Page 97 of Forge the Blade

They had reached the front doors. Sevastyan turned and offered Karl his hand. “We should part ways. You’re not dressed for this white hell.”

Karl gave an exaggerated shiver. “No matter how many layers I wear, it never seems to be enough. Good travels.”

“And to you, when you do.” They shook hands. Sevastyan walked out the front door towards the Jeep that was just approaching.

In the airport, he texted Ellisandre.

They replied back.

He blinked, keeping his face impassive. He might still be under surveillance. The interlude with Karl had put his hackles up. He texted Ellisandre the address of a hotel in Chiba City, one of the city centers near Narita International Airport. Once he boarded his plane, he messaged the hotel to book a room.

Tension ran just under his skin, but the sense that he was still being followed stayed with him all the way to Beijing and through customs. As planned, he abandoned the flight he had booked for Los Angeles and changed it last minute for Narita, which was taking off in less than an hour. Only the efficiency of Beijing’s air travel allowed him to reach the gate in time. Even so, he timed his arrival to just before the doors shut. It was with a sense of satisfaction that he took his seat with the doors closing right behind him.

If someone was following him, they would not have passed that cut-off point.

The steward approached, starting to speak in English. Sevastyan waved the language off, addressing the man in Mandarin and letting him put his bag in the bin overhead. Then, and only then, did Sevastyan look at his hands. They were steady, for the moment. And they would remain that way. He closed his eyes and cycled down, putting himself in waiting mode. He could break when he saw Ellisandre. But not until then.

Rei

Lisa stretched out on the floor beside Rei. They were in the bedroom that had been cut in half for the secret room and behind the closed door that cut the condo into two sections. Ellisandre’s security was manning the living room and kitchen, with access to the primary bedroom and bathroom, which left Lisa and Rei with the two rooms and bathroom in the back half. Even though they weren’t under orders to be silent, making noise felt wrong. “Still working?”

Rei nodded and rubbed his eyes. The data he and Sevastyan had been building was good scaffolding, but they needed a lot more to make sure a full strike was going to be effective. It would be easier if he could be out in the world, or even send Sevastyan to gather on-the-ground intelligence on some of what he was looking at. “I don’t want to miss anyone.”

“Even if you miss one, the head will be cut off,” Lisa said. “You have so many.”

Rei grunted. Too many. He pushed the computer away. He’d been staring at monsters and their allies for hours now and he needed to remember that something else existed. He settled on the ground next to Lisa. Sevastyan was spoiling them. He’d bought faux fur rugs. They were soft and padded. He rubbed his face on the white strands of fluff. “Hungry?”

“No.” Lisa shook his head. “You?”

Rei pulled a face. “Maybe in a while.”

“Bad stuff?”

Rei shrugged.

Lisa offered his hand and Rei took it. They tangled their fingers together.

“He’ll be back,” Lisa said.

“I know.” Rei squeezed Lisa’s fingers. “Want to practice English?”

Lisa groaned but rolled to face him.

Rei kissed Lisa’s nose. “Alice only speaks English. And she’s going to be in your combat and shooting lessons with Ellisandre.”

“Fine. How do you say ‘I don’t want to fuck?”

Sevastyan

Narita Airport was easy to navigate, and with his US passport, Sevastyan didn’t even need a visa. He transited from customs directly to the train station, taking the line into Chiba. It was only forty minutes by rail, even closer than Tokyo proper. The calm of orderly trains and travelers minding their own business wrapped around him, cheerful but unobtrusive female voices making announcements overhead. His stomach growled. The baked goods from the Yadro had been insufficient. Outside the train window, a mix of commercial use, homes, and fields rolled by.

In central Chiba City, he disembarked and walked towards the hotel, turning off all his devices except the phone for Ellisandre. He’d scrubbed it back to factory settings and erased all numbers before taking it into the Yadro, but as soon as he’d left, he’d added them back. Now it was the only phone he left on. Bit by bit, the mask was cracking. Every step felt like he was walking back to himself.

In the hotel lobby, he nodded to the front desk as they greeted him and went up the elevator to the room. He texted as he approached the room.

The door opened and Ellisandre grabbed him by the front of his coat. They dragged him inside, shut the door, and pushed him up against the nearest wall. “You’re here.”

Lips pressed against his, hard and demanding, hands grasping his hair and a strong, tall body pressed him against the wall. He closed his eyes in surrender, letting go. His bag hit the ground and his hands reached for Ellisandre.