Chapter Three: The Price of an Apex

He fell back onto the floor, a silver-salt burn marking his palm. The three negatives were gone. An open window admitted the dawn. On the sill lay a black envelope containing a new invitation: COMPLETE TWELVE EXPOSURES, AND YOU MAY ATTEND THE MIDNIGHT AUCTION. Shen Yan looked at the waiting list on the wall. “You can't do what he wants,” Lin Wan said. “He took the negatives.” “Then we find him. We don't finish his work.” At the top of the list, the voiceless singer's daughter had attached a note: *Please let Mama sing one more time.* Shen Yan tore down the note, then the whole list. “First we learn what every exposure takes,” he said. “From now on, no secret clients. Anyone who wants to buy an apex gives us a secret first.”