They looked up as I entered, their eyes darkening with a possessive heat that made my stomach flutter. Roman’s gaze swept over me, an appreciative smile spreading across his face. Lev’s face was more intense with a hungry look that made my skin tingle.
“Sleep well, Kara?” Roman grinned and Lev’s eyes sparkled with heated intent.
“Like the dead,” I said. “What’s the plan?”
“Get dressed,” Roman said. “We’re meeting Dmitri and the others. Katya’s finally ready to talk.”
“About what?”
“About how we end this,” Lev replied. “For good.”
The drive through Dubai felt surreal. It was too bright outside, almost like the world was pretending it hadn’t burned last night. We crossed the causeway back to the mainland, the skyline glittering like a thousand knives. When we finally pulled up in front of the Revenant tower, its mirrored surface caught the sun and threw it back at the city in a blinding glare.
A man in a dark suit escorted us through the lobby and up to the top floor. The elevator doors opened onto a penthouse made of glass and shadow. Everything was sleek, expensive, and sterile. Revenant’s taste in décor matched their business model: beautiful, soulless, and impossible to trust.
Dmitri was already there, standing near the wall of windows. He turned as we entered. For a second his gaze met mine, and his expression softened.
“You’re late,” he said.
Roman clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome. She’s alive, we’re breathing, and ARCHEON learned not to mess with us. I’d call that a win.”
Viktor lounged on the couch like he owned the place. “Barely,” he said.
Katya was by the bar. She looked immaculate—white blouse, dark slacks, not a hair out of place—but the strain around her mouth told another story. She glanced toward the heavy glass doors that led to the balcony, then back at us.
“Outside,” she said. “Now.”
Roman arched a brow. “What, you’re shy all of a sudden?”
Her voice dropped. “No. I don’t trust the walls in this building.”
That was enough to get everyone moving. The balcony doors slid open, and the dry desert wind rushed in, carrying the faint salt of the gulf far below.
Katya waited until the doors closed behind us before she spoke. “Revenant’s next step is the drone handoff. Officially, we’re to oversee the sale and ensure the shipment reaches the buyers intact.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed. “Buyers meaning?”
“An extremist faction operating out of Moldova,” Dmitri said quietly. “Revenant thinks they can profit from the chaos for whatever they have planned.”
Lev folded his arms. “So, we stop the sale.”
Her mouth curved, humorless. “No. We let it happen.”
Roman frowned. “Come again?”
“We complete the transaction,” Katya said. “Revenant gets their spectacle, the terrorists get their toys… but we make their toys explode before they’re ready for it.”
I blinked. “Explode?”
She met my gaze, calm and lethal. “Every drone is equipped with a failsafe—remote detonation wired into the guidance core. If we alter the frequency, we can make them self-destruct the moment they’re activated. It will look like a weapons malfunction. The terrorist group takes the blame, and Revenant’s involvement becomes impossible to hide.”
Roman let out a low whistle. “That’s not a plan, that’s a headline.”
Katya’s expression didn’t change. “It’s also the only way to cut them off. If we try to expose them, they’ll bury the evidence. But if the whole world sees their technology turned against them…” She trailed off, eyes cold as glass. “They lose everything.”
Lev’s gaze flicked to Dmitri. “You buying this?”
Dmitri studied Katya for a long moment. “You’re gambling a lot of lives on a theory.”
