Anino returned at 3 AM with a flash drive in his mouth.
Glad stared at it. "You stole evidence from a congressman?"
Anino looked offended. He hadn't stolen it—he'd merely... borrowed it temporarily. Very temporarily. Permanently.
"Okay, okay. Let's see what's on this."
She inserted the drive into her laptop, heart pounding.
The files loaded slowly.
Then she saw them.
Documents. Decades of documents. Department of Supernatural Affairs files—confidential files—detailing every registered creature in the Philippines. Names. Addresses. Species. Weaknesses.
"This is a hit list," she whispered. "If this gets out, every creature in the country is vulnerable."
But there was more.
Emails between Marikit and Dimagiba's office. She'd been feeding him information for months, long before she arrived in Dumaguete. In exchange, he'd promised her something—immunity from prosecution for crimes she'd committed decades ago.
Crimes that included eating humans.
Not medical blood. Actual humans.
Glad felt sick.
"Ariel was right," she murmured. "She's dangerous. Really dangerous."
She called an emergency council meeting.
"This is bad," Luningning said, reviewing the files. "Really bad. If this information goes public—"
"We destroy it," Lakay Ambo suggested.
"We can't. It's evidence of Marikit's crimes. And Dimagiba's corruption." Glad's mind raced. "We need to counter it. Release it ourselves, but strategically."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning we expose Dimagiba's corruption while protecting creature identities. Redact the sensitive information. Highlight his deal with a known criminal."
Congressman Diomedes nodded slowly. "That could work. But we need proof of the deal—something beyond these emails."
"Then we get it." Glad looked at Anino. "One more mission?"
Anino yawned.
He was already planning his route.