POV: Callum Brennan
Location: The Rookeries
Time: 24 Hours Before Deadline
The foreclosure notices arrived this morning. All three of Isla's shelter locations. Seven days to vacate. Legal. Proper. Devastating.
I'm reading them when Isla enters. She looks exhausted. Hasn't slept in days.
"The food suppliers canceled. Medical equipment providers too. Everyone we've been working with just. stopped." Isla's voice is breaking. "No explanation. Just contracts terminated. Effective immediately."
"It's the dragon. Economic pressure. Vermithrax is squeezing us."
"How do you know?"
"Because it's coordinated. Professional. All happening at once. That's not coincidence. That's strategy." I set down the notices. "Mordaunt warned me this would happen if I refused his offer. Dragons control the e
