The elevator descended in silence as Cyrus's mind raced through the web of connections that had been forming around them.
The timing of everything was too perfect.
The trafficking ring Kane had stumbled into, the break-in at his apartment targeting the Whispering Shard, Rina's exposure to the synthetic binding agent—all of it designed to draw them deeper into Elias's trap.
Madam Xiu's cryptic riddle about the healing shard, delivered with theatrical mystique.
How convenient that she'd known exactly what they needed to hear and pointed them toward where the mercy fragment might be found.
Bob Holloway's bumbling charm, arriving with precisely the right documents at precisely the right moment.
The scared son rebelling against his father's criminal empire—but last night's performance at the pier had revealed the truth beneath that facade.
Even the water dragon's attack served a purpose beyond testing Cyrus's abilities.
