CALLUM
The message arrives through my assistant at midnight. Human courier, nervous as hell, delivering folded paper like it's a bomb.
I read it three times.
"Mordaunt has the dhampir. It's a trap. Come anyway, you lose. Don't come, she dies. No good options. From a friend in Parliament."
Valentina's captured. Being used as bait. Rescue equals death.
I crumple the paper, throw it across the room.
"Fuck."
Tom picks it up, reads it. His face goes pale. "Callum, you can't. It's obvious trap."
"I know it's a trap." I pace the safe house. Can't sit still. "Doesn't change anything. Valentina's in there."
"And you going gets you killed." Isla appears in the doorway. "Suicide won't save her."
"Neither will abandoning her."
"There has to be third option." Isla sits down. "Think strategic
