Chapter 19 #2
Serapis swore under his breath. "I knew Agrippa had been in contact with her, like he had started to get his hooks into Liddell, but I didn't think she had the mirror.
Her scrying abilities grew very quickly over a short period.
I saw her acquiring items with a history of use in necromantic practice, and I suspected he had turned her toward his purpose, but this is proof.
He wouldn't have been stupid enough to tell her the significance of the mirror, and while she had it, he knew exactly where to find it. "
Altun absorbed this without visible reaction. Any mention of her sister usually shut her down completely, and Frederica hated that she had to deal with it again.
"Except because my sister didn't know what it was, so she sold it, and he must have lost it again," Altun said eventually.
"It doesn't matter now. What matters is that it will be at an event in Vienna in two days' time.
Private, invitation-only, the kind of gathering that doesn't officially exist. I can get two invitations, but that's all.
Dario, this is going to need your particular skillset. "
"What kind of event is it?" he asked.
"A private party and auction," Altun said with a slow smile, "The sort of place where the 'right' kind of wealthy and entirely unscrupulous couple attracts no attention whatsoever. Which is why I can't send Kon and Athena."
"Hey! I can be as discreet as a nun," Athena replied indignantly, making Frederica snort with laughter.
"That's not the issue. Unfortunately, both of you and Kon are too well-known in the rare and magical artifacts scene. Frederica and Dario aren't," Altun replied with a soft laugh. "That's what you get for being too good at your job, Edgeworth."
Frederica looked at the obsidian mirror in the photograph on her screen, its surface swallowing the light, and somehow containing a piece of a Renaissance sorcerer's soul sealed in silver.
Vienna. Two days. She would be spending all of them in close proximity to a man she had hoped to get some space from for her own sanity.
"Fine. Send me the details, and we will get it done," she said to Altun because she knew it wasn't the time for personal feelings.
Serapis cleared his throat. "Do be careful, nipote. If we know about the mirror resurfacing, Agrippa does too. He will have people there to buy it or steal it, one way or the other. Agrippa would have trained them well. The best thing to do is avoid attention and watch each other's backs."
"Not a problem, Zio. Frederica's backside is her best side," Dario replied with a grin.
"Dick," Frederica said and flicked him in the side of the head, making him laugh. Altun raised a single brow that said she knew exactly what had happened between them. They all said their goodbyes, and the screen went dark.
"You take care of transport, Alesci. I need to go call Rodrigo," Dario said and disappeared from the hotel room.
Frederica took the moment alone to take some steadying breaths. Why did it have to be him to make her feel like…like this? She shouldn't be this undone over a single night of shagging.
Frederica stared at the roof and thought of the first time she had looked at Dario through her rifle scope in Rome.
She had heard so many rumors about the Colleoni family that she didn't know what she expected, but it hadn't been him.
Her usually steady sniper's pulse had gone erratic when Dario had smiled politely at the piece of shit politician she was there to kill.
So beautiful, she had thought, before a surge of pure mischief had risen in her and she had carved the heart into the bullet casing.
'From Rhodes with love, asshole,' she had whispered to the bullet before loading it.
When Dario had left the room, she had taken the opportunity to blow his client's head and Dario's reputation to pieces. She had left the casing behind just to mess with him. It felt like a fucked-up version of Come Play with Me. Now, she knew exactly how fun he was to play with.
"Thanks Past Frederica, you bitch," she grumbled. Despite the confused mess of her insides, he had been the best fuck she had ever had in her life. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone.
Frederica's phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was a group chat that she had with Giana and Athena.
Athena: Wake up, Giana! I think Freddy Baby has finally fucked Dario.
"Oh, nooo," Frederica whispered, trying to delete Athena's message. No luck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Giana: What??? When did this happen?
Athena: Last night. You should see all the concealer she's wearing. Dario looks like a big cat that got lots and lots of girl cream.
Fred: I'm wearing concealer because I felt like it, asshole.
Athena: You don't ever feel like wearing makeup. You are hiding things. Poorly, I might add. You need a different shade to hide bruising, sweetheart.
Fred: Fuck you.
Giana: Sounds like she's sensitive when it's her sex life under discussion, Athena.
Athena: Probably not the only thing that's sensitive if Dario's dick matches the rest of him.
Fred: Keep talking about his dick, and I'll tell Kon.
Athena sent a row of laughing emojis with eggplants and water sprays. Frederica giggled, despite the red that was blooming over her neck and face.
Athena: Easy, tiger. I'm not prying, but I just need to know the answer to one iddy biddy question, and then I'll drop it.
Fred: What?
Athena: Are the Colleoni balls as magical as you hoped?
More laughing and upside-down heart emojis from Giana. Assholes.
Fred: Fuck you.
Fred: And yes.
Athena: Love to hear it. Dante will be thrilled to be right.
Giana: It's one of their best inherited qualities.
Fred: I hate you all. It was a one-time thing, and just easier than going out to pick up a stranger.
Athena: If you say so.
Frederica stared at the screen for a full minute before pulling up the message feed again.
Fred: What color concealer am I supposed to use?