The letter from Margot sat on the windowsill, and Ariella took a final look at it, silently vowing to her absent daughter, We will fix this. I will ensure the world is safe for you, my love. Then, she closed the heavy wooden door behind her.
In the library, now a makeshift war room, Ariella laid a map on a long oak table already filled with papers, photos, and a softly humming laptop.
The late morning sun streamed through tall leaded glass windows, highlighting dust particles that danced above the piles of documents — the intelligence gathered over weeks in preparation for their counterattack.
Leo stood beside her, along with two others who had become vital partners in this battle. To Ariella's right was Samuel Ortiz, a former investigative journalist who had discovered the Order of the Black Veil years ago and had committed himself to their downfall. He was a lean man in his fifties, with silver hair and keen eyes behind thin glasses.
