Later that evening, the strategy room in the palace hummed with quiet tension. Maps covered the large table, marked with red lines and notes.
Derek stood at the head, arms crossed, studying the latest intelligence with a deep frown, with Declan at his side, the pair of them tracing routes and chokepoints, working out how best to corner Rolf before the man could slip the noose again.
Kai was propped up on a sofa nearby, a blanket thrown over his legs, still a shade paler but clearly enjoying the chance to be involved again. A few senior gammas hovered around, waiting for orders.
Kai had refused, point-blank, to be left out of a war council, and after days of lying in a place, no one had quite found the nerve to argue with him.
The door opened, and a gamma from the hunting clan stepped in and bowed.
"Your Grace. We tracked Brian's car." He hesitated. "We found it drowned in a river about twenty miles from the borders of The Central."
Derek's head came up from the map.
