Accepting the contract was like flipping a switch. The vast, shadowy machinery of the Crimson Syndicate began to turn. Its focus was now entirely on him.
Selene's behavior shifted from a seductive purr to the crisp, efficient focus of a master strategist. The game was over. The operation had begun.
"Excellent," she said. A genuine, sharp-toothed smile of satisfaction on her face. "I do love a man who makes decisive, pragmatic choices. It simplifies things so beautifully."
She led him from the grimy tavern to the Syndicate's hidden headquarters. A place in a pocket dimension. Accessible only through a blood-marked door in a dead-end alley.
Inside was a bustling, subterranean complex. A hive of spies, assassins, and information brokers. The nerve center of the Ashen Market's shadow war.
For the next two days, Edward was given a crash course in the art of infiltration. The Syndicate was investing in him. Honing him. He was given detailed blueprints of the Duke estate.
