Chapter 7 #2
"I don't know if we should tell them about Morosini until we know he's connected to Foscari. I don't want Rodrigo to get wind of the name before we have the full picture of who he is, in case we are wrong."
Dario paused with the phone in his hand. "Rodrigo should know there are two clients."
"Rodrigo should know everything or nothing.
Half a story will send him straight into combat mode, and we lose any chance of working this carefully and using Morosini as a lead to find Serapis.
" She gave him an uneasy look. "We don't want your brother going nuclear on some random old rich guy because he just happens to have regular buying habits like Serapis.
We call Kon, and when we know it's really connected and not my sleep-deprived brain, we call Rodrigo with something concrete. "
"Fine," he said, giving in to the wisdom of it. "Kon first."
"Dario, why are you in Rhodes?" Kon answered on the second ring.
"How do you know that?"
"How do you think? You didn't come home from a night out, and Leo tracked your phone."
"Of course he did. Nosey little shit," Dario replied with brotherly affection.
"So what's going on?" Kon asked.
"I need you to tell me about some objects. Magical properties, function, and what they'd be used for. I'm going to send you a list of things Tore stole."
"Okay, send them and give me ten minutes," Kon replied and hung up.
Dario took a photo of both lists and texted them to him. Frederica had pulled her chair back around to her side of the table and was reading through the Morosini folder again.
The ten minutes passed. Despina brought bread, freshly made hummus, and olives to the table and didn't ask what was happening, which told Dario she already knew and had decided to feed them through it.
Kon called back, and Dario put him on speaker. "Tell me. I got Frederica and Tore here too."
"The first list is containment and binding work.
Defixiones, sealed vessels, and knot relics are all objects used to hold something in place.
Keep something from getting out, or getting in.
The reliquary, specifically, can act as a lock on a magical working if the seal is intact.
It doesn't need a relic inside it. The vessel itself is the point because it can act as a prison.
" Kon paused. "If I had to guess, someone is running an active containment or trying to build one. "
"Just as you thought," Frederica said, bumping her shoulder against Dario's.
"I'm not just a pretty face." Dario smiled at her. "And the second list, Kon?"
"The second list is more worrying. Power stores.
Amplifiers. An unbinding stone, which is rare enough that I'd want to know where Tore found it.
These are objects you'd use to accumulate magical energy or break something that's been locked down.
These two lists are in direct opposition.
It's like whoever owns the second list is trying to undo whatever the first list is holding together, or vice versa.
What is all this? I thought you were just looking into Serapis's acquisitions? "
"I was. This is someone else that Baba was stealing for, and I noticed a pattern," Frederica replied.
"Who is the client? If I don't know them, Altun and Julian will."
"Not too sure yet, but I'll call you when I know more," Dario replied.
"I'd appreciate that." Kon's voice turned cautious when he continued, "None of those objects are modern, so whoever it is thinks that old ways are the best ways.
Don't sit on this name for too long. Even if this client isn't connected to Serapis, they are worth watching just because they could be dangerous. " He hung up again without a goodbye.
"The Basty of Istanbul sounds like he knows you're full of shit. I'd give him what he wants," Tore commented from where he stood by the window.
Dario set the phone on the table. "I will, because he's family, but the last thing I want is to bring more trouble to their door by pissing off some guy with too much money and influence."
"Morosini spoke perfect Italian, but sometimes, when he was thinking out loud, I heard something underneath it. German, maybe?" Tore said.
"And Morosini was the only name he gave you? It's pretty common," Dario asked him.
"It was all I needed. He paid on time and never tried to haggle," Tore replied with a shrug. "We didn't exchange pleasantries."
"Tomorrow," Frederica said, rolling out her neck.
"We go back through the Morosini correspondence.
Every letter, every note. There could be something I missed that proves he is linked to Serapis or the other player he hinted at when he was possessing Vincenzo that day.
If it's just a weird coincidence, then we leave him be and let Kon keep tabs on him if he is still feeling paranoid. "
Dario nodded and then glanced at Tore. "Do you mind if I stay another night?"
"All depends. Are you going to cook again?" Tore asked hopefully.
"Only if Despina doesn't mind."
"She doesn't," the lady of the house said from somewhere deeper in the hallway.
Dario looked to Frederica. "What are you hungry for, Spartana?"
"Something with lamb," she said without looking up from where she was writing notes.
"Lamb it is," he replied and did his best to pretend he wasn't thrilled at the idea.
Tore gave him a wink behind his daughter's back, and Dario didn't know what to do with the heat that flushed up his neck. If Frederica's father noticed him blushing, he was nice enough not to mention it.
Dario tried to push the heat away, picked up his phone, and started ordering more clothes, toiletries, and supplies for delivery.