Lucien's expression is unreadable.
I feel my amber veins flare—not orange, but deep, molten gold.
"He was planning to exterminate us," I say quietly. "Not as a defensive measure. As a business strategy."
"Yes," Seraph confirms. "The petrochemical weapon was not a contingency plan. It was the primary objective. Hale intended to deploy it regardless of whether Obsidian Aegis posed an immediate threat. He viewed your existence as inherently destabilizing to human corporate interests."
Tamsin's hand finds mine under the table.
Her fingers are trembling.
"This is insane," she says. "He was going to commit genocide because he was losing market share?"
"Correct," Kael says. "Hale's motivations were entirely economic. He believed that eliminating gargoyles would restore human dominance in the security contracting industry."
I close my eyes.
Eight hundred years.
Eight hundred years of survival.
Of isolation.
Of paranoia.
And it was justified.
Because humans like Marcus Hale see us as threats to be neutralized. Not because we are dangerous. But because we aresuccessful.
I open my eyes.
"We are going to destroy him," I say. "Not just his company. His reputation. His legacy. His entire existence. When we are finished, Marcus Hale will be a cautionary tale about what happens when you threaten my mate and my species."
Tamsin squeezes my hand.
"Damn right we are," she says.
Tamsin leans forward, studying the holographic security layout.
"Wait," she says. "You're planning to extract the ledger from Hale's private executive suite on the third floor, right?"
"Correct," Kael says.
"And you're assuming the bio-engineered enforcers will be stationed at the primary access points—elevators, main stairwell, service corridors."
"Standard protocol for high-value asset protection," Kael confirms.
She taps the holographic display, zooming in on the third-floor layout.
"What about the secondary stairwell?" she asks. "The one that connects directly to the kitchen service level?"
Kael frowns.
"It is a service route," he says. "Likely monitored, but lower priority."
"Exactly," Tamsin says. "Which means if you trigger an alarm on the main floor, Hale's enforcers are going to flood the primary access points. But if someone—say, me—creates a distraction in the ballroom that pulls security attentionawayfrom the executive suite, you'll have a narrow window to move through the secondary route before they lock it down."
Silence.
