Was this why everyone was after the Sinsar Dubh? Did it contain the spells necessary to imprison the Unseelie, maybe even keep the walls from coming down in the first place? It would certainly explain why V’lane and the Queen wanted it, why Alina had wanted me to find it before the Lord Master did. No doubt if he got his hands on it, he’d hurry up and destroy it to make sure no one could ever imprison his army again. I wondered where Barrons fit in. Would he really sell it to the highest bidder?

I couldn’t dwell on the possibility of Unseelie overrunning our world. Keeping my thoughts tightly focused on my goals was the key to keeping my fears in check. “Tell me more about Alina.” At my swift change of subject, he looked relieved, and I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt like I was charged with an impossible task. It was no wonder Christian seemed mature beyond his years. He was. He had his own fate-of-the-world issues to deal with.

“I’m sorry, Mac, but I don’t have much more to say. I tried to make friends with her. Although my uncles couldn’t translate the text, they knew where it had come from, and we needed to know how she’d gotten it. It was a photocopy of a page from an ancient book—”

“—called the Sinsar Dubh.” The Beast, I thought, and my soul shivered.

“I wondered if you knew about it. What do you know? Do you know where it is?”

I didn’t know exactly where it was at the moment, and brandished that thought like a shield when I answered, “No,” in case he really was a walking, breathing lie detector. Because he was searching my gaze far too intently for my comfort, I added quickly, “What happened when you tried to make friends with my sister?”

“She rebuffed my efforts. She was deeply involved with someone and I got the impression he was very possessive. Didn’t like her talking to anyone.”

“Did you ever meet him?”

“No. I caught a glimpse of him once. Fleeting. Don’t remember much, which makes me believe he was Fae. They mess with your head if they don’t want you to see them.”

“Did you tell my sister the stuff you just told me?”

“I didn’t get the chance.”

“If you never became friends, how did you find out she was a sidhe-seer? How did you find out about me?”

“I followed her a few times,” he said. “She was always watching things that weren’t there, studying empty spaces. I was raised on stories of sidhe-seers. My family is . . . into old myths and lore. I put two and two together.”

“And me?”

He shrugged. “You were poking around Trinity asking about her. Besides, family’s a matter of public record, if you know where to look.”

With all my enemies, those were records I’d like destroyed. I was grateful my parents were four thousand miles away.

“Which Dark Hallow did you have a close call with last night?” he asked casually.

“The amulet.”

“Lie.”

I tested him. “The scepter.”

“Lie again. And there is no such thing.”

“You’re right. It was the box,” I said heavily.

“I’m waiting for the truth, Mac.”

I shrugged. “The Sinsar Dubh?” I offered, like I didn’t really mean it.

He exploded out of his chair. “What the—are you kidding me? No, no need to answer that, I know you’re not. You said you didn’t know where it was!”

“I don’t know. I saw it in passing.”

“Here? In Dublin?”

I nodded. “It’s gone. I have no idea where it was . . . taken.”

“Who—” Christian began.

“Hi, guys. What’s up?”

Christian’s gaze slid past me, to the door. He stiffened. “Hey, man, I didn’t hear you come in.”

I hadn’t, either.

“How long’ve you been standing there?”

“I just opened the door. I thought I heard you in here.”

I turned in my chair. The second time he’d spoken, I’d recognized the voice. The dreamy-eyed guy I’d seen in the museum and then run into later on the street the day I’d been interrogated by Inspector Jayne was filling the doorway with his dark, dreamy good looks. He’d told me he worked at the ALD, but I’d put him out of my mind. Like Christian, in another life, I’d have dated him in a heartbeat. Why, then, had it been Barrons I’d ended up kissing?

“Hey, beautiful girl. Fancy seeing you here. Small world, isn’t it?”