“Have they flagged him in any other country in Europe?” Nadine asked.
“No. Considering his criminal connections and background, we’re operating on the assumption that if Greene has business inside a country, he’ll find a way through the border in question with no one the wiser.”
“And the other two?”
“Targets your government asked us to keep an eye on. The first one is Dillon Rossiter. He’s Irish, and that’s about as much as we’ve got on him.”
Patrick studied the sharp-featured man in the photograph, wondering if his eyes were truly silver or if it was a shadow effect from being photographed. His hair was a riot of curls on top, shorn along the sides, revealing ears that were a shade too pointed at the tips to be fully human.
Patrick and Nadine shared a glance, but they didn’t say a word. Patrick knew he wasn’t the only one thinking about how the fight in the Gap of Dunloe against Medb’s Unseelie Court had ended.
“He’s got fae blood in him,” Patrick said.
“That’s the WSA’s assessment as well. We’ve been trying to track down his lineage, but no luck. The fae have been stonewalling us.”
Patrick crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the photograph of Rossiter. No telling which Court he was from, but if Patrick had to guess, he’d bet all his money on the Unseelie Court.
“He’s your auctioneer,” Leighton said, coming over to their small group with a stack of folders in her hands. She gave one to Patrick and Nadine before offering one to Albert. “He’s known for facilitating the sale of hard to find objects and people of power.”
“People?” Patrick asked sharply.
“The Auction of Curiosities and Exceptional Items consists of anything and everything for sale. To the ones looking to buy from him, people are as much an object as an artifact.”
“Slave trading is abhorrent,” Nadine said as she flipped open the file.
“We’ve never cared for Rossiter’s sort of business ventures. Parliament is adamant we put a stop to the auction before a single sale goes forward,” Albert said.
“That will risk us losing the item we’re searching for.”
Albert eyed them both. “It would be helpful if you told us what, exactly, you’re searching for. Your country’s liaisons haven’t been forthcoming.”
“Our superiors will have to be the ones to answer that for you,” Patrick said.
Albert appeared unsurprised at that answer, even if he seemed annoyed. “We are under no obligation to allow the auction to go forward.”
Nadine offered him a thin smile. “It is my understanding that high-level talks have happened on both sides of our governments concerning this auction. What Rossiter is selling is something the Dominion Sect is very interested in. You know their history, and why that group can’t get their hands on what they desire. Attempting to interfere with the auction and cause the item in question to fall into the wrong hands helps no one.”
Albert and Nadine stared each other down in a bid for dominance Patrick knew his friend would never back down from. Rather than spend hours sniping at each other, he tried to move along the meeting because he had plenty more on his schedule for the day if the update texts on his phone from Sage were anything to go by that morning.
Patrick flipped through the folder until he came to an INTERPOL Red Notice page for the other wanted man. “Who is Ilya Nazarov?”
“The latest Patriarch of Souls,” Nadine said.
Patrick studied the printout, taking in the man’s dirty-blond hair, light eyes, and tall frame. Judging by his name and appearance, Patrick assumed he was Russian, even if the storefront behind him on the picture had a sign in French. The sheet listed out his identifying information, and while his date of birth put him a decade older than Patrick, he looked a little gaunt in the face, making him appear older.
“Necromancer?”
Albert nodded. “All signs point to yes. The UK government doesn’t want him within our borders. He will be tracked down and arrested if chatter indicates he is, no matter your country’s needs.”
Necromancy was a form of magic no country in the world wholeheartedly approved of. Messing with a person’s soul was illegal, doubly so after someone had died. It was a capital crime in the United States, and one of the many reasons Patrick and Jono had to keep their soulbond a secret. The United States government sanctioned and employed a handful of magic users whose magic dealt specifically with necromancy, souls, and the dead.
Necromancers were heavily regulated in some countries, and outright killed in others. The subtle differences in that form of magic wasn’t worth it to most governments to grant life to those magic users. Not all necromancers were bad or a threat though, but the general public would never see the good they could provide for the living.
“We have intelligence that the auction will happen next week. Our analysts are working on uncovering the location it will occur at,” Albert said.
Patrick kept his face expressionless at that information—it was different from what Lucien had told them. Patrick trusted the invitation’s timeline over intelligence guesses at this point. He trusted in Nadine as well, and let her take the lead for the rest of the meeting since this was more her purview than his.
* * *
