Evan Rusk did not look like a man who should be trusted with a recommendation.He sat in an interview room at Blue Banner headquarters, one wrist cuffed to a steel ring beneath the table. A paper cup of water stood untouched in front of him. The confidence he had worn at Northbridge had drained away since his arrest, leaving a tired, sharp-edged man who watched every doorway as though someone might come through it with worse news.Captain Finch allowed Adrian and Zoe to observe from behind the warded glass. Mara had objected to the arrangement. Rook had objected louder. Finch had simply said that Wayline would either learn how information was bought and traded or become easy prey for people who already knew the rules."You know a certified hunter willing to join our guild?" Adrian asked through the room speaker.Rusk gave a thin smile. "I know a certified hunter who will not take Helix money, Voss money, or mine. That narrows the field.""Name.""Darius Cole. Aegis Lancer. Second-tier

The five gray dragon scales turned out to be more dangerous than the harpoons.Nora discovered that in the Blue Banner evidence lab when the smallest scale started drinking light from the overhead fixtures. One moment it lay harmlessly inside a glass tray. The next, every lamp in the room dimmed to a sickly yellow and a thread of red aether crawled along the scale's cracked edge."Nobody touch it," she said.Ben, who had been leaning close enough to fog the glass, took three quick steps backward. "I was not going to.""Your hand was two inches away.""That was observation.""That was almost an obituary."Dr. Reyes had joined them at Finch's request. She studied the scale through three different lenses, muttering measurements under her breath. The sample had no living pulse left in it, but it was not inert. It carried a dense aether residue shaped like a command lattice, the same kind of structure that had been driven into Emberwake's collar at Bellwether."These were treated before th

The storm drain smelled of wet stone, rust, and the sour electric scent that lingered after lightning.Wayline moved in single file beneath the service road. Darius led with his aether shield dimmed to a narrow blue wedge. Nora followed close enough to watch the signal monitor. Zoe and Ben covered the rear. Mara's frost kept the water around their boots from rising too fast, while Adrian walked near the center with the Nullstring Bow ready and Ashfang moving soundlessly through the shadows ahead.Above them, thunder shook dust from the concrete ceiling."I have good news," Dorian whispered from somewhere unseen."That is never how good news starts," Ben whispered back."The tunnel splits in two.""That is not good news.""The good part is that only one route has fresh boot prints."Nora checked the monitor. "And only one carries the copied Blackwater signal. Left branch."They took it.The tunnel narrowed, then opened into a long freight gallery buried beneath the old rail system. For