Liora Daelthorn (Provisional Head of House Daelthorn) POV
Fifteen Minutes Ago
Liora was seated behind her desk, signing papers.
The room was quiet except for the faint scratching of her pen.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw one of the altar candles flicker.
Her hand stopped.
She looked toward the altar.
Six candles burned there.
Each of them represented one of the six Gods bound to House Daelthorn.
Two of them shone brighter than the rest.
One of those bright candles flickered again.
It flickered once more.
And then, it went out.
Liora froze.
Her expression shifted instantly from calm to alarm.
She snatched the telephone from the desk and dialed a number.
"Code Red!" she barked. "Thalwen has disappeared from the Vault! Get an Elder to check it right now!"
The air around her grew tense.
Code Red was a big thing.
It meant a Level 4 emergency, and signified an outside attack that could cause massive casualties to the House.
