Page 25 of Disabling Relics for Dummies
How did Keydothat, anyway? The Valentine I dated would have started a fight with Killian for being in my life. He already did and got his ass beat, but he’d be itching for another one to prove he was stronger than Killian. Valentine had no claim to me. He knew that, but he was still pissed he wasn’t the center of my world anymore.
He’d be itching for that. Valentine didn’t need to worm his way into any witch’s bed to get their help with that grimoire. There were plenty that would sign up for that because the contents were probably dark. It was just how he operated.
Valentine stomped off to an empty table to sulk and watch us eat. There was no spell alive that would bend someone to your will. My sister was dating a god, and I’d met Lilith. The gods seemed pretty big on free will. If Lilith could have mind-controlled her creations into doing what she wanted, my sister never would have been kidnapped, and the Hellhounds would have long been freed.
How was Key doing this? Valentine should have challenged him to a fight by now by all rights.
Valentine was back in my face as soon as we put our boxes away. I was a nice person unless you crossed me. Ripley and I volunteered our time towards plenty of causes because we enjoyed doing it. I went to Hell because someone had kidnapped my sister, but I wasn’t complaining about freeing the Hellhounds while we were there.
Being nice to Valentine was just hard. It was more than just what he did to me. He was rude to Killian, and that just pissed me off. Killian was into banter, but he was always kind unless you gave him a reason. I saw him with Key. We still didn’t know his first name, but those two were like old friends now.
It felt like hot garbage was oozing down my skin when he touched me. I wanted to vomit on his shoes to get him away from me, then kick him straight in the balls to make sure he stayed away. He didn’t creep me out this much before, but his aura wasn’t like that the last time he was here. Most sane witches avoided people whose auras did that.
“You never told me what you found in the box, Ravyn.”
Key swooped in and saved me. He slammed his hand on the table and left a handful of silver coins.
“Rare Viking currency. The Loki coins never caught on like the other coins depicting the other Norse gods. Back in the heyday of the Norse gods, Loki had a bit of an underground following.”
I picked up the coin. It was in pristine condition. Where did he get these?
“That doesn’t make sense,” Killian said. “Loki was a trickster, but he wasn’t evil like the Cult of the Aether Sisters. He did things in his own way, but he seemed pretty helpful when it was needed, at least from what I know of Norse gods.”
They started teaching us about the different gods in elementary school. They couldn’t teach us magic, so they taught us history, theory, and ethics. They covered most of the popular gods throughout history because one of their creations might be in the classroom.
I didn’t say anything because we needed Valentine to believe those coins were in the box. The cult being secret Loki worshippers didn’t sound right to me. There were stories of people coming to them for help before they became infamous, and they did the exact opposite of help. Loki caused trouble, but he seemed like he stepped in and got shit done when needed. The Cult of the Aether Sisters wouldn’t have been into that.
We just needed Valentine to believe they were and had these coins in a locked box.
“Yes!” he said, picking up the coins. “These are probably worth millions of dollars now. Iknowwhy they had these. They were planning for the future.”
Oh, man. What a dumbass. He didn’t go to the Academy of the Profane like I did, but he still went to an expensive private school growing up and a decent university. He’d been taught about the horrors of the Cult of the Aether Sisters and the mythology behind Loki.
His job involved asking hard questions. Valentine hadn’t asked me how I picked that blood lock. The only person who had figured out how to do that was Minerva Krauss. She hadn’t published it in any of her books because she didn’t want to be responsible for mass robberies. Ripley and I only knew because she gave Ripley her diaries when the whole Dorian Gray thing was going on.
Anyone would have asked how I did it. Valentineshouldhave asked. I was certain he came across many of them on his digs that his team wouldn’t have been able to open. It would have been difficult for his team without a twin, though it would have been possible if they made it a point to donate blood and save it.
He didn’t want to know. He was more concerned about the grimoire. And he just played his hand. He was so in on whatever plot they had to come back, he was going to make sure they were well funded.
Holy shit. Valentine had totally lost the plot, and he chose to do it at my museum.
Chapter19
Killian
Iwas all for banning Valentine from the museum. He wasn’t talking anymore. He was utterly giddy over those Loki coins Key produced. He wanted to take them and have them appraised. This plonker forgot where he was. He signed his loot over to the Museum of the Profane. Valentine wasn’t getting a damned dime selling this anywhere.
I didn’t trust him with those coins. Key looked like he hated Valentine’s grubby paws all over them, and I didn’t blame him. Those coins were in better condition than some of the pennies Ravyn and Ripley picked up on the street. The twins used their pendulums like any good witch, but if they weren’t rock solid on a decision, a penny would appear on the ground somewhere. Heads up was no. Tails up were yes.
I didn’t know where Key got them or why they were in such pristine condition, but if they were mine, I wouldn’t want them sold to bankroll a bunch of deranged hybrids. Valentine wasn’t talking about anything but those coins. At least his mind was off the grimoire.
“I still think I should take these to be appraised.”
“We have an in-house appraiser, but you know none of these items are for sale, Valentine. They belong to the museum now. You agreed to that when you signed the contract.”
“Theybelongto the Cult of the Aether Sisters,” Valentine snapped.
Actually, if you wanted to get technical, they belonged to a strange warlock who wouldn’t tell us his first name that seemed to know more about literally everything than the smartest witch I knew, spoke fluent Old Norse, and had random obscure coins lying around to trick a werewolf.
