“Shall I start singing Andrew Lloyd Webber?” the gnome asked with a grin. “About love and it changing things?”
The tomb raider shot a glare at him. “If you can’t give me something to make sure James is safe, then give me something to make sure I can really fuck with the other guy. Best defense is a good offense and all that.”
Tubal-Cain chuckled. “Ah, well, now that I can do. Just remember all the warnings I’ve given you about magical artifacts?”
“If I turn into a bird saving James, big fucking deal.”
“Very well, then. Follow me.” He waved his arms. “Squint.”
“Huh?”
“Squint.” The gnome nodded toward a wall. “That way.”
Shay turned her head and squinted, and a doorway appeared. She blinked.
“You’re letting me into your inner sanctum?” She eyed the gnome, surprised at the risk he was taking.
Tubal-Cain let out a sharp laugh and shook his head. “Inner sanctum? Hardly. This is just the overflow. Don’t get too excited.” He moved to the door and opened it.
Shay stepped inside. Piles upon piles of boxes, bags, and sacks of every material and design filled the large chamber. The lounge she’d just been in appeared to be larger than the main shop, and this room was larger than both of them put together.
“Is this on Earth?” Shay asked.
The gnome snorted as he started burrowing through a pile of boxes. “Do you honestly expect me to answer that?”
The tomb raider shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Tubal-Cain started throwing boxes over his shoulder. “Where was it…or did I sell it to that annoying elf?” He pulled out a small black metal box. He shook it, and something light bounced against the thin walls. “Here we go.” He nodded to himself, a satisfied look on his face.
Shay eyed the box. “What’s in there?”
He walked over to Shay and raised the hinged lid. A large jeweled scarab was in the box.
“What was with the shaking? Weren’t you worried about damaging it?”
“Oh, no. It’s far more important to make sure it’s in a resting state. It’s a real bitch when it’s not, and the box gets opened.”
Shay eyed the scarab. “Wait, this isn’t just an artifact, then?”
Tubal-Cain gave her a wide grin. “Oh, no. This isn’t a beetle, but it’s still very much alive, and very, very hungry. This little fellow can chew through pretty much anything, and I mean anything, including magical shields. It’s also very, very tough. It was created here on Earth, in your ancient Egypt, with the aid of Atlantean magic.” His smile disappeared. “A question remains whether it was supposed to be used as a tool for waste management or something far darker, but given how the Atlanteans were, I’d suspect the latter.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, so it’s a super-beetle that can eat anything. How do I…control it?”
“I’ll write down the incantation for you phonetically. I suspect you don’t speak Old Egyptian.”
“Nope. Somehow I missed that in school.”
Tubal-Cain let out a dark chuckle. “It’s easy otherwise. Shake the box to make sure it’s not active. If it is, you’ll hear it in there scurrying about. If that’s the case, you’ll have to wait for at least a half-hour.”
“So it can eat through anything but not that box?”
“Everything in the world has a weakness, but be aware that the box isn’t that impressive. It can be easily damaged by anything other than the beetle.” The gnome closed the lid and handed the box to her.
Shay shook the box but didn’t hear any scurrying. “Okay, shake it. Wake it up with the incantation. Anything else?”
“You must see the target in your head as you use the incantation. This is where things get dangerous. You must be very specific and focused when invoking the scarab, or you’ll send it after the wrong target. If you’ve done everything properly, it’ll consume the target but nothing else.”
She frowned. “And if I screw up?”
“Well, let’s just say I recommend you only use this scarab once, and only when everything else has failed.”
Shay stared at the box. “This sounds pretty dangerous. You sure you want to give it to me?”
“No, but I will.” The gnome smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Good luck, Miz Carson. I pray that you never need the scarab. And you owe me one large favor.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Shay smiled, her arm around James’ waist as they stood near Peyton’s oven in Warehouse Two. They had just gotten through the introductions, since this was the first time Lily and Brownstone had actually met. Now Lily and Alison leaned against a table, chatting.
“We’ve been talking about moving out of the tunnels,” Lily explained. “Especially since I have a lot of money now. We’ll maybe get some decent work set up for the rest of the tunnel kids; you know, like information broker stuff. They could work on that while I’m doing tomb raiding. Harry’s already been trying to make it happen, but a little money and a permanent place to live would help, I think.”
James chuckled. “Maybe Tyler could use some subcontractors.”
Shay nodded. “I’d feel a lot better if you weren’t living in tunnels. Look, you’ve seen the kind of money tomb raiding brings in. Even if we didn’t get the big score in Montana, you still got a nice cut of the money the Professor paid me. You’re not some poor urchin who needs to steal to survive anymore. I get that it can take money to get established, but you have that now, more than enough, and Montana’s not going to be the last job.”
Alison smiled at Lily. “Before I went to the School of Necessary Magic, I didn’t think about magic other than my sight. Now I can do all sorts of spells. Maybe if you get established, you know, above ground, you all could look into enrolling at the school.”
Lily nodded slowly. “I’ll have to mention it to Harry.”
“Pizza is beyond cooking,” Peyton began. He was strutting around in an apron and a tall chef’s
