Chapter 8

The man turned off his microphone and shared a few cordial words with people in the aisle. He nodded to a security team in the back, then jogged back up to the stage. “It sounds like we’re just about ready,” he said, then paused a moment to build the suspense. Once it seemed thick enough, he grinned. “For those of you who don’t know me… good!”

This elicited more laughter. Nobody knew the identity of the auctioneer, which was entirely the point. The man’s entire purpose in life was to get the highest price possible for the goods on sale while maintaining everyone’s anonymity, including his own. Most of the purchases being made fell into a gray zone, legally. The only reason for this was that magic hadn’t been properly legislated.

“All jokes aside, I will be your host for this evening. We will be looking at some collections that came in recently as well as some new items that I’m sure you’ll find very interesting.” The auctioneer stood quietly off to the side as the curtai