The morning light crept over the estate with deceptive peace.
Valentina sat in the Council chamber alone, flipping through the sealed records they’d unearthed last night. Her father’s letter had been folded carefully and tucked into her jacket pocket...close to her skin, close to her soul.
She’d slept for barely an hour, but her mind had not rested.
They were running out of time.
She was no longer fighting for vengeance alone. This war had become something deeper.....an unmasking of the real enemy, one that had been pulling strings in the dark for far too long.
Silas Vane.
A name whispered in shadows, thought to be long buried beneath the rubble of older wars. Yet he’d returned, and not as a ghost, but as a serpent...silent, coiled, waiting to strike.
The door opened softly.
“Good.
