Page 67 of In the Dark

CHAPTER 16

Orestes stared down his secretary with a look designed to make her feel inferior. He’d tenaciously perfected the expression in front of a mirror and performed the beta testing on his wife for the last thirty-five years. It worked every time.

“What do you mean, they were attacked?”

“Just what I said, sir.” Kelsi tugged at her sleeves and refused to meet his eyes. “The four people you dispatched to the Cavaldi residence were assaulted. They’re down with HR in the infirmary. Seems an earth elemental did a number on them.”

“Which. One. Attacked?”

“I’m…I’m not sure, sir. None of them are fit enough to ask, at the moment.”

His instincts, which he considered to be some of the best in his line of work, had warned him that something of the sort may happen. The one time he decided against sending a squadron, and someone in the household decided to fight back. He had a feeling it was Thorvald himself. Interesting.

And infuriating.

Orestes rose from behind his desk. “And they let the girls escape?” He paced the length of his office and fought the urge to tug at his hair. “Let them waltz off into the sunset while their elderly father nearly brought down the house?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“How is it that the boy was easiest to capture, yet the girls… Oh, the girls. They seem to be a step ahead of us every time. Every. Single. Time! Can you explain this to me?”

“Well, he is a null, sir—”

“I don’t give a good goddamn what he is!”

Kelsi felt personally responsible, clear from the downcast set of her shoulders to the way her fingers picked at loose threads on her clothing. She could, Orestes knew, feel so much worse with just a little prompting.

Those damn Cavaldis were becoming more trouble than they were worth. Orestes had awoken nearly frozen to the ground, with no recollection of his dreams and a sour taste in his mouth. The youngest chit was gone, along with the odd man in brown tweed. An unlikely accomplice with an unusual gift.

Orestes intended to figure out who the stranger was and what he could do.

There had been no whispers on the street, no hushed words passed from ear to ear about this newcomer. Which meant a good bit of digging was in order once he dealt with the problem at hand. If the man could not be brought to heel and used for his power, his potential, then he would need to be eliminated.

End of story.

“How can I possibly go on doing my job when I’m surrounded by such incompetence?” Orestes’s voice held a warning. The tips of his ears reddened. “I thought I could trust those under me to do a simple task. Bring in three adult women with piddling magic compared to ours. And here I am with nothing to show for it but four injured idiots!”

“From what I understand, sir, the father is very powerful. He—”

“I know what he can do,” Orestes interrupted, fuming. “I know what happened. There’s no need for you to blather on. Get out of my office. Now.”

The girl shrank back and held up a hand to fend off a second verbal attack. “Sir, I’ve taken the liberty of assigning other Claddium agents. They’ll search for the girls. And the elder Cavaldi is in custody.”

What?

“We brought the old man in?” He straightened the lapel of his tailored suit jacket and sent her an appraising look.

“Yes, sir.”

He returned to his desk. Sank down with a chuckle. “Oh, that is rich. That is rich! They took him down to the Vault, yes?”

She moved from foot to foot and answered slowly. “Yes.”

He permitted himself a full-fledged laugh. It was perfect. Almost as good as having the daughters in custody. Poor old Thorvald. It would be a slap in the face.

Orestes found a perverse sense of pleasure in the other man’s pain.

Some called him ruthless, ice-cold and cruel. He’d never found any of that to be true until that moment. “How utterly perfect,” he murmured.

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