To defeat him, I had to know him completely.
Three hours until dawn. Three hours until we faced a council with Gideon's spy embedded somewhere in its ranks.
Three hours to understand the enemy well enough to survive what came next.
I spread Mira's intelligence reports across the table. Darius stood beside me. Caleb hovering nearby. All of us running on exhaustion and necessity.
"Gideon's network," I said, pointing to the documented connections. "We need to map it completely. Understand who he's working with. Who funds him. Who protects him politically."
"That's months of intelligence work," Caleb said. "We have hours."
"Then we focus. Priority targets. Key alliances that explain his power base."
Through the bond, Darius sent his wolf's instincts forward. The predator's ability to identify weakness through observation. To understand territory through scent and pattern.
"Start with money," Darius suggested. "Follow funding. That reveals who has stake in his success."
