The letter arrived at midnight.
I found it on my desk, slipped under the door sometime during the night. No return address. No postmark. Just my name scrawled across the front in familiar handwriting. Julian's handwriting.
I opened it carefully, my instincts screaming that something was wrong. The message was short. Simple. Devastating.
Leon. I know you're angry. I know you're confused. But I need you to understand. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. To protect the city. To protect the future. The equation isn't a weapon. It's a shield. A shield against the chaos that's coming. Meet me at the old cathedral. Midnight. Come alone. Or everything you've built will be destroyed.
I stared at the letter for a long moment, feeling the cold spread through my chest. Julian was still
