The rain over Mount Valen felt like ice needles, but the voice through the satellite receiver was even colder."A blood-feud?" Caleb asked, his tone level as he stared into the dark valley below.A dry, arrogant chuckle echoed through the line."Did you think a backwater city like Riverdale was big enough to hold the secrets of the Sterling bloodline? Vivian's mother carried something that belongs to the Valerius Clan of the Imperial Capital. As of ten minutes ago, the Clan Council issued an Imperial Extraction Decree. Fifty enforcers are already surrounding the Sterling family manor.""Who are you?" Caleb demanded."I am Dominic Valerius, Third Regent of the Imperial Clan. If you want your little wife to see the morning sun, bring the jade heirloom to the Riverdale docks before three in the morning. Come with an army, and we will slit her throat before your boots touch the pier."Click.The line went dead.Caleb lowered the satellite phone. The glass screen cracked under the sudden f