"If you don't speak, I will make you speak. Believe me," Ethan said, his voice a low, melodic vibration that seemed to rattle Putin's very teeth. "The Matriarch only asked that you wouldn't die. I promise you... you will stay alive through everything I do to you."
Putin's gaze flickered to Boris. The giant was now little more than a weeping, translucent skeleton held together by amethyst threads of energy. The fact that Boris was still conscious, still able to emit those ragged, high-pitched shrieks of agony, was a testament to Ethan's absolute control over life and death. Boris had been trained by the most brutal programs in the frozen north, yet he was sobbing like a broken child.
The President of Olympus knew its limits. He saw the void opening in Ethan's palm, and for the first time, the "Iron Tsar" broke.
"Stop..." Putin rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "I will tell you."
