Page 68 of Eternal
“Is Viktor aware of this?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
There was a brief pause on the other end, then, Nikolai’s laugh returned, soft, almost amused. “Consider this a secret mission for the commanders of the Zennites. The Pakhan wants this, and so do I, keep it quiet. The people behind this are careful, and we need to stay ahead of them, no word about it to anyone else. I heard a lot of things about you, Azra, or should I call you Voron? Nonetheless, I heard you were a machine. That’s what I need you to be.”
I gritted my teeth, but his tone was firm, it wasn’t a request, it was an order.
“Understood, sir,” I said, finally.
“Good,” Nikolai replied. “I’ll expect results, you can send me a text if you find anything at the end of the mission. Keep this between us for now, the fewer people know, the better. And please, call me Nikolai.”
“Got it, Nikolai.”
He hung up without another word, leaving me standing there for a moment, staring at the phone in my hand.
A new mission.
Find the man behind this theft, and find anything that could help tracking more information about this incident.
Who in their right mind would want to weaken an alliance as dangerous and crucial as the Zennites?
I guess I’ll have to find out.
21
DAMIR
“Into The Ether” by Leif Vollebekk
Present
Iwalked back into the hotel room after grabbing the food for tonight.
Voron was sprawled on the bed, her body flat against the mattress, legs bent lazily as she flicked through a file on her phone.
I set the bags down on the small table, grabbed the burgers and fries, and tossed one of the water bottles her way. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“Dinner,” I said, unwrapping my own burger.
Voron didn’t even glance up, she was too absorbed in whatever was on her screen, I could tell she was distracted, but that didn’t stop me from watching her as I opened the food.
I set her burger down on the table in front of her. No tomatoes, no lettuce, only the meat and cheese, the way she always liked it.
She looked at it, then at me, raising an eyebrow. “How do you know I don’t eat all that stuff?”
I took a bite of my own burger, swallowing before responding. “I pay attention.”
I stalk you and watch you eat every night.But yeah, let’s say I just pay attention.
She paused, clearly not expecting that answer, her eyes shifted from the food to me, like she was trying to figure me out. “That’s it? You just... pay attention? And how could you know, knowing I’ve never had a burger in front of you?”
“At the party, they had smaller versions as appetizers, and Kat gave them to you after taking out the tomato slices and lettuce. Ijustpay attention,” I said, giving a nonchalant shrug, pretending not to care. “Simple as that.”
“You really are a creep,” she said before taking her first bite. A moan of approval followed. “This is good.”
I leaned back against the headboard, watching her casually as she chewed. She didn’t seem to mind the quiet as much as she let on, but I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She was trying to put the pieces together. Trying to figure out what I knew and how I knew it, but that wasn’t something I was going to explain.
“What else do you know?” she asked, her voice a bit lighter now, as though she was almost... teasing me?
I smirked, taking another bite of my food. “A lot of things.”
