Outside the grand hall, beneath the cold night sky, I bought a new communicator and dialed a familiar number.
“Before the market opens tomorrow,” I said calmly, “I want Alaric destroyed.”
There was a brief pause.
Then a deep voice answered, unwavering. “Understood, Miss Ashcroft.”
I ended the call and looked up at the moon, a slow, frost-cold smile spreading across my lips.
Alaric—you thought you’d won.
Too bad.
The real game had only just begun.
And since you showed me no mercy—
Don’t expect any in return.
