The Stakeholder Protocol

Ellie is home, but not whole. The gaps in her memory don't fit any medical explanation, and the Wardens are desperate to bury the incident before it spreads. Dan should walk away. Instead, he's dragged deeper into the machinery behind Birmingham's canals, where planning permissions double as magical permissions and "community consultation" is just theatre. Glass & Co. escalates its campaign, embedding influence into council language, regeneration projects, and the stories people tell themselves so they can sleep at night. Meanwhile, the Green Court pushes back with older rules, older debts, and a dangerous offer: protection through oath. Caught between bureaucracy and myth, Dan learns the real battlefield isn't the bridge. It's belief. And when the next "stakeholder" goes missing, Dan realises the Protocol isn't about one child. It's about building a corridor through his city.