Silas delivered the false information the next morning.
Casually. Over coffee. The same table, the same routine, everything exactly as it always was.
He told Callum that Vessa.....without naming her.....had given them a specific legal precedent. A case from eighty years ago where the Biological Sovereignty Clause had been successfully challenged on the grounds of documented pre-existing bond formation. That they were planning to use it as their primary counter when Malachai filed.
It wasn't true.
It was close enough to true to be believable.
Callum listened.
Nodded.
Asked two questions that were exactly the right questions....the ones a man doing his job would ask, not the ones a man feeding information elsewhere would ask.
He was good.
Silas gave him that.
He was very good.
"Makes sense," Callum said. Set down his cup. Picked up the morning schedule.
And moved on.
Silas watched him move on.
Kept his face exactly where it needed to be.
Waited.
