The Cauldron's Gift by Marina Finlayson

Author:Marina Finlayson [Finlayson, Marina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BluA
Published: 2016-07-05T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Mum couldn’t get hold of Bryan, since he was still in the air, so she called ahead to the Irish branch. I heard there was a difficult scene at the airport when they had to explain to Bryan why they were taking his sister into custody, especially since he knew she’d passed the truth test. Mum got an irate phone call in the middle of the night, and it took her a long time to calm him down enough to explain what we’d discovered.

For a while there, I worried that Bryan was in on it too, though Mum refused to even consider the possibility. Perhaps he’d take the stone and disappear. Then we’d be down two of the four treasures. Dorian would have a snowball’s chance in hell of reinforcing any anchors then. That was something, at least.

But two days later Bryan arrived back in Sydney, having stayed in Ireland barely long enough to sleep before facing the gruelling flight home. Kerrie was on a different flight, in the custody of two dour-faced Irishmen. Bryan had exploded all over again when Mum suggested we couldn’t risk having Kerrie on the same flight as the stone, but he’d eventually agreed to the separation.

He was crankier than Sergei when he returned, and that was saying something: ogres’ bad tempers are legendary. But at least he had the stone safe and sound, though it didn’t look like much when he produced it. It really was just a hunk of ordinary old stone—no engravings, no precious jewels inlaid, nothing. But the other warders were satisfied it was the real thing, so I could stop worrying about another switcheroo, at least.

It sat now on the coffee table in our guest suite’s lounge area, with the warders seated around it. Mum and Dorian were on one lounge, and Dena and Bryan took the one opposite, neatly demonstrating the division amongst the warders. Frida was still off with Simon picking up the sword. I cast a sideways glance at Ronnie. She looked as uncomfortable as I felt to be here, as if it was our fault for accusing Kerrie, rather than hers for turning traitor in the first place.

“There must have been a flaw with her truth-test,” Dorian said. “We’ll have to run another one.”

Bryan looked pained. They’d all seen the transcripts of the first one, and heard Ronnie’s explanations. I said nothing, quite happy for Ronnie to take the brunt of Bryan’s anguished expression.

“I just don’t understand,” he kept saying. “Why would she? It’s not like her at all. It doesn’t make sense.”

But he couldn’t argue with the facts.

“We need to get to the bottom of this,” said Mum. “Had she been having any trouble at work? Did she seem to be acting strangely, or have changed in any way recently?”

“No, no.” Bryan shook his head impatiently. “I’m telling you, she’s the same person she’s always been. There was nothing like that.”

“Any problems in her personal life?”

“You think she’d turn against us because she broke

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