"I will be the decoy. I am one half of the bond, and they will accept the bait."
SILAS POV
The conference room at BlackThorne Security sat like a statement: glass that watched the forest, a table of polished mahogany that swallowed sound, and the quiet hum of systems that kept secrets alive. It was Elias's domain, no ornamentation, no wasted motion an office that announced intelligence as power. Even the air felt curated: Nyra Voss's wards laid over the building like soft skin, the scent of pine and winter herbs braided with the faint, precise musk of Elias himself.
