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CHAPTER 800
Silence stretched between them. Daphne’s eyes scanned the gloom, searching for the source of the voice and the spot where he sat."Guests arrive at the front door," the voice crackled. "Assets come through the back."Wiping a smudge of concrete dust from her cheek, Daphne narrowed her eyes against the harsh, artificial glare.She didn’t look like a victim; she looked like a woman who had finally secured the right coordinates."Assets?" A sharp, breathless laugh rang against the metallic walls. "Is that what I am now? After everything I risked to get past Beatrix’s little army?"Rising to her feet, she moved with the fluid, predatory grace of a hunter. She didn't wait for an invitation; instead, she stalked toward the edge of the spotlight’s reach to peer into the velvet blackness of the far corner."Where are you?" Her voice dropped into a low, intimate hum. "The digitized voice was a nice touch, but it’s getting old. I didn’t run through the docks to talk to a speaker."A soft click
CHAPTER 800
Silence stretched between them. Daphne’s eyes scanned the gloom, searching for the source of the voice and the spot where he sat."Guests arrive at the front door," the voice crackled. "Assets come through the back."Wiping a smudge of concrete dust from her cheek, Daphne narrowed her eyes against the harsh, artificial glare.She didn’t look like a victim; she looked like a woman who had finally secured the right coordinates."Assets?" A sharp, breathless laugh rang against the metallic walls. "Is that what I am now? After everything I risked to get past Beatrix’s little army?"Rising to her feet, she moved with the fluid, predatory grace of a hunter. She didn't wait for an invitation; instead, she stalked toward the edge of the spotlight’s reach to peer into the velvet blackness of the far corner."Where are you?" Her voice dropped into a low, intimate hum. "The digitized voice was a nice touch, but it’s getting old. I didn’t run through the docks to talk to a speaker."A soft click
CHAPTER 799
Tedmond’s gaze turned serious, a slight frown touching his face. Though he knew the risks, he wasn't going to let the families walk over his own, begging for mercy. He was beginning to wonder if this entire cycle of violence had been fueled by the lack of a true successor in the past. He was determined to settle the score before Bianca reached adulthood or he had children of his own."I know it’s dangerous, Thomas," Tedmond said, finally meeting the old man’s eyes. A slow, predatory grin spread across his face, a look of pure, unadulterated mischief that didn't belong on a man of his standing."That’s exactly why I’m going. They spent years hiding in the shadows of the Mediterranean, playing God with my mother's life. Now, they’ve invited the devil to their dinner table because they think they can control the seating chart."He let out a short, sharp bark of a laugh. "They think they’ve invited a guest. They don't realize they’ve invited the consequence."Persis stepped forward,
CHAPTER 798
The heavy doors of the dining room creaked open with a groan that echoed the tension still hanging in the air. Thomas stepped inside, his expression unreadable, his gloved hands carrying a silver tray. Upon it sat a single envelope of thick, cream-colored vellum, sealed with deep crimson wax: a stylized waves-and-anchor crest.Tedmond didn’t even look up from the map he had been mentally burning into the table. "I told you I was leaving, Thomas. Unless that tray contains the Architect’s severed head, take it away.""I’m afraid it is a different kind of head, Master Tedmond," Thomas said, his voice as smooth as polished bone. He moved to the side of the table, lowering the tray just enough for the light to catch the gold-embossed lettering. "An invitation. Hand-delivered by a courier who looked far too much like a soldier to be a simple messenger."Tedmond’s hand froze. He reached out, snatching the envelope and tearing it open with a violence that sent the wax seal skittering acr
CHAPTER 797
Daphne didn't flinch. She traced the rim of her gold-edged plate with a long, elegant finger."I think," she said softly, "that we are forgetting that Tedmond isn't the only Washington who has changed. Persis has been in the gym for a week. Maya doesn't train people to be subjects; she trains them to be executioners.”“If we abolish the rules now, we aren't just starting a war. We are removing the only leash that keeps Tedmond from burning the ports to the ground just to see the light.""The rules exist to protect the Architect," Cordelia snapped. "But the Architect hasn't sent a signal in forty-eight hours. We are holding a line for a man who might already be a ghost."Beatrix stood up. The movement was so fluid she seemed to simply lengthen."The rules will be abolished," Beatrix said, and the room went cold. "But not by us. We will let Tedmond do it. We will let him come here, alone, thinking he is the hunter.”“And while he is busy looking for coerced parties and evidence, we wil
CHAPTER 796
Further along sat a woman whose hair occupied the pale edge of red, a color that couldn't quite decide between strawberry and gold, worn long and loose in a way that suggested either effortless informality or a deliberate statement. Beside her, another woman’s hair was darker: nearly burgundy, nearly wine, the kind of red that exists only in certain lights and vanishes in others.Red. All of them. Every woman from one end of the long table to the other.They were eating. The meal was well underway, courses in progress with the quiet, particular business of a formal dinner. Hands reached for glasses and set them down. A woman near the center inclined her head a fraction toward her neighbor. A fork was placed on the rim of a plate with care that made no sound at all.There was no conversation.It wasn't the strained, deliberate silence of people choosing not to speak, the kind of quiet that fills a room with discomfort and makes the air feel pressurized. This was different. Thi
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