.’ I gave him a rueful look. ‘Thank you, Sir Knight, for saving me. With your trusty fire extinguisher.’

‘You’d have done the same for me.’ He smiled. ‘Even if I didn’t need saving.’

I stuck my tongue out at him. ‘Just give me an opportunity. But truly, I am grateful, Finn. So thank you.’

He brushed a damp strand of hair from my forehead. ‘You’re welcome, Gen.’ He lifted my hand and dropped a kiss on my palm, sending a shiver through me that had nothing to do with the shade. ‘Though there are other ways you could show your gratitude, if you were so inclined, my lady.’

‘Hmm.’ I shot him a repressing look. ‘And what ways might those be?’

‘I’m sure we can think of something fun.’ He winked. ‘After we’ve got this sorted.’ He pressed a butterfly-light finger to the hollow of my throat, making my heart skip a beat. He touched his wet finger to my mouth and I tasted salt. ‘As soon as the saline dries,’ he said, gaze turning serious, ‘the fertility magic will come raging back. Believe me, I know.’

I licked my lips. There was one sure fire way of getting rid of all that magic. Sex. The thought coiled desire low inside me. ‘What do you suggest?’ my mouth said, before my brain had time to censor it.

He waggled his brows. ‘Want to come and visit my glade?’

Shock flashed in me. A satyr’s glade was a sacred place, and they only ever shared them with their loved ones. It was tantamount to a declaration for him to invite me. In fact, after what he knew had happened with Malik, I had to wonder why Finn was even thinking about showing me his glade.

My thoughts must have shown on my face. ‘Hell’s thorns, Gen, you must know I care a lot about you and our friendship, even if I have been an idiot recently’ – he rubbed behind his left horn in exasperation, then sighed – ‘other things may have changed, but that hasn’t. But I know that you said you’ve moved on, too.’ A muscle jumped in his jaw. ‘So I don’t want you to think there’re strings to this or that this is about sex. Unlike here, my glade’s private, safe and overflowing with life and magic. The ground there will accept the fertility inside you gently, without hurting or trying to absorb you.’

It sounded great, if I ignored the disappointed voice, grumbling about no sex, in the back of my mind.

‘And if you don’t do something like that soon,’ Finn warned quietly, ‘the magic could end up forcing you into a sex-a-thon.’

‘I vote for option two,’ I said, then shook my head, my mouth was damn well going to get me into trouble if it didn’t stop. ‘Sorry, not sure where that came from.’

He clasped my face, his palms warm and slightly rough against my cheeks. ‘That’s the fertility magic talking, Gen. And much as I’d love to, I know that isn’t what you want from me.’ Sorrow darkened his green eyes. ‘But I hope our friendship is. And I also know that if I take a jealous hike over something that happened with the vampire’ – his expression hardened – ‘which might not have been your choice, without us talking about it, then I’ll lose any chance of keeping our friendship.’

‘Finn.’ I put my hands over his. ‘Malik didn’t force me.’

‘You’re hyped-up on fertility magic, Gen. It can influence you and get out of hand pretty quickly. Believe me, I know.’ He did, it was how the Witch-bitch Helen had tricked him into getting her pregnant with Nicky; ironically enough using the same Fertility pendant that was giving me problems now. ‘So, what I’m saying,’ Finn carried on earnestly, ‘is that I’m back and I want us to see if we can work things out between us.’

I pulled away from him. ‘Finn—’

‘C’mon, Gen, even if this thing you have with the vamp is serious, he shouldn’t stop you seeing your friends.’

‘Finn, that’s not going to happen, I make my own choices. And I don’t want to lose your friendship, but—’

‘No buts.’ He took my hand and gave me a half-grin. ‘I’m not going to give up on us. And I give you fair warning, I’m hoping to persuade you to choose me. But if it’s not to be, then I can’t promise to be happy about you and the vampire’ – his fingers tightened around mine – ‘but I will try, so long as you are. I don’t want to lose your friendship either, Gen.’

Wow. Only—‘What about Helen?’

‘You were right. I shouldn’t have let Helen talk me into keeping things from Nicky. I went back and had it all out with Nicky. Turns out she remembers more than she was admitting, but was worried I’d be hurt if I found out what her mum had done, so she was keeping quiet.’ His face turned grim and angry. ‘I have a suspicion that Helen might have put a geis on her, but I can’t prove it. But it’s all out in the open now. Nicky and I are back here. Helen isn’t with us and she’s not going to be.’

I blinked, trying to take it in, wondering about his quick attitude turnaround towards Helen from yesterday. ‘That’s a lot of sorting out in just a night?’

He shook his head. ‘A night here but nearly three weeks in the Fair Lands. I didn’t want to rush things, but I also didn’t want to miss any more time here, so I persuaded the Morrígan to take us out of timesync again.’

Three weeks. So his decisions weren’t quite the spur-of-the-moment ones I’d thought.

‘Gen, if we’re not to be, then that’s up to you. But I want us to continue working together, with you as the boss if things work out with the herd, but most of all, I want us to stay friends.’

Oh boy. Part of me thought he sounded too good to be true, but another part was happy, ecstatic even, that he’d come to his senses about the Witch-bitch, and about everything else he’d said. I hadn’t wanted to lose his friendship. Though whether we could work things out . . . well, it was early days. And there was still all this stuff with the kidnap victims, the Emperor, and the fae’s trapped fertility to deal with first. But Finn was right, before any of that, I needed to get rid of the fertility magic otherwise I’d be no use for anything; paying a visit to his glade sounded like the quickest, easiest way to go.

Hugh agreed when I explained, then said, ‘We need to plan around this “trap” of Max’s, in case we need to use it to gain entry into the forum. How long before you can come to Old Scotland Yard?’

I looked at Finn and he said, ‘A couple of hours should do it.’

Hugh nodded and we all agreed to meet then. Finn grinned as he slung an arm round my shoulder. ‘So, Gen, you ready to come and commune with the magnificence that is’ – he gave me an exaggerated wink – ‘nature in my glade?’

I groaned and elbowed him (gently) in the gut.