‘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.’