"Good."
Kael clears his throat.
"Sir. Before we proceed—there is one additional matter that requires closure."
I turn to him.
"The collection agency," he says. "The entity that contacted Ms. Beck."
My amber veins flare orange.
Tamsin shifts beside me, her hand tightening on the edge of the table.
"What about them?" I ask.
"We have dismantled their operation entirely," Kael says. His tone is clinical. Efficient. "Froze their offshore accounts. Exposed their shell corporations to federal authorities. They are currently under investigation for predatory lending practicestargeting supernatural entities. Multiple counts of extortion. Racketeering. By next week, there will not be enough left of them to threaten a parking meter."
The tension in my shoulders eases fractionally.
"Good," I say.
Tamsin exhales slowly beside me.
Seraph taps her tablet, pulling up a new file.
"There is something else," she says. "During our forensic audit of Sentinel Dynamics' servers, we recovered encrypted communications from Marcus Hale's private executive account."
She projects the files onto the holographic display.
Email headers. Internal memos. Personal journal entries.
"These were buried deep," Seraph continues. "Triple-encrypted. Stored on an isolated server with biometric access restrictions. Hale did not want anyone to see these."
I lean forward, scanning the text.
The first email is dated six months ago.
FROM:Marcus HaleTO:Sentinel Dynamics Executive BoardSUBJECT:Obsidian Aegis Market Dominance
Cyprian's organization has become a monopoly. We cannot compete with an ancient gargoyle who controls both supernatural and corporate security markets. His operational reach extends into government defense contracts, private military consulting, and high-tier asset protection. If we do not act now, Obsidian Aegis will control all supernatural security operations within the next decade. Preemptive measures are not just advisable—they are necessary for our survival.
The second document is an internal memo.
CONFIDENTIAL: EXECUTIVE EYES ONLY
Gargoyles represent an existential threat to human dominance in security contracting. Their physical advantages—stone durability, flight capability, thermal resistance—create an insurmountable competitive gap. If gargoyle-operated firms continue to expand unchecked, human-owned corporations will be rendered obsolete. Sentinel Dynamics must develop countermeasures to level the operational playing field.
The third file is a personal journal entry.
The handwriting is sharp. Aggressive.
Cyprian is an abomination. Eight centuries of accumulated power concentrated in one creature. He does not age. He does not tire. He does not die. His kind should have been extinct centuries ago, but they persist—hoarding wealth, consolidating influence, breeding monopolies that no human enterprise can challenge. The world will be safer when his species is eradicated. This is not genocide. This is strategic necessity.
Silence fills the boardroom.
Tamsin is staring at the holographic display, her face pale.
Commander Vex's jaw is clenched.
