When he saw her through the front window and rushed to lock the door, she knew she’d found the right place.
“I’ve had a long day,” Cathrynne said, forcing her way inside. “Don’t make it longer.”
“We’re closed,” he said, visibly shaking.
“Not quite yet you’re not,” she replied, pointing to the beaded curtain leading into a back room.
He retreated into a small, cluttered office, sweating profusely. She noticed a black telephone on the desk.
“I know that Kal Machena and Durian Padulski were here,” Cathrynne said, “so don’t waste my time denying it.”
His complexion turned ashen. “I had nothing to do with that boy’s death. It happened after he left!”
“Sit,” she ordered. D’Amato slumped into a chair behind his desk. “Maybe you didn’t kill Durian, but you tipped off the one who did. Am I right?”
He swallowed hard, eyes darting around.
“Whose payroll are you on?” she demanded.
“The Freedom Party,” he said quickly—too quickly. “About half the jewelers in the district reported to Consul Casolaba. We were supposed to keep an eye out for anything interesting or unusual. The rest spy for the Miners’ Union. I mean, everyone does it!”
D’Amato held her gaze, aiming for outraged innocence. Cathrynne believed him, yet she sensed it was a partial truth.
“But that’s not all, is it?” she said softly. “There’s someone else you reported to. A little double-dipping.”
Jowls wobbled as he shook his head. “No, no.”
Cathrynne thought of Gavriel, fading away in his bed. She rose abruptly and grabbed D’Amato by the collar, dragging him across the desk. Stacks of papers avalanched to the floor. “Tell me about the gems. Why were they special?”
“The girl called them kaldurite! They look like serpent’s eye, but they . . .” He trailed off, looking terrified.
She shook him, their faces almost touching. His hair smelled strongly of pomade. “They what?”
“They repel the ley.”
She frowned. “How?”
“I don’t know! They just do. I’ve hears rumors, but it’s the first time I’ve seen any.” His words came in a rush. “I bought a few samples. The kids left and I never saw them again, I swear!”
Cathrynne released him. “Show me the gems.”
He shrank away. “I gave them all to Casolaba.”
“No. You would have kept at least one for yourself. Because the other person, the one whose name you won’t give up, is a witch. And you needed to protect yourself just in case.”
The startled look on his face confirmed her guess.
D’Amato thrust a clammy hand into his pocket. “You can’t use lithomancy on me!” he squealed.
Cathrynne’s jaw set. “I don’t need to.”
The tussle was brief. She pried his fingers open and extracted a small gem that shifted from blue to purple to red as it caught the light. The moment it touched her skin, awareness of the ley vanished. It was like going blind or deaf. A critical sense was simply gone.
Nausea twisted her stomach. A wave of dizziness made the room spin. She dry-heaved, steadying herself against the edge of the desk. D’Amato seized his chance and darted past her, light on his feet for a paunchy middle-aged man. She heard the shop door open and close. The kaldurite slipped from her fingers.
Within a minute, the sickness passed. Once again, she sensed the ley in her pouch. The ley that coursed through her own blood, courtesy of her angelic father.
“Blessed Minerva,” she said, staring down at the gemstone lying at her feet.
