At the end of the hall sat a pair of double doors—sleek, matte, the kind of black that swallowed the light. The agent pressed his palm to the scanner, then stepped back.
“She’s expecting you.”
She.
Not he.
Interesting…
I stepped inside.
The office was a cathedral of glass and steel. Two entire walls looked out over London, making the rest of the world feel small. The décor was minimal: a glossy black desk, a rack of digital displays showing lines of encrypted data, and a single abstract painting in the corner with violent strokes of crimson knifing through a field of white.
The room was silent except for the soft hum of the climate control system. A high-backed chair faced the windows, occupied by a slender silhouette. As I entered, the chair rotated slowly.
And then, there she was, ARCHEON’s director.
My eyes searched hers, and neither of us backed down from the other.
Where most sought to project menace, she exuded power. Her dark hair was pulled back into a severe twist. She wore a tailored charcoal suit that suggested a blade sheathed in silk. Her eyeswere a cold, stormy gray that made even the glass behind her seem too soft.
She smiled. A small, elegant curve of her lips, polite yet dangerous.
“Mr. Mikhail Dragunov,” she said, her British accent crisp and controlled. “We appreciate your promptness. Do sit.”
I didn’t sit.
She cleared her throat expectantly and still, I stood, looking down at her, holding the disparity of power between us by sheer positioning alone.
“How can I help you today, Mr. Dragunov?”
I inhaled slowly, letting London’s frigid cold seep into me. “You know why I’m here.”
My words turned the air between us to ice.
The director leaned back in her chair, studying me like a puzzle she intended to dismantle piece by piece.
“You’ve come a long way,” she murmured.
I kept my tone flat. “Someone interfered with my operation and tried to kill two people who are very important to me. I want to know whether it was your people or Revenant.”
She studied me a long moment, fingers tapping once against the glass table. “If ARCHEON wished you dead, Mikhail Dragunov, you would not bestandingin my office right now.”
“Are you confirming that it was Revenant then?” I pressed, ignoring her inflection.
She rose from her chair and moved to the window, her silhouette framed by the city sprawling far below.
“Tell me, Mr. Dragunov,” she said without turning. “Exactly how far are you prepared to go to get your answer?”
My answer was immediate.
“As far as I must.”
CHAPTER 2
Present day
Viktor Dragunov
