"A trap," Ariana repeated. "You're saying the ship let them get close on purpose."
"I'm saying whoever's behind this understood Lucien's nature well enough to predict exactly how he'd react." Renata's eyes stayed fixed on the water. "A blood sample already secured, a ship slowing down instead of fleeing. That's not carelessness. That's an invitation."
"Then we need to warn them."
"How," Mira said, voice tight. "Shout across open water and hope they hear us over the waves?"
Ariana's mind raced, searching for anything useful, any way to reach the small boat now closing the final distance toward the waiting ship.
"Signal fire," she said suddenly. "Something bright enough to catch Lucien's attention even from out there."
Mira was already moving, grabbing an unlit torch from the nearest w
