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They found theNightshadeundercover agent in the dining hall.Hawk put his soup spoon down and got up as they approached the table where he was having an early supper.

“Boss.”

“We didn’t mean to interrupt your meal,” Viggo protested apologetically.

“I was almost done,” Hawk said laconically.“I have some news to share.”

Viggo exchanged a look with Solomon.“We heard.Come to my office.”

Hawk had barely begun telling them about the missing thralls when Harriet knocked on the door and entered, her face flushed.

“Sir, we’ve had reports just come in from our agents in Whitechapel and Limehouse,” she announced.“Three thralls went missing in the past week alone.”She placed a stack of papers on Viggo’s desk.

Viggo’s stomach knotted as he leafed through the hastily compiled notes.“Any connection to Lord Fairfax or one of his businesses?”

“No.Different employers, different neighbourhoods.”Harriet tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and hesitated.“There is one thing they have in common though.”

Viggo eyed her sharply.“What is it?”

“They all worked for a noble,” she said awkwardly.

Viggo instantly grasped the reason behind her evident discomfort.

The fact that he and Evander were a couple wasNightshade’s most well-known secret.

“It’s the same for the cases I heard about, boss,” Hawk said with an impassive expression.“There’s something else these disappearances have in common.In every case mentioned, the thralls vanished at night.”

Viggo’s heartbeat quickened.

“Were they alone?”Solomon picked up a report and skimmed it, a muscle jumping in his cheek.

“Yes,” Hawk replied with a nod.“All of them were last seen leaving their employers’ homes or businesses.Heading home, running errands—nothing unusual as far as we know.”

Tension sang though Viggo’s veins.“And the locations?”

“That’s the third thing that caught my attention.”Hawk’s eyes gleamed.“Most disappeared while passing through the wealthier districts of London.Mayfair, Belgravia, Kensington to name a few.”

Viggo frowned.“Areas where nobles live and socialise.”

A fraught silence ensued.

“So they vanished at night, alone, in areas frequented by the magical elite?”Solomon summarised in a hard voice.

“Precisely,” Hawk said quietly.“Places where a thrall might already feel uncomfortable or out of place.Where they might be more cautious, more alert to danger?—”

“And yet still disappeared without raising any alarm,” Viggo finished in a hollow tone.

Hawk nodded.Harriet chewed her lip worriedly.

Heavy footsteps sounded outside.Finn burst into the office, startling them all.His red hair was dishevelled, like he’d been running his hands through it.

“You’re not going to believe this!”he blurted without preamble.“I was just out on the docks.Four thralls have gone missing from the shipping companies there.All of them had the same story as Tom Simmons—resignation letters delivered after they failed to show up for work!”

“Bloody hell,” Solomon cursed.

Dread formed a leaden pit in Viggo’s stomach.“How many does that make now?”

“Including Tom and Katie, and these new reports…” Harriet counted.“Thirteen that we know of in the past three weeks.”