James sat alone at his desk late into the evening, illuminated only by the soft glow of his open laptop screen and a single desk lamp. The room was deathly quiet except for the hum of the computer fan, the soft rustle of yellowed paper, and the soft ticking of a clock on the wall. It had been a few days since he had sat with Aziel, but his work had not slowed down since then. He was still searching, determined to unearth every hidden layer of whatever was happening behind the scenes.
