The server room beneath the Vance Private Intelligence safehouse was a fortress of freezing air and humming machinery. Bathed in the stark, blue glow of towering mainframe racks, the room felt completely detached from the opulent, lying world Seraphina had just left behind at the Plaza.

It was pas

The Obsidian Club was a relic of old money, smelling faintly of imported cedar, expensive scotch, and the kind of quiet corruption that only thrives in the upper echelons of Manhattan. The lighting was deliberately dim, casting long shadows over the wingback leather chairs and mahogany tables.

Ser

"Speed up, Kaelen. Please."

The armored SUV tore through the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan, the engine roaring as Kaelen took a sharp corner, narrowly avoiding a yellow cab. Seraphina sat in the passenger seat, one hand gripping the grab handle above the window, the other desperately pulling th