Page 5 of Curses & Keys (Curses & Gods #1)

PHAEDRA

E yes follow me around the room. Am I important or a plus one?

Is it worth cultivating an introduction?

A few know of me and my expertise but most can only speculate.

Well, except for Jamison, of course. The sharp awareness I feel between my shoulder blades is him.

No matter where I go, his eyes follow. His interest in me is both a delight and a complication.

Between us, there’s the heat of attraction, a large dose of curiosity, and a well-bred suspicion of anything unknown.

Although part of me relishes the danger he represents.

Working on this project was a risk, but a necessary one. Too many pieces needed to be evaluated in person. When Letz called asking me to be one of the three experts, I jumped at the opportunity.

I pass several mages standing in front of the Dorian Gray painting whispering to each other, and my lips curve in a satisfied smile.

That’s one object that won’t be used to capture souls in the future.

It still hums with power, but anyone who tries to use it will get a nasty little surprise.

My lips curve into a particularly satisfied smile, happy with the solution I devised for that piece.

Technically, it’s my job to protect humans by eliminating threats from cursed or magical objects, but sometimes I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it.

When supernatural races from other worlds first stepped through the portals into this one, the gods feared the corruption and downfall of humans.

They fought viciously, eliminating many who dared cross over, but supernaturals continued to pour into the human realm, overwhelming in numbers, until the only option for peace was a treaty.

So, the gods offered them sanctuary in exchange for secrecy.

In response, the supernaturals formed a council and promised the gods they wouldn’t reveal themselves to the humans, and for the most part, they do everything in their power to enforce those rules.

If a member goes rogue, they deal with them harshly.

If a powerful collection comes up for auction, they bid on the most dangerous pieces.

Whatever it takes to maintain the peace, they do it, albeit sometimes reluctantly.

After all, not all supernaturals feel they should have to hide from humans.

But the loophole of discovery remains. If humans are exposed to magic or supernaturals in a way that can’t be covered up, the council will not stop the evolution of their existence.

The gods reluctantly agreed but created a backup plan of their own—me.

The council isn’t aware I exist. Over the last three thousand years, I’ve hunted down the most dangerous objects while keeping an eye on them.

From a distance, of course. A task that gets more difficult by the day.

Normally, I operate in an incognito manner, but with such an extensive and high-profile collection, I couldn’t sneak in and steal the pieces.

I thought about waiting until they went to their new homes, but the sheer number of items made it impossible.

Instead, I had to expose myself to get access to the collection.

The risky plan worked, and I was able to carefully remove the danger from several of the worst pieces.

While the artifacts still exude power, their harmful intent has been altered.

As for the rest, large crates filled with a mix of powerful and powerless artifacts, are on their way to various locations throughout the world, including my home in North Carolina.

My eyes flick to Jamison, who’s watching me stroll around the gallery.

I’m sure the gods would tell me to brush off his interest and disappear, but after carefully following their orders for thousands of years, I’m feeling a little rebellious.

Besides, a man like him is worth a little punishment. It’s not as if the gods will kill me.

I lean against the balustrade and deliberately meet his stare with one of my own.

Heat rises, and I lick my lips in anticipation of our date.

My eyes slide from his head to his toes.

Most would only care about his power or the prestige of his name and rank.

I don’t care about either. It’s the heat and determination in his eyes I find intriguing, and of course, the challenge I’ll face as he tries to extract my secrets.

I smile in anticipation. It adds such a delicious edge to the attraction simmering between us.

Suddenly, his eyes widen, and he swivels around quickly.

Hand to his ear, he hurries off, making me wonder where the fire is.

I let my gaze drift lightly across the crowd.

There are more than a few tense faces, but nothing out of the ordinary for this kind of crowd.

I’m actually amazed they can be civil to each other for an entire evening.

I make my way down to the main hall for the dedication ceremony. Several security men sprint toward me. My heart speeds up for a second, wondering if I’m their target, but I remind myself I haven’t stolen anything this evening, and slide to the left to let them pass. Something is happening, though.

The second my foot touches the first floor, Letz grabs my arm and whirls me around to go back up the stairs.

“Someone attacked security in storage room B3, where we put all of the smaller pieces. Unfortunately, they escaped. The room is secure, but they’re going to need our assistance to identify if anything is missing.

Since you were in charge of inventory for that room, I’ll need you to come with me,” he tells me in a rush, whisking me down the hall to the other wing of the building where the room is located.

My mind immediately starts racing, trying to figure out what they could have possibly taken, especially since I removed anything of concern yesterday.

“Should I get the catalog?” I ask, playing the role I’ve assigned myself—that of an expert only interested in cataloging the collection and sharing key historical pieces with the world.

Which I am, but I’m also here to ensure the most dangerous pieces are neutralized or removed from the collection.

When he nods, I tell him I’ll meet him at the room and head toward the office I was assigned to use during my stay.

I grab the latest version of the catalog and make my way to the scene.

When I get there, the room is in shambles, and Jamison is barking orders left and right to the security team.

I look around for Letz and find him staring down at his feet, so I make my way over to him.

It’s only when I get closer that I see the large bloody boot prints on the marble floor and quickly step to the side.

“Whose blood?” I ask Letz quietly.

He shakes his head. “That’s not the important question here.” Holding out his hand, he murmurs an incantation, and the prints begin to glow white. “As I thought.” His finger traces the outline of the pattern. “Tactical gear. Have you ever known a supernatural to wear it?”

