Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(28)

Regardless, the situation had been messy and, as Amber was clearly hinting, an excellent distraction.

He leaned forward in his seat, his heart quickening.

Amber nodded. “The timing seems like too great a coincidence.”

“What did the mountebank who did the assessment have to say?” he asked.

“He disappeared, along with his nurse. He quit with no explanation as to why, and didn’t leave a forwarding address. He sold his house, but other than that, I can find absolutely no paper trail. Neither can I find any trace of tampering in the files. It is like he and the nurse vanished.”

Valens entwined his fingers, his pulse racing now. This was how he felt when in pursuit of big game. Adrenaline and excitement and a small but healthy dose of fear. The best hunts were in pursuit of something—or someone—as cunning as he. The danger got the blood pumping.

“Go on,” Valens said.

“The Authenticator in question has relocated. He got a better job offer…in Sydney.”

The breath gushed out of Valens. Dara. The bane of his existence.

If they some day added a class six to the power scale, Dara would rank in that small group. Her mother was a mortal Demigod of Zeus’s line, torn down in defense of her territory, and her father was a world-renowned Fire Elemental, who’d gone down right at her side. Dara had survived. Later, through a connection with a man of Hades’s line, she was able to use his spirit power to obtain immortality. The man had disappeared shortly thereafter.

She was a constant thorn in Valens’s side, opposing his proposed legislation at every Magical Summit. The Fire Elemental even galvanized weaker leaders to stand with her. His efforts to foster and encourage non-magical dependency were thwarted at every turn, even simple motions about legalizing certain types of trade with the Chesters. The changes he wished to implement would help all magical people, something she was not interested in hearing. It was madness. He knew that if he needed to go in and extract the Authenticator, she would do everything in her power to block him.

Whoever had sent the Authenticator there would’ve known this.

“Let me guess, he has no listed phone number,” he said.

“Correct. I could not find a way to get a hold of him.”

Valens steepled his fingers. “If Dara were coming after me, she wouldn’t start by cutting down two of my mid-level employees,” he murmured to himself.

“I do not believe she had any part in this.” Her shrug was small. “On paper, everything seems in order. But…”

“No.” He held up his hand. This was why Amber was the only striking beauty he refused to lay his hands on, and why he gave her the loosest leash of any member of his Elite. Many of his employees had genius-level intelligence, but she had something extra. Her extremely potent intuition was rarely wrong. “This is wrapped up a little too tightly, you’re right. It’s strange that a poor class two living in the dual-society zone would be brought in for a reassessment without any reason. Even if the report of the assessment is correct, the mountebank and the nurse disappearing without a trace is relevant. An Authenticator leaving at the same time is also relevant.” He tapped his fingers against his lips. “Very few would’ve delved as deeply as you have.”

“Yes, sir. In addition, there is no video footage of the Ghost Whisperer’s assessment. Given that it was in the surveillance room, of course, something not noted on the report.” She straightened her suit top. “I’m afraid I have more questions than answers for you, sir.”

Valens smiled. It was rare for Amber to admit defeat.

His smile wilted a moment later. The mastermind of this situation was a careful player, and then some. The Necromancer was good, but she clearly worked for someone excellent.

“I agree with your assessment that we should wait before bringing in the Necromancer,” he said. “Shift your efforts. Get more information on the Ghost Whisperer. Nothing else has happened in the last two months to suggest we have a time frame in which to catch the perpetrators. Let’s stalk our prey for the moment.”

“That’s not all, sir,” she said.

He stilled. How much more could there possibly be?

“When she came in for her assessment, she was with a sick fifteen-year-old shifter who got assessed for what the shifters call Moonmoth disease. It’s an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the magic—”

“I’m aware.”

“Not long after, an ‘unnamed’ benefactor sponsored the boy’s treatment.” To Valens’s office, nothing was truly anonymous. Everything left a paper trail. “The kid made a dramatic and eyebrow-raising recovery. He was a strong class four at the time of the surgery, but he’s just about to get his big boost of magic.”

“He’ll be a strong class five, then.”

“Yes, sir. He’s the Wolfram boy. His father was alpha of the Green Hills pack before Will Green took over.”

Valens’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I thought that boy was dead.”

“He has been living in squalor in the dual-society zone. The report indicates he was as good as dead until his ‘unnamed’ benefactor, Jeffrey Smile, sponsored his treatment.”

“Who?”

“Jeffrey Smile. He doesn’t exist anywhere but on paper. Every avenue to trace him led to a dead end. I had our best hacker on it, and he turned up empty. Whoever is pulling the strings on this is better than our best.”