“Agreed.”
“You said you would block transmission only if it risks immediate war.”
“Yes.”
“Define immediate.”
“Seventy-two hours.”
“Define war.”
“Active hostilities between Ashenmere and any other clan or sovereign government.”
“That gives you a lot of room.”
“It gives both of us a lot of room. That’s the point.”
I looked at the paper between us.
Yuki slid it across the table.
I read it.
Miss Cordero — / Trust this finds you well. Items to discuss at your earliest convenience. / J. Davis.
“The note arrived at the consulate gate at oh-six-fourteen this morning,” Yuki said. “He sent it twenty minutes after your council update.”
“He has my schedule.”
“He has someone’s,” she said.
“I haven’t responded.”
“Good. I will.”
I picked the black phone up off the table.
“You understand what you’re doing?” Yuki asked.
“I’m giving Davis exactly the access he assumes he already has, and not one inch more.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m buying time.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m betting that the longer I stay in this compound, the more I’ll know what I’m willing to use that access for.”
Yuki tilted her chin a quarter inch.
“That’s the bet I would make.”
She rose. At the door, she paused. “Catalina.”
“Yes?”
“The note arrived on the morning of Lord Solberg’s access window. Davis is reading every cable that crosses the embassy. He likely knows what Rhain looked like leaving your corridor today.”
