A brief pause follows. “I was informed.”
Of course, he was. Nothing that happens on this property escapes him.
“How is Lila?” he asks.
I glance toward her. She’s watching me closely while holding her tea between both hands.
“She’s okay. No strain on the wound.”
“Good.”
There is a brief pause on the line before I ask the question that has been waiting since the gunfire ended. “What happened at the depot?”
His exhale travels softly through the phone. “The operation is finished.”
The words hang in the quiet room like a change in pressure.
“Ivan?” I probe.
“Dead.”
I close my eyes briefly and lean my head back against the sofa. The man who set so much of this chaos in motion will never threaten anyone again.
Lila studies my expression carefully.
“I take it the explosion worked,” I murmur into the phone.
“Yes.”
His voice remains calm, though fatigue sits beneath the surface of it. “The depot and everything inside it are gone.”
Kiren speaks again. “This isn’t finished.”
My eyes open slowly. “What do you mean?”
“We knew Ivan wasn’t the one behind everything,” Kiren replies after a moment. “He was useful to someone. Ambitious enough to build what they needed.”
I sit forward on the sofa, my fingers tightening around the phone. “But tonight gave you something,” I murmur.
“Yes.” The single word holds quiet certainty. “I have a clearer picture now of who’s been guiding him,” he continues.
A shiver runs down my spine. “Do you know who it is?”
“I have a name in mind.” The careful phrasing doesn’t escape me. Kiren rarely speaks that way unless he’s already working several steps ahead.
“Which means,” I say slowly, “this war isn’t over.”
“No, it isn’t.” His voice leaves no room for doubt.
Outside the window, another patrol vehicle glides along the perimeter road while guards move through the snow beneath the floodlights.
“You should sleep,” Kiren adds after a moment.
A faint, tired smile touches my mouth. “That might take a while tonight.”
A quiet breath of restrained amusement reaches me through the phone. “Try.”
“I will.” I pause momentarily before I speak again. “Be careful tonight.”
