It arrived in the compound's morning post, which Cole sorted personally and had sorted personally since Crest's exposure, because the lesson of forty embedded years was that the post was not neutral.
He found it at the bottom of the bundle.
No return address.
Sera's name on the front.
The handwriting — Cole had been studying handwriting in the compound's correspondence for long enough to have opinions — was controlled. Practiced. The handwriting of someone who did not want to be identified by it.
He brought it to Darius first.
This was the decision that mattered — not what the letter contained, but who received it first. Cole had made his calculation in thirty seconds and the calculation said: Darius. Because whatever was in this envelope was going to require a response and the respo
