It was beautiful. Terrifying. And meticulously designed.
"There will be encrypted comms. Facial recognition. Live AI monitoring. Backup plans on top of backup plans. Only guests with verified power, secrets, or blood oaths will gain access."
Someone at the table whistled low.
Ash didn't smile.
"And you will all keep your mouths shut. Officially, this event doesn't exist. It never will. Only the survivors will remember what they sacrificed… or stole."
A quiet chill swept the room.
I sat perfectly still. Processing. Memorizing. Drowning in details I wasn't sure I was qualified to even hear.
And yet, somehow, I was here. In the room.
There was something disturbingly familiar in the way she spoke. Strategic. Unapologetic. Calculated like a chessboard with no empty spaces. And I hated that the voice in the back of my head whispered she's like you. Worse, she's like him.
Kael.
