"They wait," Arden said. Understanding arriving in his eyes.
"They've been waiting thirty years," Ryke said. "They can wait longer. If the price is too high."
"You want to be too expensive to fight," Mitch said.
"We already are," Ryke said. "We just have to make sure Aldis knows it."
Mitch looked at the wall.
At the twenty-three-page pitch document.
At Arden, who had read it in twelve minutes.
"The meeting," he said slowly, "doesn't just need to show them our strength. It needs to show them our depth." He was building it as he spoke, I could see the framework assembling. "Not people. Connections. Resources. The fact that Daven is here. The fact that Corva is here. The fact that we have intelligence they thought they were the only ones with." He paused. "If they walk in thinking they
