“It very strong. Maybe many human dollars.”

Money meant little to Remy so when he said many dollars I knew he meant way more than I could come up with. I chewed my lip as I tried to figure out how to get the Ptellon blood.

“Bile worth many human dollars,” he offered and I shook my head vigorously.

“We can’t use your bile again or someone will find us.” It was scary just thinking of the bile we had stashed in this cave; enough for someone to kill for.”

Remy paced the cave a few more times then zipped to the mouth of the cave. “Wait here,” he called before he disappeared up the side of the cliff.

“Where do you think I am going to go?” I shouted after him. There was no answer.

I sat near the opening with my back against the smooth wall. The wind moaned through the cave, reminding me how lonely this place was without Remy. I peered down at the ocean churning around the rocks like a great frothing mouth full of sharp teeth. I loved the sea, the wide openness of it, the smells and sounds. It always seemed to call to me when I was near it. One of the old fishermen told me once that he had had saltwater in his veins and he would never be happy anywhere but on the ocean. At times like this I knew exactly what he meant.

Remy reappeared after a few minutes, bearing a small sack of what looked like sticks. I looked at him in confusion before he laid the sack on the floor of the cave and flashed a wide grin at me as he held out his hand. On his palm lay a dozen or more large sparkling diamonds and one small ruby. He pointed to the ruby. “That buy Ptellon blood.”

I peered at the ruby which didn’t look like it was more than half a carat. I didn’t know much about gems but I knew rubies weren’t worth a whole lot.

“A ruby? Is it like magic or something?” I asked him tentatively, trying not to hurt his feelings.

He shook his head like I should know better. “It not ruby. It diamond.”

A red diamond? “Oh. Are they expensive?” It looked like a ruby to me. But then what did I know?

“This enough to buy you plenty Ptellon blood for uncle.”

“That little thing? Seriously?” It didn’t look like much but if Remy said it was valuable I believed him. “Listen, if this is worth so much, are you sure you want to give it to me? Won’t you get in trouble?”

He showed his teeth when he grinned. “Clan have many pretty baubles. You take all diamonds. Save others for when you need them.”

I knew the trolls had great wealth but it occurred to me that their riches were way beyond my comprehension. “It’s like Smaug’s treasure,” I said, tucking the diamonds in the snug front pocket of my jeans. It wasn’t the first time Remy had given me precious stones to use as currency and I wasn’t as dazzled by them as I used to be.

“Smaug?”

It took me several minutes to explain the Hobbit and the dragon sleeping on a mountain of treasure. Remy shook his head when I finished. “Dragons not care about baubles. They only like to eat.”

“Good to know,” I muttered, hoping I never had the opportunity to witness that for myself. I pointed to the sack on the floor. “So what’s with the sticks?”

“This for warding house.” He explained what all the items in the sack were and how to use them to create a ward. It took me a good thirty minutes to memorize the phrases he gave me to recite during the spell and I figured I’d better do the ward as soon as I got home before I forgot something.

When it was time to go, Remy insisted on accompanying me back to town. He stuck to the woods as I rode my bike and every now and then I caught a flash of him in the trees. If he’d wanted to he could have stayed invisible the whole time, but he let me see him so I’d know he was there.

The motorcycle came up behind me as I passed the city limit sign. I did not turn around and the Ducati purred behind me like a big hungry cat all the way downtown. I considered making a run for the door when I got home but apparently Nikolas had anticipated that. When we hit the waterfront he went on ahead and by the time I reached home he was standing by the corner of the building with his arms crossed and wearing a scowl that made me want to turn around and ride the other way. His moods changed so fast it was hard to keep up with them. The angry man waiting for me now did not resemble the person who had given me his coat and watched over me while I slept two nights ago.

“Did you not learn anything the other night?” he demanded, taking a step toward me. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Swallowing dryly, I got off my bike and walked it toward him. “Of course not.” There was no way I could tell him that I’d been quite safe with a troll who could handle any threat to me.

“No?” His eyes darkened. “Do you want to tell me where you had to sneak off to that was so important?”

“No,” I replied, ignoring the command in his voice.

His jaw clenched and I knew he was furious but I wasn’t going to cower to him. I did not have to explain my every move to him.

“There is nothing but woods for miles south of town. What were you doing out there?”

Instead of answering his question, I asked, “How did you find me anyway? Did you put one of those trackers on my bike too?”

“No, but maybe I should.”

“No, you should not!” I sputtered. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not but right now I would not put it past him. “I’m not helpless, you know and I don’t need you guys following me around twenty-four seven. I took care of myself pretty well before you came along.”