CORE...
The brief name slipped out, taking barely a fraction of a second, but the very moment it escaped Ethan Caldwell's thin lips, the air in the room seemed to congeal.
Julian Sterling froze, his body going rigid in a heartbeat. This name... how could he even put it into words? It was like an invisible phantom, a vicious curse that had been constantly lingering around his life as of late.
He clearly had no exact idea of what kind of organization it was, having only heard vague whispers of it while accidentally investigating the dark corners related to Dahlia Thorne. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, from deep within his subconscious, Julian had always harbored a profound repulsion and high vigilance toward this name. It was akin to the survival instinct of a small animal catching the foul stench of a predatory beast hiding in the shadows.
