I snorted softly. "And when there's no proof, you make it up from half-truths or outright lies."
His black eyes glimmered with sudden anger. "I have never concocted a story. You of all people should know that."
I did. I was just being petty and baiting him—not that I was about to admit it. "The secretary obviously knew enough to identify our face-shifter. It's bloody frustrating that his people got here before us."
"Yeah. He seems to know exactly what we're up to. I mean, first Logan, then the photographer, now the secretary—surely it can't be a coincidence that he's killing them in the same damn sequence that we're seeing them."
"We're talking about someone who has shown no hesitation about sending a soul stealer against anyone who opposes his plans to buy up the area around the ley-line intersection. Who knows what other type of dark magic he has at his beck and call?"
"Magic wouldn't reveal our intentions. Not from what I know of it, anyway," Jak said.
I shrugged. I didn't know enough about magic to say whether it was possible or not, but there was definitely some force at work here—even if it was human based. Jak was right—the sequence of the murders very likely wasn't a coincidence.
Awareness surged across my skin, and I twisted around. Azriel appeared with two men in tow. Both of them were pale and wide-eyed with terror. Obviously, the journey through the gray fields had shocked them.
He dropped them unceremoniously on the floor. They stayed where they fell, breathing but unmoving, meaning he'd restrained them in some way, even if the restraints weren't visible.
His gaze moved from me to Jak. Do you wish me to render him unconscious?
No. I've told him about you. It's easier. Out loud I added, "Did either of the men tell you anything?"
"They're not men—they're Razan."
I blinked. That was something I hadn't expected. Razan belonged to the Aedh—did that mean our face-shifter was either Aedh or in league with one?
"Can't be," I said automatically, even as instinct suggested it very likely was.
"Hate to interrupt," Jak said dryly, "but what the hell is a Razan?"