THE SUMMONED:I
471 Words
CHAPTER 2
Elias Vale had walked this earth long enough that he had practically seen it all. Nothing could catch him off guard, and nothing surprised him.
But all that was about to change.
He sat at the head of a twelve-seat conference table carved from a single slab of dark walnut, listening to a senator outline a redevelopment proposal that had already been decided three days ago.
The air carried the faint scent of polished wood and expensive cologne. Crystal glasses of water stood untouched before each guest. A screen behind him displayed projections, profit margins, projected growth percentages over the next ten years. Numbers that aligned exactly as he had intended.
Elias did not look at the screen.
He did not need to.
Tall, composed, dressed in a black suit that fit him like it had been designed on his skin, he rested his hands lightly on the table. A dark watch circled his wrist. No rings. No unnecessary decoration. His face was calm, almost detached, sharp features softened only by the stillness in his pale eyes.
He already knew how this meeting would end.
The senator would agree to the environmental concessions publicly while privately approving the zoning exemptions Elias required. The venture capital partner to his left would hesitate, then follow the numbers. The foreign delegate would ask two careful questions and accept the answer Elias had prepared for him before he boarded his flight.
Ten steps ahead.
He preferred it that way.
For years, nothing had caught him off guard. Not in business. Not in politics. Not in the quiet wars that unfolded beneath the surface of both.
He listened to the senator speak about community investment.
He was reaching for a crystal glass of mineral water when the first hook caught him.
It was not a sound or a physical blow. It was a cold, violent ripple that started in his marrow and tore upward through his spine. It felt like a ghost reaching into his chest and squeezing his heart with fingers made of ice. The glass in his hand stayed steady, but the water inside it trembled.
He had severed every bond. Erased every trail. There were no covens left who remembered how.
His fingers tightened against the table.
He had not felt that call in centuries.
Not since blood and smoke had filled his lungs on a battlefield he refused to remember.
He ignored it.
The senator finished his sentence. The venture capitalist leaned forward.
“As you can see, Mr. Vale, the long-term return—”
Elias inclined his head slightly. “Will exceed your current portfolio average by seven percent within three years.”
The man blinked. “Yes. Exactly.”
Of course it would. Elias shifted in his seat and tried to continue speaking, but the pull came again.
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