Page 3 of Control's Undoing

“Bram Stoker,” Colum confirmed.

“Oscar Wilde was married to Bram Stoker.Damn.”Owen shook his head.

“They weren’t subtle about the falling out.Well, Oscar wasn’t,” Franco added.“But luckily the public assumed Oscar had been in love with Florence and was upset she chose Abraham.”

“I thought Oscar Wilde was gay?”Hande asked, frowning.“If I’m thinking of the right man.”

“Bisexual, though he was tried and convicted for being gay,” Colum replied.

Owen leaned forward, expression pinched in thought.“But Wilde got married at some point, didn’t he?”

“He did, to a nonmember.By that point, he was ignoring all orders from England’s admiral at the time.”Arthur winced.“According to England’s records, his refusal to obey orders was one of the reasons the Masters’ Admiralty didn’t step in and stop him from going to trial and subsequently to prison.”

Everyone took a moment to process that.

“What’s the problem?”Hande asked.“Did he tell his wife about us, and his great-grandchild is going to say something?”

“As far as we know, Constance Wilde never had any idea about the Masters’ Admiralty.”Arthur looked at Colum, brows raised in silent question, asking if his information was wrong.

Colum shook his head.“It’s not that.There are rumors going around on the dark web about a recently discovered Oscar Wilde manuscript.”

“I found them,” Franco added proudly.“The rumors.And I knew to tell Colum about them becausewe’re sharing information.”

Colum eyed his friend.That was a bit ham-fisted way to lay the foundation for what they wanted to ask later.

“Colum, why does that matter?”Eric asked.“Is therea recently discovered manuscript?”

“Yes, there is.I know because the archive has part of it.The first part.”

Silence descended.Franco cleared his throat and leaned over.“You have to tell them what it’s about if you want them to panic and freak out.”

“Ah, right.”Colum looked around.“The manuscript is a tell-all book about the Masters’ Admiralty.”

“I have a concern,”Hande said twenty minutes later, after Colum and Franco had outlined the intricacies of the Oscar Wilde issue, including why they needed to involve the Trinity Masters in what seemed like a Masters’ Admiralty issue.

Franco knew he’d been talking too much, and too fast, based on the way his husband Devon’s lips were twitching, but he was excited.Colum too had grown animated as they outlined what they’d discovered to date.Franco was a little disappointed Juliette had said he couldn’t be the one to investigate with Colum.Her exact words were something along the lines of, “No, you can’t go on a scavenger hunt with your best friend.We have work to do.”

“What’s your concern?”Eric asked Hande.

“We only know about this potential threat because those two are talking about things that maybe should be a secret.”Hande tipped her chin at Colum and Franco.

Franco grinned.“Great lead-in, thanks.”

Hande looked confused.

Franco looked at Juliette, who nodded for him to go ahead.

“Colum and I want to propose a joint archive,” Franco declared.“A single Trinity Archive that serves both societies.”

Everyone took a minute to digest that.Eric and Juliette were silent, watching their people.Colum and Franco had approached them first, and they were okay with the idea, but unwilling to approve it without at least hearing from other high-ranking members within the societies.Franco had wanted to tell their people back at home, and go in as a united front, but Juliette said that wasn’t fair to Eric’s people.

“A joint archive for things related only to both societies?”Nikolett asked.“Or a complete merging of all our historical records?”

“A complete merge housed here in Dublin because it’s neutral territory,” Colum said, Franco nodding in agreement.

Sebastian Stewart, one of the Trinity Masters’ counselors, was frowning at Juliette.“You can call Dublin neutral, but it’s in Masters’ Admiralty territory.They’d have easier access to it than we would.”

Franco wanted to kick Sebastian, but the other man was too far away.

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