Nadia's expression suggested amusement, though she didn't smile. She pulled a black folder from her jacket.
Contingency Succession Options (Confidential)
She held it out to him.
Elias brushed off crumbs, grabbed the folder, and stopped when he saw the first name.
Admiral Rowan Beckett.
He felt trapped in the stuffy, ghostly room. His pulse quickened when his past surprised him.
Nadia silently watched his reaction, unseen by anyone else. She saw through his every subtle gesture.
"Eat," she commanded gently but firmly. She pushed the bread plate towards him gracefully. "And read."
He ate another bite to avoid arguing. The bread felt gritty, and his breath caught when he looked at the page.
Rowan Beckett.
Yara Kade.
Silas Monroe.
Callum Ryker.
Mara Elling.
Daniel Harrow.
Every name came with history, ghosts, or potential disaster.
Elias once trusted Beckett with his life, but they hadn't spoken in eight years.
Kade was a disciplined firestorm, loved by the country but feared by the capital.
Monroe was the nation's conscience.
Ryker was a dangerous survivor of the Black Pine Siege.
Elling was terrifying enough to stare down organized crime without blinking.
Harrow was, well, Harrow. He was the obvious pick, yet his wife and he didn't trust him.
Elias reopened the folder, the names weighing him down.
"Okay, spill out, wife. You must have other choice?"
Nadia tilted her head slightly, lips curving in that small, dangerous way that meant she had been waiting for him to ask.
"Oh, I have more than one," she said.
Loretta, standing behind Hale, muttered, "God help us."
Nadia ignored her.
She reached for Elias's water glass, took it, drank without asking, set it back down.
Hale hadn't seen the folder before.
Elias frowned. "What's that?"
"Someone who won't sell you out to Cascadian interests," she said. "They won't break under pressure or betray you."
Hale paled. "We are not putting another outsider—"
"Hale." Elias didn't even look at him. "Shut up."
Hale shut up.
Nadia placed the folder in front of Elias with two fingers.
Nadia watched him without blinking.
"I know what you're thinking," she said softly. "And yes. She's that good. She's better than the entire list the party shoved at you."
Loretta swore under her breath. "Oh hell, you picked her."
Elias closed the file slowly. "Why didn't you bring this name up earlier?"
"You weren't ready," Nadia said calmly. "You needed to see the others first. You needed to see how weak their foundation was."
He stared at her.
She stared back, unwavering. "Elias," she said, voice low and honest. "This pick decides whether you survive the year."
His pulse ticked once, hard. "Does she know I'm considering her?" he asked.
"No," Nadia said. "And she doesn't want the job. But she'll take it…for you."
He closed the folder.
He suddenly felt the weight of Gregory's absence again—the missing voice, the missing anchor.
Elias stood. "We'll talk about the VP later," he said.
He nodded as he gave Nadia the folder.
Nadia slipped it under her arm.
The room was still vibrating with VP arguments when Hale's comm-device buzzed.
One sharp ping.
He went pale.
"Sir, Madam, you must see this."
Elias and Nadia both turned.
Hale gulped and set the tablet down. The security feed sparked on, a jumble of static that was hard to watch.
Catherine Voss stepped closer. "What am I looking at?"
The feed clarified.
It was a hallway, specifically the family wing on the third floor.
Right outside Emma and Lucas's door.
Nadia's breath stopped. Her hand slammed the table so hard Hale jumped.
Elias's blood went ice-cold.
Then a voice came over the speakers: calm, distorted, and with a faint Eastern accent.
"Good evening, President Ward. You're choosing too slowly."
A camera error caused a shadow to appear in the corner. "We're here to help you pick a Vice President."
Nadia took a step toward the screen, predatory, her voice near a whisper. "Where is the Shield Corps? Why isn't anyone there?"
Hale shook his head in terror. "They haven't been sent yet, as per your orders—"
Nadia cut him with a stare that could kill a man twice.
On the screen, the shadow reached for the doorknob.
Emma and Lucas's doorknob.
Elias's heart plummeted. "No."
The voice returned, seemingly amused. "Tick. Tock."
The feed cut to black.
The lights in the Crisis Hall flickered.
Nadia whispered, a sound of rage, terror, and murder. "They're inside our home."