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Zeke felt the corners of his mouth quirk as well, amusement in both of their fathers’ eyes. Still, this was clearly a new side to her. Pietr kept observing her as if she was a changeling. Something had happened to her, that much was clear to the man.
Zeke felt the tips of his fingers begin to heat up at the thought that what might have happened to Pietr Aslanov’s daughter washim.
Then there was pride, warm and thick, and he straightened his back automatically at the implication that he had even the smallest hand in Anna’s behavior. She seemed truly fearless for the first time since he’d known her.
“This can be a good thing,” Zeke offered, both men’s eyes on him. “It will stretch your alliance to include all three families. It’ll bring about that peace you keep claiming you’re after.”
Anna nodded, moving to the bookcase along the wall to her left, running her hands along the spines of the books. She pulled one out, showing it to her father.
“Remember this?” she asked. “You told me that the only way to secure a truly prosperous future was to work toward something, not against it. Progress wasn’t a dirty word to you back then.”
“It isn’t a dirty word to me now,” Pietr said, another small frown on.
“But you still seem set on keeping us all in the dark ages. You know, I mentioned the code to Vasili. He laughed in my face. When did you lose sight of what your father and his father set into motion by creating the code of conduct? That was to ensure progress, wasn’t it? To secure peace between the families. And all of you old men… You’ve forgotten and you’ve reverted to how it was when your great-grandfathers ran the show.”
She shook her head at it, Zeke’s eyes following her as she reached for another book. Nikolai was watching her as well, but rather than wonder what she was doing, he looked relaxed enough to be taken off guard. Zeke realized it was because he underestimated her. To Nikolai, Anna was still a victim. Zeke was going to tackle him to the floor, to hell with the consequences, but just as he was readying himself for the leap, Anna pulled yet another book from a shelf.
She shook it, once, twice, making its pages flap, releasing a cloud of glittering dust into the air. She whispered something as Nikolai was about to react, his eyes widening. The following second his face froze into a set expression, his eyes closing slowly until he looked like he was sleeping where he stood. Zeke took a step forward, but Anna shook her head.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “He’ll be out for a minute at most.”
“What the hell is going on?” Pietr demanded.
“Fairy dust,” Anna said. “I used to hide it in your books as a kid.”
“That was you?” Pietr stared at her. “I thought it was your brothers.”
“I know.” She couldn’t keep the grin down. “I love you, dad, but you never quite saw me. Made it easy to get away with anything.”
Pietr looked somewhat taken aback at the declaration of love, his cheeks reddening for a moment, his body language showing his discomfort. But when he glanced at Anna there was clear amazement there, too. Zeke was happy to see it. It may have taken him her whole life, but it seemed her father was finally catching up to exactly who Anna was. And who she could be. Zeke glanced at his own father, who immediately looked away from him, their shared awkwardness making it clear to Zeke that they were nowhere near finding common ground.
“I have something planted in my neck. If there’s any misstep on our part, it’ll send an electrical pulse through my brain and wipe out my memory.”
“That’s impossible,” Semyon commented.
“Yes, either Vasili is lying, or he’s managed it. Either way, I don’t feel like taking chances.”
“What’s to say he doesn’t want you to? What if he’ll kill you just to make a point?” Zeke asked.
She gave him a look at the callousness of those questions. He instantly turned regretful, the apologetic expression making her shake her head at him.
“Then what do you suggest?” Zeke asked.
“Vasili has the remote control for this receptor, whatever it is in my head, and he has it installed on his cell phone. We need a way to get to that cell phone. I think we should set up the meeting. We need it to look real. Meaning we have to do it during the delivery of the Incendiary. Otherwise, he’ll get too suspicious. If he gets even the smallest hint that this is a set-up…”
Pietr and Semyon both nodded. It sounded about right to them.
Nikolai gave a soft sigh.
Zeke wanted nothing more than to walk over to him, push him as hard as he could, make him tumble painfully to the floor. He deserved to be kicked where he lay. But Zeke didn’t kick men who were already down for the count, and Nikolai was. At least for another thirty seconds.
“How are we going to get the cell phone?” Pietr asked.
“I’ll have to find a way to stick close to Vasili during the meeting,” she said, growing thoughtful.
“I can send you over there,” Pietr said. “If I have the ledger, and since he has no idea that I’m aware of how he’s already violated you, then I could offer you insurance.”
Their eyes locked. Zeke thought this was the first time Pietr asked her to weigh in on a decision he’d already made. Zeke kept his gaze from his father’s this time.
