Alaric
*[Don't agree to anything yet,]* Rook warned, tense, reading the room with the same careful focus I was struggling to maintain against my own rising fury. *[He's fishing. Wants to see how much we'll offer before he even names his actual price.]*
*I know.*
"I don't negotiate hostage situations by handing over blank checks," I told Teller, keeping my voice level despite everything in me wanting to close the distance and end this particular conversation with considerably less patience than diplomacy required. "You want something specific. Name it."
"Straightforward. I respect that." Teller settled back against the wall, unhurried, entirely too comfortable given the armed presence now filling his back room. "I've heard interesting things about your club these past weeks. A President
