I pressed myself into the narrow alcove beside the door, careful to stay out of sight. There was a vent hidden behind carved molding above my head. It was large enough for sound to travel.
The brothers’ voices drifted through.
Mikhail: “Revenant wants you to go alone?”
Andrei: “Yes.”
Viktor: “That’s bullshit. Why?”
Andrei: “They didn’t say.”
Mikhail: “That means they don’t want her there.”
Andrei: “I know.”
Viktor: “They’re hiding something.”
Mikhail: “Likely. And I don’t like it.”
Andrei: “Neither do I.”
Then Mikhail added, his tone going hard: “But until we know what this meeting really is, we keep her clear of it.”
A chill ran through me.
I backed away from the alcove on soft feet, retreating down the hall before the conversation shifted again.
Back in my room, I closed the door quietly, leaning my forehead against the wooden panel as adrenaline leaked slowly from my veins.
Sleep didn’t come.
I laid awake long after the house went quiet, staring at the ceiling fan slicing slow circles through the air. Every word I’d overheard replayed inside my head. Revenant wanted Andrei alone. Revenant didn’t want me anywhere near that meeting. What were they hiding?
I turned on my side, pressing my cheek against the expensive pillow. It was soft, cloudlike, and completely unfamiliar. The room itself was more than luxurious, with silk sheets, a velvet throw, and thick, deep carpeting that swallowed every footfall. All of it was designed to make me forget what the world was actually like.
But I couldn’t let myself forget.
I sat up, swung my feet to the floor, and pressed my palms to my knees.
I was going to that meeting whether the Dragunovs liked it or not.
They could try to shield me. They could try to keep me out. They could pretend they were protecting me, but I had lived through things none of them had seen. If there was something dangerous behind this trade, something insidious tied to the drones or the ‘client group,’ I was going to find out what it was.
I stood quietly, moving in the dark with the ease of someone who’d spent too much of her life trying not to be seen or heard. My go-bag was already packed, as always. I grabbed theessentials: cash, a change of clothes, a knife, and the little burner phone I kept for emergencies. I dressed in a black shirt and dark pants, as well as a pair of combat boots.
My phone sat on the bedside table, black screen reflecting my face.
If I took it, Revenant would know exactly where I was.
I left it on the table, screen down.
The corridor outside was silent.
I eased my door open and slipped into the hallway. I moved slowly, listening for anything that suggested one of the brothers was awake, but the estate stayed silent.
I snuck down the hallway, hand tracing the railing as I descended the main staircase. Moonlight filtered through the tall windows, illuminating the expensive furniture and artwork in pale blue hues.
I wasn’t going to wake them. I wasn’t going to ask permission. They would only say no. They meant well. They just wanted to keep me safe.
