“No time. I came straight here after she dropped that little bomb.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” the older man asked.
“For you to tell me this’ll never work and to get her the hell out of here.”
The shopkeeper’s eyebrows lowered. “Your instincts weren’t wrong to bring her, friend. But really, we must know for certain before we discuss anything else in front of her.”
The detective turned to Sin, his gaze narrowing on her.
Sin took a step backward, not really afraid, just reacting with caution to the intensity of darkening eyes.
His hand lashed out and grabbed hers.
Sin tugged, but his fingers manacled her wrist.
The shopkeeper reached behind his counter and rifled through a drawer until he brought up a small green bowl carved out of a gemstone rock and a thimble with a needle-like point.
Sin balled her fingers into a fist and continued to struggle, but the detective forced her fingers open, grabbed her forefinger and gave her a glare. “This won’t hurt much if you’ll just quit fighting me.”
“All you had to do was ask,” she said, scowling back. “You want blood?”
“That’s correct,” the shopkeeper said calmly, raising the thimble and lifting an eyebrow for permission.
Sin nodded sharply, schooling herself not to wince when he pricked her finger.
Blood dripped into the bowl as Petrakis squeezed her finger.
“That should be enough, Theo,” the shopkeeper murmured.
The detective released her hand, and Sin jerked away, sucking on her fingertip. Then she leaned over the counter to see what both men stared at.
Athanasius sprinkled a yellow powder on top of her blood and stirred it with a pencil eraser. Nothing happened.
Both men waited, continuing to stare.
“Did I pass?” she asked, thinking maybe they were both a little nuts and the test was anticlimactic.
The shopkeeper looked up first. “One hundred percent human.”
“Grade-A Irish. Could have told you that.”
Neither responded to her sarcasm. Instead, excitement glittered in the shopkeeper’s gaze. “Did you test the relic?” he asked the detective.
“It sat like a hunk of metal in her hand.”
“Oh. How disappointing…” The shopkeeper’s lips pursed, but then his gaze came back to her. “Still, this might be a lucky break. She sees them, Theo.”
“Any help we get from her will only be through dumb luck. She sees them, but she can’t track them. Sight only. No sense or smell.”
“It’s more than we’ve had.” The shopkeeper’s gaze remained on her, but he continued to talk to the detective. “Baiting the shop with relics will only work so many times before the demons catch on that we’re doing it deliberately.”
Petrakis raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve made contact with that auction house?”
“I’m not comfortable using them. We would be endangering their staff.”
“We’ll demand greater security while they hold it. Just recommend our own firm.”
“What firm?”