Surrender the network. Swear fealty. Do this, and I will be merciful. Your people will be absorbed into my organization with their positions intact. Even your new pet, the fighter you've been keeping so close, will be spared, provided she learns her proper place.
Refuse, and I will burn everything you've built. Starting with her.
You have until dawn to decide.
—K
I read it twice. The first time for content. The second time for the rage to settle into somethingcold and useful.
He knows that Celeste matters to me. That she's become something worth threatening.
"What does it say?" Marcellus asks.
I hand him the letter without comment. Watch his expression darken as he reads.
"He's making it personal," Marcellus says.
"He's trying to. He thinks threatening her will make me careless." I take the letter back, fold it precisely. "He's wrong."
But my hands aren't quite steady, and Marcellus notices.
"What do you want to do?" he asks quietly.
"I want to tear his throat out with my bare hands. What I'm going to do is find his leak, cut it off, and make him regret ever speaking her name." I turn to the room. "Continue the investigation. I want preliminary findings within the hour. No one leaves the compound until we've identified how Konstantin got his information."
The others scatter to their tasks. I catch Celeste's eye and nod toward the door.
She follows me into the corridor.
We walk in silence through the compound, away from the chaos of the security center. I don't have a destination in mind, I just need to move, to think, to process everything that's happened in the last two hours.
The kiss. The attack. The letter.
Even your new pet, the fighter you've been keeping so close, will be spared.
The words burn in my chest like acid.
"What did the letter say?" Celeste asks.
I consider lying. Consider protecting her from the knowledge that she's become a target.
But I promised her honesty. I promised her choices.
"Konstantin is offering terms. Surrender the network, swearfealty, and he'll spare everyone." I pause. "He mentioned you specifically."
She stops walking. "Me?"
"He knows you're important to me. He's using that as leverage."
I watch her process this. The fear that flickers across her face, quickly suppressed. The anger that replaces it.
"He threatened me to get to you."
"Yes."
"And you're telling me this because..."
"Because you deserve to know. Because I promised I wouldn't make decisions about your life without your input." I turn to face her fully. "And because I need you to understand what we're dealing with. This isn't just about territory or blood supply anymore. He's going to come after you specifically. Use you to hurt me."
