The Black Cord learned of Serrik's capture before Malrec decided which lie to tell.
He arrived at his office shortly after dawn and found a length of black cord stretched across the inside of the door. No knot held it in place. Both ends had been fixed to the frame with narrow steel pins.
Malrec stopped in the corridor.
The signal did not accuse him of anything. It ordered him to leave the office untouched and report to the chamber where the organization examined its own failures. Ignoring it would turn suspicion into certainty.
He descended through Ironcloud alone.
The chamber occupied the rear of a bathhouse that had closed for repairs three years earlier. Steam still moved through its pipes, masking voices from anyone listening through the walls. Malrec entered without weapons because the guards at the concealed door would have taken them anyway.
