The morning after Nathaniel’s rescue was deceptively peaceful. The Ashford Estate bathed in golden sunlight, as if the storm from the night before had never happened. But Grace knew better.
Peace was a mask.
And masks never lasted long.
She sat in her father’s study, now hers, flipping through a dossier that had arrived at dawn.
A coded warning from a mole within the Council.
The contents chilled her to her core.
THE VERONA INITIATIVE: CODE BLACK.
Grace leaned back, exhaling slowly. “So it’s true… They’re activating him.”
Aria stood by the window, arms crossed. “It was only a matter of time.”
Nathaniel entered just then, leaning slightly on a cane as he moved toward Grace. “I heard whispers. Something about ‘Verona’? What is it?”
Grace closed the dossier and met his eyes. “Not wh
