"The thanks of Tess Callahan is a great boon indeed."
But the rest of me knew I'd never be able to carry it off without giggling.
"I have a ring at the shop too, and I'm not sure where it came from. I think my predecessor may have purchased it. It might cause my chickens to lay extra eggs? I don't really need prolific chickens. If it's yours, you should have it back."
The female guard snorted out a laugh, although she quickly stifled it at the queen's admonishing look.
"That one you may keep," Viviette said graciously.
"If we're talking boons, let's talk about your threat to destroy Dead End," Jack said bluntly, apparently fed up with diplomacy.
The queen's eyes narrowed, and a sensation of imminent danger whispered through the room, causing the hairs on my arms to stand straight up.
Jack leaned forward, his hands flat on the table. "I did not take your dagger."
"I know," she said, and I almost fell out of my chair.
"Youknow? Then why all this drama?" I demanded, all thoughts of hospitality and fancy manners buried by indignation.
"I was told that Jed's progeny stole the dagger. I now know that to be false. But my demand to you to find it was a Bargain—your assistance and success in return for my forbearance, and so I cannot stop it now. Even a queen cannot break a Bargain without consequence."
"Then what is there to discuss?" Jack's tone was harsh, and I noticed the guards leaning forward as if getting ready to attack.
I held up my hands. "Wait. Let's come at this from a different angle. It'syourdagger, right?"
Viviette nodded.
"Then can't you sense it? If you use your magic and tell us where it is, we'll retrieve it for you, and everybody wins."
A fleeting expression of consternation crossed her cold, lovely face. "I would if I could, but someone has blocked it from me."
Jack leaned back and folded his arms. "Right. Pardon me, Your Highness, but there is nobody more powerful than a Fae queen. How could anyone block your magic?"
She clenched her teeth and looked ready to smite somebody. "I. Don't. Know."
I glanced over at the guards and my gaze landed on the microwave, and I thought about my explanation to Jed.
"Wait just a minute," I said slowly. "What about a Faraday cage?"
She hissed at the word "cage" but didn't instantly kill me, so I gathered up my courage and continued. "A man named Faraday invented the thing in the early 1800s to block electromagnetic fields. What if somebody is using a version of a Faraday cage to block the dagger's magic?"
"Somebody like a scientist who studies the Fae and also knows about magic?" Jack said, his eyes narrowing.
"This could work," the queen admitted reluctantly. "If the Bane were used, it could indeed block the dagger's magic from my senses."
"It's easy enough to make an iron box. And if he got a witch to put a shielding spell on it …" Jack whistled. "I think we know who our culprit is."
I was thinking about Mr. Washington too. "The knife he showed us must have been a fake. Remember how Trevor acted when he saw it, and Mr. Washington cut him off? I wonder if Trevor was about to ask about the different dagger."
"Excuse me, Your Highness," I said, pulling out my phone. I dialed the high school and asked Mrs. Hamilton to put me through to Mr. Washington.
Jack's eyes widened when she responded, but I wasn't sure the queen had superior hearing too, so I filled her in after I hung up.
"The man we suspect of having the dagger is missing. He never showed up at his job today, and nobody can reach him at home or on his cell phone." I glanced at Jack. "She said he usually stopped at the bank on Wednesdays to cash his paycheck."
Jack groaned. "You don't think—"
"I don't know."
