Christian stroked his beard. “He said only one man knew their whereabouts, and this fella is in it for their money. I don’t know how anyone would be able to steal their fortunes, only that this is likely the person who hired us. I suggested maybe Borislav was behind it, but he said they didn’t know each other’s whereabouts. Only our Mr. X did, and Li Han gave me the name Ronald Frazier.”
Viktor immediately stood and paced toward the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on the right wall. He stared at the books for a long time, his arms folded.
“Do you think we should finish what we started?” I asked. “Knowing that the person behind it is using us to commit a crime for their benefit? Granted, it’s a crime against an outlaw, but where does that leave us if someone finds out? Are they gonna think we conspired with this person?”
“There is bigger concern,” Viktor said, crossing the room and stopping in the middle. “Ronald will wonder if, in the end, one of these three men gave up his name. I am not afraid of a human, but he is consorting with Lenore Parrish, and she is a powerful woman.”
“Do you think she knows?” Christian asked, staring at the floor.
Viktor ran his hand through his silver hair. “I would be a fool to assume she does not. I did not understand their match at first. Lenore is a very particular woman who cares about her reputation and who is a good match. There is no human powerful enough that she would associate with them. Lenore does not care about money; she cares about reputation and power.”
I noticed Viktor was no longer calling her Miss Parrish anymore. Sometimes it was the little things that gave away a person’s stance. It was also nice to see that he recognized her motives. Caring about one’s reputation and holding power weren’t nefarious traits, though it explained a lot about this whole setup.
Viktor sighed. “I felt something was amiss at the hotel. I did nothing to be shunned by her.” He clenched his fists and paced. “Where was Lenore’s jewelry in our collection? How did she regain her life? She never returned to the mansion, and yet somehow her curse was broken.”
Christian and I remained silent. Telling him the truth would mean admitting we scrubbed his memories of a few small things, and that would be unforgivable in his eyes. With everything going on at the time, neither of us had considered that little detail about her necklace. Obviously nothing got past Viktor. That proved you could remove a man’s memories but not his intuition.
Viktor approached the roaring fire and put his hands on the mantel. “What is it she is conspiring?”
“Perhaps to steal Ronald’s fortune once he acquires it all,” Christian suggested. “If they were to legally marry under human laws, she would inherit that money upon his death, and humans die so quickly. She might also be charming him to do her bidding. It’s one thing to be rich; it’s something else to amass the lifetime fortune of three powerful ancients. Who better to steal from than criminals?”
“Money can buy power if you have enough of it,” I said. “She could pay off officials to pass certain laws or remove ones we have in place. Or maybe hire someone to take them out so she can fill those seats with people she trusts, people who are more loyal to her than the law. She’ll probably dabble in philanthropy and charities to give her more credibility. It would be harder for people to believe that someone who does charitable work could be involved in criminal activity. She might even make slander punishable by death so no one will speak out against her.”
“We have one problem.” Christian crossed his legs. “We can’t prove any of it.”
Viktor returned to his seat. “I will have Wyatt find everything he can on this Mr. Frazier. What he does, where he comes from, and what work he has done for Breed. He must be important man if the oligarchs trust him. Lenore said he was banker.”
“Most of us don’t use human banks,” Christian pointed out.
“Da. Perhaps he made a compelling offer. These oligarchs are of the Old World, and it is not easy to acclimate to change. Perhaps he persuaded them to invest. Or perhaps he suggested they combine their wealth. What he told them is of little consequence. I cannot imagine a human alone would know where and how to find these men. They are here for a reason, and we must recover it.”
“Uncover,” I said, instantly hating myself for pulling a Gem and correcting him. “What about the third oligarch? What if Mr. X—or Ronald—contacts us with his location? Do we finish the job?”
“Nyet.” He unfastened a button on his sweater jacket. “If there is a plan to eliminate us when we complete job, I do not want to hasten this. In order to catch big fish, you sometimes need another fish. As much as it troubles me to allow Borislav to keep swimming, we have obligation to protect the integrity of the laws. Not to speak of our own integrity. We did not know we were aiding in a crime. Now that we have more information, we cannot turn a blind eye. There is no crime in capturing or murdering Borislav as he is wanted man. But if that capture financially benefits another, and that money is not distributed the legal way, that is problem.”
Despite his calm demeanor, Viktor was clearly upset. Aside from his broken English, he was speaking about Lenore in a way I’d never heard before.
Christian stroked the whiskers on his upper neck. “I wager he never wanted a piece of the reward. That was a ruse.”
“He might take it to throw us off,” I said. “Otherwise it might look obvious that he’s up to something, and he wouldn’t want us feeling uneasy about the transaction right off the bat.”
“I can track him down and charm him,” Christian offered.
I tucked my cold fingers beneath my legs. “Can the higher authority even punish a human? Sparrow committed his crimes as a Mage,beforeI stole his immortality, so that was different. But Ronald’s protected by our laws, not subjected to them.”
“He is in a grey area,” Viktor agreed. “That is what makes this scheme so clever.”
I remained quiet, allowing Viktor to work it out in his head. Once again, Lenore had someone else doing her dirty work. And we couldn’t prove her involvement without charming Ronald. We weren’t supposed to use our gifts on humans. “Can we find out if he’s really a trusted human? I know Lenore said he was, but is there a book somewhere that has all their names? Maybe that would change things.”
“I do not know that it would matter,” Viktor replied. “They cannot lock away a human in a Breed jail even if heistrusted.”
“Aye. Perhaps they can erase his memories.” Christian rested his elbow on the chair and tucked his fist beneath his chin.
Viktor sighed. “If we expose them, we expose our team in the slaying of the powerful three. If we turn in Mr. Frazier, we will have to confess to the crimes. Even if we are not punished, this is not an acceptable plan.”
“Technically we’ve only killed two,” I pointed out, my thoughts all over the place. “Who is the bigger threat? A man who’s been living in hiding for hundreds of years, or a higher authority member who’s acting as a puppeteer, murdering for money? I can’t imagine that would make anyone feel safe at night knowing someone in power is picking off people to steal their fortune.”
“We still do not know the facts,” Viktor said. “There may be someone else involved, or perhaps Ronald is the mastermind.”
