That changed the air immediately. I started. Kara stiffened, and her eyes went wide. Grigor’s brow furrowed, Viktor straightened, and Katya—who’d been standing slightly behind them—stilled completely.
“Taken?” Kara repeated.
“By ARCHEON,” Roman said, glancing in her direction. “They have him and they’re using him as leverage to get to her.” He nodded toward Kara.
At that, Kara’s chin lifted in surprise.
I exhaled through my nose. “You’re certain?”
“I got the message myself,” Roman said, turning to me, his tone brooking no argument. “A British voice. Polite enough but threatening all the same. Said they’d ‘temporarily taken custody of him.’ I don’t do well with polite threats; you know that, brother.”
Viktor dragged in another breath of smoke, then exhaled slowly. “ARCHEON,” he said the name in a low snarl, almost like a curse. “They always did have a flair for the dramatic.”
“They don’t care about you,” Katya said suddenly. Her accent was thicker when she was angry, apparently; Eastern Europeanmaybe. “They don’t care about any of us. They want control. They always want control.”
Roman’s attention snapped to her. “You seem to know a lot about what they want.”
Her jaw tightened. “I run into them from time to time.”
Viktor turned his head slightly toward her. “Careful,kotenok.You’re saying more than you mean to.”
Katya’s gaze didn’t waver. “I know exactly what I said. Maybe it’s time someone spoke up.”
Roman crossed his arms, watching her closely. “Then talk.”
She hesitated, just long enough for Viktor to step closer, his tone softer now, though still edged with amusement. “Don’tmakeher. She’s not your enemy.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed. “You seem to have an awful lot of faith in her.”
Viktor smirked. “Let’s just say I have good instincts.”
Katya shot him a look that was half warning, half affection. “You have terrible instincts,” she said, “and worse timing.”
Viktor chuckled. “I have excellent timing. You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it.
I glanced between them, piecing it together. The familiarity in the way they stood near each other, the way his voice softened when he spoke to her. “You two are involved. With each other,” I said flatly.
“Not your business,” Viktor said easily.
“Right now, it’s every bit of my business,” I said.
Katya ignored me, her voice calm as she spoke to Roman. “You want your brother back? Then let’s work together.”
Roman tilted his head slightly. “And why doyouwant that?”
She studied him for a long second, like she was weighing whether or not to open up more, and then her jaw flexed, just the tiniest twinge of movement.
“I work for the Revenant Group, yes?” she began.
I narrowed my eyes in her direction, trying to see what she was getting at.
“I assumed you did,” Roman countered.
“They aren’t what they pretend to be,” she said finally, voice hushed. “I thought they were the good guys. You see, I grew up in Eastern Europe under a government that ruled with fear and an iron fist. When the chance came to fight back, I signed on with Revenant because they promised change.Realchange. We wanted to topple the old regime, not trade one cage for another. But after the dust settled, the new rulers they installed were even more crooked. I stayed because I told myself I could do more from the inside. In the end, I was just a tool for them… Useful until I wasn’t.”
Silence descended like a thick fog. I watched Roman’s face carefully. He never reacted quickly, never let a muscle betray him, but his fingers curled at his sides, knuckles going white.
