The heavy silence that followed Marcus's voice on the speaker phone was broken only by the crackle of the static line. Asher didn't say another word. He simply cut the connection with a sharp flick of his thumb, his face unreadable as he tucked the device back into his pocket. He didn't look at the Mayor, nor did he look at me. The atmosphere in the study had shifted from a tense political debate into the quiet, calculating stillness that always preceded the arrival of the vanguard.
"Stay here," Asher said, his voice dropping into a register that brooked no argument. He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt, the dark stains on his sleeves a grim reminder of his own morning, and walked out of the study to meet his men downstairs.
