Inside was a silver blade laying on a red silk piece of cloth. Two glyphs were emblazed on the blade; I recognized one of them as a Dakarian Moon, the other I did not know but even the sight of it sent a shiver down my spine.

“A Moon Dagger?”

Moon Daggers were few and far between; no more than a dozen were even rumored to exist. They were said to have been forged from sky metal by a dwarven smith nearly a hundred years ago for an order of sorcerers that had been destroyed in the Three Sabers War.

I personally knew where six of them were; safely buried under several tons of rock in the ruins of the Fulgrham Temple. If this happened to be one of those, then there was a lot more to de Costa than I thought.

“I searched for more than a decade after I first learned of them,” he said. “Then one day I saw it lying on a fishmonger’s table. He accepted a rather large payment and never knew what he had.”

“Some people have all the luck.”

“I want you to use it this very night.”

“On you perhaps?”

“I’m sure that would please you to no end. Before you try, I would suggest that you look at what else is inside that casket.” He moved over to a bookcase and picked up a small statuette, running one hand across its surface.

I lifted the cloth and found a pair of small hand mirrors. De Costa nodded, indicating that this was what I was looking for. Hefting one of them I stared deep into it and felt my heart drop out from me.

Instead of my own reflection I saw my daughter. She was asleep. In the other one I saw my son. Both children were seemingly undisturbed. A small dark spot hovered over each, gradually shifting form into that of a dagger, identical to the one lying in front of me.

“Those are echoes of the Moon Dagger. I assure you that neither of those fine young people will come to any harm; they will simply sleep the night away,” said de Costa. “Provided you do as I have requested. The spell that I am weaving will require the heart blood of the house of de Costa. You have two hours to plunge that blade into my sister’s heart. If you don’t, those blades in the mirror will plunge into your children’s hearts.”

“You slimy bastard.” It took all my concentration to control myself. Losing my temper would not save my children. “I should use this on you.”

“I wouldn’t. I crafted the spell so that should anything happen to me, then the knives do their work,” he said casually. “As for my sister, with her defenses, I can’t enter her sanctum, nor she mine, without an invitation. Trust me; neither of us is going to be issuing the other one of those. Now, be on your way, the moon is full. I need her blood spilled with the dagger while the moon is full.”

He picked up the two mirrors and looked into their surfaces, smiling.

Given the minimal amount of time involved, there was no way to plan a quiet way into the house of de Costa’s sister, so I opted for something simple and straightforward-I went in the front door.

It wasn’t barred and there was no sign of any guards. Given the siblings’ magical interests, that didn’t surprise me, any more than the distinct feeling that I was being watched from the moment I crossed the threshold.

If I believed de Costa, then his sister would be asleep in the master bedroom, toward the rear of the house. He seemed to think that I should be able to waltz right in, carve her like a goose and wander away at my leisure. I, on the other hand, had my doubts about that plan.

“Why don’t we have a drink and talk about it?”

I had barely stepped into her bedroom when Layra de Costa spoke. Like her brother, she seemed able to turn up when no one expected her.

It took a moment for me to locate her, sitting in a large thronelike chair just to the right of the bed.

“I’m not going to insult you by assuming that you don’t know why I’m here.” I said.

“Lady Sable, you’re quite direct. I like that.” That she knew my Guild name made me wonder just how many people had paid The Widow for information about me.

I suppose I expected Layra de Costa to make some sort of magical gesture and conjure up a globe of light or some such thing like that. Instead, I heard the very distinctive sound of flint being struck, followed by sparks and a shard of wood glowing as its tip burst into flame.

She held it out to the wicks of several candles nearby; the light was enough for me to see her face. Layra de Costa wore green, so dark it was almost black. Her silver-streaked hair spilled loosely over her shoulders. I could see the resemblance to her brother.

“Half brother, actually; our father, shall we say, got around a bit and had a taste for human women. In our cases, two different human women,” she said.

“Interesting, you can read minds.” That would be all I’d need in someone I had come to kill.

“Not actually; it just seemed a logical thing that you might wonder,” she said.

Simple and straightforward, I liked that. I reminded myself that no matter how much I might like her; there was the matter of those two ghostly daggers hanging over my children.

“Did he at least provide you with a reason that he wants me dead?” Layra said, pouring two glasses of wine and passing one to me.

I waited until she had taken a sip before lifting my own, not that I drank from it, but there are ways of appearing to.

“Nothing specific, something about tapping the power of your late father, though he did give me some damn good motivation to follow through on his wishes.” I held my hand on the pommel of the Moon Dagger, its metal now ice cold to the touch, letting her see the weapon.

“Did you see a very old book, with the word Aubic on the cover?”

I nodded and mentioned the fact that touching it had left my hand tingling.

“Our father’s grimoire; then it is obvious that my dear brother has broken the seal and found the spells that were the source of our late father’s power. From what our parent said, it would require the blood of our family to do such a casting,” she said.

“Wouldn’t your father have had to have a Moon Dagger to do it in the first place?”

Layra reached down to the side of her chair and brought out a blade identical to the one I held.

“He had one,” she said.

“It figures,” I muttered, then I let fly with the Moon Dagger.

I probably should have been a lot more discreet, given the large bag I was carrying, when I went back to de Costa’s villa. I wasn’t in the mood for subtlety; I just wanted to make sure my children were not within reach of his slimy fingers one minute more than they had to be.

De Costa was behind his desk when I entered. “Welcome, Lady Sable, welcome,” he said. “I trust all went well and as I requested.”

“It did, and I have brought you proof of my deed.” I laid the bag down on the floor, near the bookcase with the sliding panel. Very carefully I untied the ropes at the top and pulled it open. In the dim light Layra’s face was pale as her head rolled lifelessly to one side.

“Unnecessary; her blood on the Moon Dagger would have been sufficient. If you felt you had to bring proof, I would have been happy with just her head,” he said. “Oh, sweet sister, I’ve never been more pleased to see you.” For a moment it was as if the two of them were alone in the room.

De Costa came around the desk and toward the body. I stepped in between him and his goal.

“Hold it right there. You get her, and I frankly don’t care what you do with her,” I said. “But only when you fulfill your end of the bargain by taking those ghost daggers from my children’s throats!”

I watched his jaw tighten as he stared at me, unblinking. I already knew that he wasn’t used to people telling him what to do, and didn’t like it when it happened, but I didn’t care. I was prepared to do some serious damage to him if that was what was necessary to keep the children safe.