Page 348 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Roman Sorrenko is waiting inside.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

He’s strapped into the same holding chair as Seth.

No one has patched his wounds, but none appear immediately life-threatening. His silicone cuff has been removed.

The skin beneath it is sallow and sunless.

His dark eyes are fixed on Vasily as they enter.

Lachlan closes the door behind them, securing the room.

Kade touches his radio. ‘Control, confirm eyes, ears and lock.’

Cole answers immediately. ‘Visual and audio confirmed. Door is hard-locked. Recording is live.’

‘Heard.’

‘An audience.’ Roman sounds only faintly like Vasily, his Russian accent almost entirely swallowed by the polished vowels of upper-class southern England. ‘How special.’

He seems entirely at ease.

Kade knows better.

‘Roman—’ Vasily begins but is interrupted.

‘Echo One.’

‘What?’

‘I am Echo One. That’s my name,’ Roman explains patiently. ‘I know why you call me Roman. I know who you are.’ He smiles in a way that makes Kade’s blood run cold. ‘I know who all of you are.’ His gaze moves across them one by one with vivid interest, landing last on Lachlan. ‘I remember everything, but my name is not Roman.’

Vasily’s jaw works, but he nods. ‘Fine. Echo One. I have been…’

‘Do you know why I am called Echo One?’

‘No.’

His dark eyes slide to Blaire, bright with amusement. ‘I bet she does.’

‘I do, yes,’ Blaire answers, standing beside Lachlan with her arms crossed. ‘Echo is the designation reserved for upper-tier, high-calibre Resets. You were the first of them, hence the honour of One.’

Vasily looks at Blaire, confused. ‘How do you know this?’

‘Oh, she’s so clever, this one,’ Roman says with what could, in any other circumstance, be called a happy smile. ‘But the clever ones are tricky. You should watch yourselves.’

Vasily shakes himself. ‘I have been trying to find you.’

Roman settles back in the chair. ‘Yes, you have.’

‘I have been testing the compound for months now. There is no way to remove it. The Resonyx takes four days to fade.’

‘Ah, so you’ll simply wait four days to get your beloved Roman back. That’s a very good plan, little one,’ he praises gently. ‘Very good. Now, here’s a better one. Are you listening?’

The room is so quiet Kade can hear the thud-crunch of his own pulse.

‘Your Tower sits upon the same geomantic anomaly that kept Harker hidden from Master Penhalyx all those years, much like the dome preventing him from entering the city. Ley-line energy can be shaped, given will and even taught whom to recognise. The tunnels you built,’ he says to Kade, ‘were designed to draw intruders in, disorient them and deliver them to you for disposal. No one could locate the Tower above ground, not even if they were airdropped on top of it.’