CHAPTER 25 THE DINNER OF TEN
Daniel reached Rebecca’s room in less than thirty seconds.
The stranger was gone.
Rebecca remained alive.
A black envelope rested on her pillow.
Inside were five place cards.
DANIEL MERCER — CORRECTION
REBECCA VALE-MERCER — PRIMARY VESSEL
EMILY HALE-MERCER — CENTRAL HEIR
MARA VALE-MERCER — GATEKEEPER
CHARLES WHITMORE — DISGRACED HEIR
Charles had disappeared again during the confusion after Saint Arden.
The Houses wanted him at the dinner too.
The Old Meridian Stock Exchange had been closed since 1987.
At midnight, every window glowed with candlelight.
Ten armored vehicles waited outside.
Daniel’s family entered wearing biometric transmitters provided by Reed.
Federal teams surrounded the district.
No one believed those teams would be enough.
A long table stood beneath the exchange’s abandoned trading board.
Ten representatives sat beneath banners bearing the symbols of their Houses.
Calder.
Hale.
Morrow.
Arden.
Bishop.
Soren.
Locke.
Voss.
Drake.
One empty chair represented Vale.
Another gray chair represented Whitmore.
At the head of the table sat Celia Hale.
She appeared to be in her seventies.
Her white hair was cut sharply around her face.
Emily recognized her from old family photographs.
“You were Vivian’s sister.”
Celia smiled.
“Vivian preferred to call me her mistake.”
“Did you order her death?”
“No.”
“Did you allow it?”
Celia did not answer.
Daniel remained standing.
“Where is Charles?”
“On his way.”
“Why are we here?”
“To prevent a civil war.”
Celia explained that House Vale’s termination had destabilized the biometric network.
Whitmore’s collapse had destroyed intelligence channels.
The remaining Houses had begun attacking one another.
Meridian needed central leadership.
“You want Emily,” Daniel said.
“Emily has the bloodline.”
Celia looked at Mara.
“But Mara has the training.”
Mara’s jaw tightened.
“We are not choosing between them.”
“You misunderstand. We are not asking you to choose who dies.”
Celia folded her hands.
“We are asking you to decide which daughter rules.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Neither.”
The doors opened.
Charles entered between two armed guards.
His face was bruised.
He looked at Emily but said nothing.
Celia invited him to sit in the gray Whitmore chair.
Charles remained standing.
“My House is gone.”
“A House is never gone while an heir survives.”
“I renounce it.”
Several representatives laughed.
Celia did not.
“Renunciation is a legal concept created for ordinary people.”
The lights dimmed.
Dinner was served.
No one touched the food.
Daniel studied each representative.
House Calder’s leader watched Mara.
House Morrow’s leader watched Emily.
House Arden’s representative kept glancing toward Rebecca’s chest.
They did not see people.
They saw access.
Celia raised a glass.
“To succession.”
Daniel struck the glass from her hand.
“We are not joining you.”
“You joined us when you entered the building.”
The doors locked.
Metal barriers sealed every window.
The transmitters connected to Reed’s teams stopped responding.
The old trading board illuminated.
ROOM ZERO AUTHENTICATION
FAMILY PRESENCE: COMPLETE
Daniel understood.
The invitation had been a trap designed to place all five authentication sources in one room.
The black Skeleton Key rose from beneath the table.
Daniel had left it in a federal vault.
Yet there it was.
Celia smiled.
“The Correction has returned home.”
Every House representative placed a hand on the table.
The entire building vibrated.
A circular platform opened beneath the trading floor.
Before anyone could move, the lights went out.
A gunshot broke the darkness.
Then another.
When the emergency lights activated, House Calder’s representative lay dead across the table.
Emily stood beside the body.
Blood covered her hand.
A gun rested at her feet.
She stared at Daniel.
“I didn’t do this.”
The trading board displayed the security footage.
It showed Emily taking the gun.
It showed Emily firing.
It showed her whispering into the dead man’s ear.
But Emily remembered none of it.
Celia turned toward the locked doors.
“The Central Heir has made her first correction.”
The remaining representatives stood.
Daniel stepped between them and his daughter.
May you like
Then he noticed Rebecca’s chair.
It was empty.