This just got a hell of a lot more complicated. “Humans? Are you sure?”

“The spell I used is designed to identify race,” he says thoughtfully. “Humans render white.” Letz walks carefully around the space, twisting and turning to follow the prints, until he can get an accurate picture of the scene. “It was one hell of a fight, but they were well prepared.”

Perplexed, I scan the bloody floor. “How can you tell?”

He tilts his head. “Because it only took five humans to severely wound one of our oldest vampires.”

Jamison hears his comment, and his head snaps toward us. “Are you sure?” His eyes sweep to me, and the amount of anger in their depths causes me to take a step back. He stalks over to us. “Show me.”

While Letz is pointing out the pattern of the fight, I carefully walk around with my senses out.

The few remaining items of power haven’t been touched.

Instead, the boxes of smaller items piled with jewelry, coins, and various trinkets, have been tipped over one by one.

I slip my hand into one of the small upright boxes and lift up a handful of gold coins.

“Well, they’re not your run-of-the-mill thieves. ”

“They were searching for something specific. Small,” Jamison says grimly. “Could you have missed a powerful piece in the collection?”

Letz looks at me for the answer. “Dr. Galanis completed the inventory of this room. Did you find anything of note?”

I pretend to think about it. There are only a few people who had access to this room in the last few days. Someone saw something of power and relayed that information to another, which means this is an inside job.

“There could have been, but I didn’t examine every piece.” Only the most dangerous ones. “I can check the catalog. We might want to question Dr. Kline’s assistant, Sia, and a few of the museum staff who had access to the room to see if they noticed anything suspicious.”

Jamison raises his finger, and another mage comes running over so he can give them orders. “I want to question everyone who had access to this room.” His eyes dart to me. “Including you, Dr. Galanis.”

I smile. “Of course.” I hand him the catalog. “Here’s the final inventory report, the assessment of each piece, and a corresponding picture.” I frown. “What was security doing in here?” When he looks at me blankly, I raise an eyebrow. “The vampire. It’s odd he was in here, don’t you think?”

Jamison’s jaw tightens. “I can vouch for him. He had my and Letz’ permission to search for a family heirloom. It was last seen in here.”

Relief washes over me. They don’t suspect anything. “Can you describe it?”

He thrusts a hand through his hair and picks up his phone. Seconds later, he reads off a description of the locket to me. “Gold locket, on a thick matching chain, with tanzite embedded in the cover. It opens to reveal the image of a dark-haired little girl.”

A beautiful piece. I walk over to a box in the corner of the room, on the third shelf, and sift through it until I find the necklace.

“Here. Maybe this will help your man recover.” I hold it up by the neck and watch it swing back and forth, then hand it over to Jamison.

When he takes it, I motion to the catalog in his other hand.

“I need to make a notation on the catalog to mark its absence. Everything needs to be documented.” I want him to see how serious I am about documentation, because I need him to look past me to find another suspect.

He hands it over. “Can you tell if anything is missing?”

I walk over to a nearby clipboard and grab the pen lying on top. “It’s hard to tell. Most of the items in here are small. It took us weeks to organize them into boxes and another three weeks to inventory all of it.” I pause and motion to the messy pile of items on the floor.

His mouth curves down. “So, you think it will be weeks before you know?”

I shake my head while I note the removal of the necklace. “It will take someone weeks to go through it all, but it won’t be me. I’m only here for a couple more days.”

He looks at Letz, who confirms my statement. “For her services, Duke University will receive an endowment of several of the pieces. Same for Dr. Kline and Yale. Both could only assist for a short time.”

Jamison stiffens. “I see. Dr. Galanis, if you’ll step over here. I’d like to get an official statement.” He motions to the corner, and I follow him over.

Steel-blue eyes study me intently until the air is thick with tension. If I were anyone else, I’d probably crack under the scrutiny. “Tell me everyone who had access to this room and their purpose for being in here.”

“Everyone had a different reason for being in here. Dr. Kline’s assistant was to identify Ancient East items. Given my expertise in ancient civilizations, I tend to focus on the artifacts and tools used in everyday life.

The smaller items. Dr. Samuels tasked me with examining the items in this room to determine authenticity and value. A collective inventory was created…”

“What do you mean, collective inventory?” he interrupts.

“Items in this room will be loaned or endowed to museums and universities for further study or display. In fact, some of the pieces have already left. The remaining items in here will either be loaned out based on request, or they will return to the vault held by the newly elected vampire councilmember, whoever that might be. The inventory in your hand is a complete list of everything, but not all the items are still here.”

Realization dawns, and he runs a hand down his face.

With the pieces scattered around the world, it would take a massive team to track and catalog every item, and even if something went missing, it would be almost impossible to determine if it was stolen or simply lost in the overall shuffle. It’s the perfect scenario for a thief.

“We need to look at this from a different angle.”

Exactly. I give him an apologetic smile. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Not at this time. I have your number, and I’ll give you a call if I have any more questions.” A rueful smile crosses his face. “I’m afraid this means our date is canceled, though.”

If I didn’t know better, I would think it was fate, but I stopped believing in that propaganda a long time ago.

I sigh, full of disappointment. I haven’t been this intrigued by a man in a long time.

“Too bad. I was looking forward to it. I’ll be in London for two more days if you have any additional questions. ” I hand him the catalog.

His thumb swipes across my hand as he takes the document. “This isn’t goodbye,” he curtly informs me, then turns on his heel and strides over to the group of security men who just arrived, leaving me standing there with a bemused smile on my face.