“Sagash and Crystal,” I said. “So you think this was aimed at Anne specifically?”
“So far I’d say this has features in common with a targeted attack. Random abductions by strangers are very rare. The way it was carried out combined with the fact that our tracers haven’t been working would suggest advance planning.”
“Do you think—?”
“Excuse me?” Sonder said. He was giving me an annoyed look. “Could you let me finish, please?”
Luna raised her eyebrows. I sat back in my chair.
“Thank you,” Sonder said. “As I was saying, I think Crystal should be our primary suspect. She did something like this to Anne once already and she’s got a clear motivation for trying again.”
“It wasn’t Crystal who snatched Anne in Fountain Reach,” Variam said with a frown. “It was Vitus.”
“She was still involved.”
“Ah, question?” Luna said, raising a hand. “Isn’t Crystal wanted for murder?”
“Yes, that’s the point.”
“So the Council hasn’t found her, or they would have tried and executed her already, right?”
“Yes . . .”
“So if they can’t find her, how are we going to find her?” Luna asked. “And if we can’t find her, what’s the point of making her a suspect?”
“It’s just the most logical possibility,” Sonder said. He was looking harassed again.
“Last time Crystal used a shroud,” Variam said. “Why not this time?”
“She can’t move as freely now. There’s no reason to—”
“Let’s move on,” Caldera said.
“Right,” Sonder said. “The next possibility is the rakshasa Jagadev.”
Luna and Variam shared a surprised look as Sonder wrote JAGADEV on the board. “Didn’t he sponsor you and Anne?” Luna asked Variam.
“He fell out with her afterwards,” Sonder said. His eyes flicked to me. “There were . . . issues.”
“Yeah, but he still helped us,” Variam said with a frown. “I’m not saying I like the guy, but . . .”
I stayed silent. Variam and Anne didn’t know why Jagadev had banished them, but I did. In fact, I was the one who had made it happen. And Sonder (as far as I knew) was the only other person who knew the secret, given that it was his research that had uncovered it.
But Sonder stayed quiet. “There are reasons to be suspicious of Jagadev,” Caldera said when Sonder didn’t speak. “I can’t give you most of the details because you’re not cleared for them. No, not even you, Variam. Let’s just say that the Order of the Star has abundant evidence that Jagadev is mixed up in some very shady stuff.”
“Is he being investigated?” Luna asked.
“Jagadev is very careful never to be directly implicated in anything,” Caldera said. “He works through proxies and cat’s-paws. He’s suspected of being connected to half the high-profile magical crimes in the country, but we don’t have any proof. And he’s got influence on the Council. Investigations which target him have a bad habit of getting their resources pulled.”
“He sounds almost as impossible a target as Crystal,” I said.
Caldera shook her head. “Jagadev’s not untouchable. Someday he’ll slip up. We just need to be patient.”
“What about Sagash?” Variam said.
“The final suspect is Sagash,” Sonder said, writing the last name on the board. “So far there’s been no evidence of any connection between him and Anne—”
“You mean since we shot our way out of his shadow realm?”
“Maybe you ought to tell them the story,” Luna said, intervening before the conversation could get derailed further.
I looked at Variam, as did Sonder and Caldera. “Fine,” Variam said, obviously reluctant. “Back when Anne and I were in school we had a teacher who was a sensitive who wanted to be a mage. She got her hands on a focus somehow and started Harvesting kids.”
“Is this in Keeper records?” Caldera asked.
“No,” Variam said shortly. “People died and so did she—we didn’t know at the time, we just thought she’d gone somewhere else. A few years passed and then Sagash showed up. Turned out the teacher had been his ex and he was pissed. He snatched Anne right out of school and took her to his shadow realm, this huge castle in the middle of the sea. Anne was supposed to be his apprentice as payment for the whole thing—she didn’t want to, but he didn’t give her much choice. I went looking for them, I found them, there was a big fight, and we got out. That’s it.”
“Who is Sagash, anyway?” Luna asked. “You and Anne talk about him sometimes but . . .”
“Dark death mage,” Caldera said. “We don’t know much about him, but what we do know matches with Variam’s experience. He’s supposed to be secretive to the point of paranoia—hardly ever leaves his personal shadow realm. Apart from Variam, I don’t know of any Light mage who’s been inside. We’ve had a few reports, mostly from independents who visited at some time or another, but it’s all out of date. Sagash generally stays off our radar, and he’s powerful enough that people leave him alone.”
“Where’s the shadow realm linked to?” I said.
“Never managed to find out,” Variam said.
“Excuse me?” Sonder said. “I think we’re getting off topic.” He tapped the board with the marker pen. “Our focus ought to be Crystal.”
“Screw Crystal,” Variam said.
“She’s the most likely suspect!”
“Do we have anything linking these guys to her?” Luna asked. “Because if not, I’m kind of with Vari.”
Sonder was looking frustrated again. “We don’t have any evidence that they were linked to Sagash either.”
“Right now I don’t think it matters,” I said. Sonder, Variam, and Luna turned to me and I glanced between them. “We don’t have any clue as to Crystal’s location and we don’t have any evidence for Sagash’s involvement. We can’t effectively go after either of them.”
“Which brings us to what we should be doing,” Caldera said. “Sonder and I are going to work the forensic end of this. We’re waiting on lab analysis of the samples we took from the flat, and Sonder’s going to scan other periods to see if we can pick anything up. Honestly, none of you can be much help with that. You can’t help Sonder, and you’re not cleared for Keeper facilities. Except you, Variam, but it’d be probationary and I think there’s something more useful you could be doing.”
Variam looked alert. “The fact that Anne disappeared so soon after her removal from the apprentice program probably isn’t a coincidence,” Caldera said. “It’s likely that the information spread from there to the people behind the attack. If we work on that assumption, then we may be able to find the ones behind it.” Caldera glanced at Luna and Variam. “Luna, if you’re willing to do it, I think you’d be best placed to investigate this angle. You’re the only one active in the London apprentice program, and the other apprentices will be more willing to talk to you. Before you agree, bear in mind that this might be dangerous. You’re not Keeper personnel, so I can’t ask you to do this without your consent and that of your master.”
Luna looked at me. “I’m willing if you are,” I said.
Luna nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Variam, I want you to start checking up on Anne’s friends and acquaintances,” Caldera said. “Concentrate on anyone she’s been in contact with recently, and if you find any leads, report them to me immediately. You will not approach Sagash or anyone connected to Sagash, and that’s an order. Your master seconded you to me for this, and you’ll do what I say or you’re off the case. Clear?”
Variam didn’t look happy. “I get it.”
“You get it, or you’re going to do it?”
“No going near Sagash. I got it.”
“Verus,” Caldera said. “I’m going to need your help for tonight. There’s an audience scheduled to take place at the Tiger’s Palace. It’ll be the largest concentration of Dark mages this month in all of the British Isles.”
“Sounds lovely. How’s that going to help?”
“It’s Jagadev’s club and Sagash is supposed to be on the guest list. That’s two out of our three suspects in one place, and even if they don’t have anything to do with it there’s a good chance someone there will know someone who does.”