The Fire Beneath the Ice
Cassian didn’t sleep.
After Dorian’s appearance at the gala, his mind raced through memories and possibilities like static refusing to settle. Calla had fallen asleep on the couch in his office, still in her gown, her breathing calm despite the chaos simmering just beneath their surface.
He sat by the window, watching the city pulse below them, thinking of the flash drive, the file, the whispered threat: Three days.
In the dead quiet, he reached into the drawer and pulled out a second, nearly identical flash drive — the one he had taken from Dorian’s loft five years ago after he vanished. The one that was supposed to contain everything.
He plugged it into his encrypted laptop.
Encrypted folders. Hidden files. The names of board members, off-shore accounts, bl
