Page 14 of Dark Rebel's Fortune

The officer who took his passport barely glanced at it, his eyes unfocused as he stamped the document and handed it back without a single question.

A tense moment came when a uniformed guard approached their group, his hand resting casually on his holstered sidearm. Max maintained his outward composure while readying for potential trouble. The guard's eyes passed over them, and then he simply nodded and continued on his patrol.

They cleared customs with surprising speed, emerging into the arrivals hall where dozens of people were waiting with signs bearing the names of those they were meeting. Max scanned the crowd, looking for their contact.

"There," Kyra murmured beside him, her voice muffled by the fabric covering her face. She subtly nodded toward an older man holding a sign in Farsi script.

"What does it say?" Max asked quietly.

"Yamanu's fake name," she replied. "That's our contact."

The man spotted their group, smiled, and dipped his head. He looked to be in his early sixties, with a neatly trimmed white beard and the weathered face of someone who had spent much of his life outdoors.

As they walked over to him, he inclined his head again. "Salam," he greeted, his voice low and gravelly. "My name is Nadim. I'm your driver."

He'd said all that in Persian, but Max's earpieces translated his words to English.

"This way, please," Nadim said, motioning for them to follow him.

He led them through the terminal and out to the parking area, where three nondescript vans waited. They were older models that looked well maintained but not flashy.

"I will drive the first vehicle," Nadim said, switching to English even though they all had translating earpieces and teardrops to translate their speech to Farsi. "You will follow in the others."

"Kyra and I will ride with you," Max said, glancing at Yamanu for approval.

The head Guardian nodded in agreement. "I'll take the second van with Dima and Anton. Jade, you take the third."

"It's about forty minutes from here, depending on traffic," Nadim said, handing keys to Yamanu andJade. "If we get separated, continue to the address programmed in the GPS units."

Max had questions—dozens of them—about local conditions, security situations, and the intel Nadim and his team had gathered on Kyra's sisters, but they could wait until they reached the safe house and could talk privately.

He helped Kyra into the middle seat of the first van, then climbed in beside her while Nadim took the driver's seat.

Tehran sprawled across a vast plain at the foot of the Alborz Mountains, whose snow-capped peaks were visible in the distance through the haze of pollution that hung over the city. The contrast between old and new was striking—ancient architectural elements juxtaposed against glass-and-steel high-rises, traditional markets alongside modern shopping centers.

Traffic moved chaotically with cars weaving between lanes with barely inches to spare and motorcycles darting through dangerously narrow gaps.

"First time in Tehran?" Nadim asked.

"Yes," Max said. "I'm surprised at how vibrant it is."

Nadim nodded appreciatively at the assessment. "Western media often portrays us as a joyless, oppressed people. The reality is that even though we are not as free as we want to be, we still laugh and find things worthy of celebration."

The van turned onto a wide boulevard lined with trees, whose canopies provided shade for the throngs of pedestrians milling about. Shops and cafés dotted the street level of buildings, while apartments rose several stories above. Women in various styles of hijab walked alongside men in both Western and traditional clothing, the diversity of dress more varied than Max had expected.

Nadim turned to look at Kyra. "The security around your sisters' homes has increased in recent days."

"We've heard," Max said. "Has anything changed since the last report?"

"Not really," Nadim said. "The two older sisters, those whose daughters were taken, have one guard each posted near their homes. Private security was hired after the girls' disappearance. The other two sisters have four guards each, and no one leaves the house without an escort. The guards even accompany the children to school."

Max exchanged a glance with Kyra. "They are afraid for your other nieces and nephews."

"Is the security provided by the Revolutionary Guard?" Kyra asked.

Nadim nodded. "Not in an official capacity, but they look well trained."

With Yamanu's shrouding, there could be twenty guards stationed at the house and it wouldn't make a difference. What Max was more worried about wasthe surveillance equipment and who was watching the feed. Yamanu's mind tricks didn't work on electronics, and if the observer was far away, Yamanu's influence wouldn't reach him.

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