Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(10)

There was a pop as the cork in the wine came out, and I found myself seated comfortably by the fire with a glass of wine and a bowl of soup which looked completely housepet free. After some pleasant conversation about the weather and television shows we both liked, I got down to why I had come.

“This sounds like bad business.” Halle sagely shook his head as I told him the story of my encounter with the demon. “I have not heard of this demon, Halfer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know him. He would use many names and many guises when on this plane. Was there anything unusual about him? Anything that stood out?”

I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I think he was really good at masking. You know how when a demon is around, people get uneasy? I never felt that with him. Daniel didn’t even pick up on the brimstone until he was gone.”

“Then he is either extremely old and powerful, or works for someone who is,” Halle explained. “Demons sometimes share powers with their lesser servants when they need to. The powerful can share strength with lesser demons and even earthbound witches.”

I took a long drink of the wine. It was just starting to take the edge off my panic. Not only did I get to deal with a demon, but apparently a really old, powerful demon, or a group of them led by an old, powerful demon. The day just got better and better.

Halle turned his large, dark eyes on me in a sympathetic fashion. “I’m sure it will turn out all right. You just have to be careful and follow the letter of the agreement. Just remember that when dealing with demons, the devil really is in the details.”

“Who is dealing with demons?” a feminine voice asked from the darkness.

Halle stood and smiled as his wife emerged from the shadows. I wasn’t sure what Ingrid really looked like. She was old and adept at glamour. Halle was younger than his wife and had no use for glamour. The female who emerged from the darkness appeared to be in her mid-twenties and could have been a poster child for a Swedish modeling agency. Her blonde hair was perfect and meshed with her icy blue eyes. She made an odd sight walking out of the trees in a couture gown and heels.

When I was young, I would make a game of finding the one flaw in the glamour. When using this magic, there is always one small flaw, and if you can find it, the glamour no longer works on you and you can see the person as they truly are. I never could find that fatal flaw, and as I got older, I stopped trying. I realized that this was Ingrid as she wanted to be seen and to try to pull down her glamour was a rudeness I didn’t wish to participate in.

“Oh, greetings to Zoey Wharton,” she said with a smile.

As I stood to greet her, she lightly touched my hair in a familiar token of affection. After the formalities were taken care of, she joined us beside the fire. “You have gotten in a bit of trouble, I assume. Your father, he does not know?”

“Just a bit.” I always felt like a kid around this couple. They had often served as surrogate parents when I was young. I had spent many summers with them and felt a need to make them proud of me. “It’s just a minor hiccup, and my father doesn’t know. I’d like to keep it that way.”

“I’m sure you would,” Ingrid said with that tone that made me feel like I was fifteen years old all over again. “So, what is this thing the demon wants you to steal? I assume this trouble involves some form of thievery.”

I winced. Halle was easy to talk to, but Ingrid didn’t think procurement was a proper profession for a young lady. She had agreed with my father that college, a career, and marriage to Daniel was the only way to go. Ingrid had expressed her disappointment when I dropped out. Trolls really know how to relate feelings of disappointment. Still, she was the only person in town who might know something about this object. “The demon called it the Light of Alhorra.”

Ingrid was silent for a moment, and I knew what she was doing. She was deciding if withholding the information would do any good. Luckily, she had known me for a long time. My stubbornness was legendary. “Yes, I have heard of this, but it is only a legend. It is a box supposedly filled with the blessings of the Fae. The way my mother told the story, a powerful faery tribe placed a piece of their magic in a box for safekeeping. The magic in the box grew into blessings that were then passed from tribe to tribe as a sort of ambassador of peace after the great wars. Each tribe became guardian of the ancient magic and it bound the tribes together.”

“What does a demon want with faery blessings?” I was still a bit confused. “Faery blessings are things like good crops and fair weather. Unless he’s starting an organic Hell co-op, it doesn’t really make sense.”

Ingrid shrugged, a single motion of her shoulder. “This I cannot know.”

My mind raced, trying to make sense of the deal I’d made. There was a pure intentions clause that went along with the Light of Alhorra. If there is one thing demons don’t possess on any level, it’s pure intentions. I didn’t understand what Halfer wanted with a box he couldn’t open and blessings he couldn’t use, unless he was telling the truth and really getting the object back for someone else. “Is it possible that the tribes on this plane are still caring for the object?”

Ingrid shook her head. “No, the time of the great tribes was done long before my mother birthed me. The tribes left here are weak. Some of the young Fae have left the traditional homes and live among the humans. There are a few tribes left, but they are only truly strong in their sitheins. On this plane, there are few full-blooded Fae. Such magic would never be safe here. No, the Light was taken beyond the veil when our forefathers left. Whatever this demon is looking for, it cannot be the true light. I think you’re safe turning over whatever you find.”