Lysander, Envoy of the Onyx Court, stood cloaked in shadow on a high balcony overlooking the glittering, indifferent lights of the city nearest the Argent Moon territory. The night air was cool, carrying the scents of human exhaust fumes, restaurant grease, and the faint, ever-present thrum of mortal lives – scents most vampires found either enticing or contemptible. Lysander found them merely… useful. He reviewed the reports from his agents – human thralls mostly, their minds subtly bent to his will, providing mundane surveillance that wouldn't trigger werewolf senses or Aegis Corp algorithms. Dr. Elias Thorne remained within the Argent Moon outpost, confirmed by fleeting glimpses during supply runs and Sentinel shift changes observed from extreme distances. He was undeniably under the A

