Page 91 of Control's Undoing

Colum chuckled.“Annie says Xavier has black cat energy, and that’s sure enough.”

“Is that right?”Eric tilted his head, and Colum got the sense the man was studying his face…hard.

“Anyway, we tracked down a great-niece who gave us several of Florence’s boxes.They contained her letters, writings, some old books.The last piece of manuscript was found amongst them.It was a bound book; however, it had a fake title and credited the work to a popular essayist from that time period.We’re assuming the book wasn’t appealing enough to encourage any of Florence’s descendants to read it.The title was off-putting enough.Studies of a Sweltan.”

“So, you’ve got the last piece.”Eric looked relieved, though Colum suspected that relief was based more on his safety than concern over the manuscript getting out.Since Josephine’s death, Eric had become quite protective of him.“Good.That’s it, then.You’ve recovered it all.Now the American can fly home, and Xavier?—”

“No.They’re not leaving,” Colum interjected, with more force than he intended.

“Colum,” he started.

Taking a steadying breath, he continued in a more normal tone.“Our work isn’t finished.We recovered what is clearly the final piece, written by Wilde after he served his prison sentence.We believe he wrote it while he was living in France during the final years of his life.However, this section doesn’t line up with the second part of the manuscript, so we think there is another piece—a third part—still out there.”

Eric sighed heavily.“Of course, there’s still more.Amazing how Wilde manages to be a pain in the society’s ass even after his death.Any idea where the third part is?”

Colum nodded.“Actually, yes.Xavier believes Oscar gave it to Bram.Annie was able to discover that there was an auction approximately six months ago, and a lot of Stoker’s things—including three paintings and two sculptures—were included.Since we found the first section in a painting and the second in an old theater prop, we’re guessing this piece was hidden in a similar manner.We’re surmising that the final piece was discovered by the new owner, who is hiring people to find the rest.”

Eric scowled, clearly still angry that the archive was attacked and that someone came after them in New York.“Who won the auction?”

Eric wasn’t going to be happy with Colum’s answer.“An American tech-bro who goes by the name of Dodge.”

“Just Dodge?”

“Yes.”Colum watched as Eric lifted a pen, jotting the name down.

Eric rolled his eyes.“Sounds like a shit wriggler.”

Colum let out an amused snort.It was always funny when Eric literally translated his native Danish curses to English.“Worse than that even.A podcaster.According to Annie, he’s one of those fellas who thinks he knows best and everyone should live their lives based on what he says.”

Eric muttered a curse.“Everyone with a social media account thinks their stupid opinions are the only ones that are right nowadays.”

“It makes sense that Dodge would go to the dark web to see how much a previously undiscovered Wilde manuscript would sell for.He also sounds like the kind of person who would love to be the one to out a centuries-old secret society to his followers.”

Eric reared back in his office chair, frustration rife on his face.“Fan-fucking-tastic.Just as soon as we manage to put one fire out, another bursts to life.”

“We put a fire out?”Colum asked.

“Vadisk’s mission in Crimea was successful,” Eric replied.

At the Trinity Council, Colum’s investigation wasn’t the only one that was assigned.Another was given to Vadisk Kushnir, an MPF member and security officer from Hungary.He and two other members—one from each secret society—were charged with tracking down a blackmailer who was targeting members of the Masters’ Admiralty and Trinity Masters.

“He found the blackmailer?”

Eric started to nod, then paused.“He did.The problem is, he encountered another asshole along the way.Someone else who knows too much about the Masters’ Admiralty.”

“Who?”

The reason Eric and Juliette had started the Trinity Council was because there’d been too many outside threats to the two societies.They’d decided to go on the offensive rather than waiting for the bad guys to come after them.Sadly, there never seemed to be an end to the villains out there, hoping to destroy them.

Eric rubbed his jaw wearily, and Colum noted the dark circles under his eyes.It was clear he wasn’t sleeping.“Someone calling themselves the Spaniard.You ever heard that name?”

“No.”Colum grabbed a pad of paper and made a note of his own.He would do a deep dive into the archive to see if he could find anything on this new enemy.“I can start digging to?—”

“Leave the Spaniard to me,” Eric interjected.“Your mission remains the same.We need to get the rest of that manuscript.I’m assuming Dodge lives in the States?”

Colum groaned.The idea of another transatlantic flight as appealing as a root canal.If he kept this up, his internal clock would simply shut down completely.

He started to insist he could continue his mission and research the Spaniard, but he held his tongue, aware his offer wasn’t because he wanted to help as much as he wanted to stall before continuing the next part of his investigation.The idea of Annie and Xavier spending a few more nights in his bed was more appealing than he should admit.

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