Page 34 of Enchanted Warrior

He couldn’t stifle a grin. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not in armor. I’m not wearing anything at all.”

She gave him a kiss that said she had noticed and approved. Gawain smiled against her lips, feeling like a man reborn.

Tamsin heldon to her joy while she dressed and made breakfast, fed her ravenous warriors and then erased any signs of intrusion from the vacant apartment next door. She wasn’t sure how to solve the problem of housing extra knights, but at least now she had a whole day to figure out what to do with Beaumains. Meanwhile, Gawain took his brother off to find modern clothes and acquaint him with the basics of the twenty-first century. Gawain had been reluctant to leave Tamsin alone, but she refused to be afraid on a sunny Saturday morning. Besides, she needed some peace and quiet. She had sleuthing to do.

Tamsin began by phoning Stacy.

“What’s up?” Stacy asked. “You have that take-charge tone in your voice.”

“I’m hot on the trail of those books I’m looking for.”

“You found a clue to their location?”

“Better than that. I found a set of car keys.” Tamsin fished in her backpack and pulled out the set Nimueh had dropped at the church. “I need a favor.”

“Is it legal?” Stacy asked.

“Probably not,” Tamsin said with a sigh. “The car keys have one of those tags where you can return lost keys through the mail. The code on the tag doesn’t give me the address where the vehicle belongs, but the charity who sells the tags has a registry that does. Can you get our little sister to work her computer magic and find that address?”

“You want Clary to hack into a charity’s database?” Stacy asked incredulously.

Although it wasn’t common among the coven families, their father had insisted his children receive an education in a human university. Where Stacy had studied law and Tamsin history, Clarissa had gone into computer science.

“It’s for a good cause,” Tamsin pleaded. “I don’t want to do a seeking spell. I think the, uh, person with the library is a wee bit dangerous, and the more I stay off his radar, the better.”

Tamsin finished on a grimace. It must have communicated itself, because Stacy made a noise of assent. “I’ll ask her. I know the Elders want those books. I’ll call you back when we find something.”

Tamsin put the phone down and began washing up the breakfast dishes in her tiny sink. She was putting away the last freshly dried plate a half hour later when the phone rang. She picked it up, wondering if Clary could have found an answer already.

“Hello, Ms. Greene. This is Benjamin Waller.”

Tamsin nearly dropped the phone The crisp, dry voice belonged to the Chief Elder of the Shadowring Coven. “H-hello, sir. To what do I owe the honor of your call?”

“Your request for information on the owner of a late-model Lexus SUV. Your younger sister alerted me to the fact that you asked for her assistance with this unorthodox search.”

Tamsin cursed Clary. She had counted on her little sister’s rebel streak to keep this quiet. That had been a mistake.

“Oh, don’t blame her,” Waller said smoothly, as if reading Tamsin’s thoughts. “There have been a few indiscretions on Clarissa’s part that convinced me to shorten her leash. She does nothing without keeping me informed.”

Tamsin’s mouth went dry. “How much trouble is she in?”

“Not enough for you to worry about,” Waller replied. His tone all but patted her on the head. “This is just a course correction for the moment. She is still painfully young, after all. Plenty of time for her to settle down and form more acceptable habits.”

Tamsin drew in a shaking breath. Waller’s words were innocent enough, but she could hear something nasty behind them. With a sick feeling, she realized he was enjoying this.

“Clarissa found the address you asked for, but I wanted to take the opportunity to deliver a warning. When we sent you to Carlyle, we did so with a degree of hesitation. Not because of your credentials, which are impeccable, or your commitment, which is clearly of the highest order.”

“Then why, sir?” Tamsin sat down at the table, her legs suddenly unreliable. The air around the phone buzzed with a dark, stormy energy that said Waller was deadly serious.

“Because Carlyle is dangerous, particularly for you. The address you found led to a name that caught our interest. It also ignited our fears for your safety. There is little we can do for you as a coven from this distance, but at the very least we can arm you with what information we have.”

Tamsin swallowed. The Elders were strict to the point of repression, but they did take their job of protecting the coven to heart. “What information would that be, sir?”

The coven Elder continued. “The owner of those car keys was an extremely powerful solitary practitioner by the name of Henderson. As far as the human authorities know, he is still alive, but no one has heard from him or his wife in months.”

Which was no surprise, since Mordred’s lackey was driving his car. Tamsin swallowed. “Do you believe Henderson had Merlin’s books?”

“Your father believed the books were in that geographical area. That was why he made the trip to Carlyle in the last year of his life.”

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