His heart dropped.
That name—Persephone—was why Rin had risked everything. Why he'd walked into this diplomatic masquerade wearing someone else's skin. Why he'd climbed this goddamn mansion like a thief in a spy novel.
'The whole reason I'm here… the weapon system codenamed Persephone… it has to be connected.'
Japan's involvement. The Dragunovs acting as intermediaries. Scythe-9 possibly being a component or an iteration of it. Maybe even a prototype. And if they were waiting on Dragunov for a fix... and the Japanese claimed ignorance...
Then Persephone wasn't just operational. It was broken.
'Which means... someone's trying to fix it... quietly. Before anyone outside finds out.'
Rin swallowed hard. This wasn't just espionage anymore. This was containment.
And if he was right—
If this "Scythe-9" was Persephone—
Then this room wasn't a decoy.
It was a node. A listening post. He was hearing the real thing.
The voices kept echoing through Rin's comm, bouncing off the walls of his skull like distant gunfire in a cathedral.
"And what are the Americans doing?"
A pause.
"Nothing yet. They're clearly onto us now that we've killed their little rat. But what difference does it make? They can't even come retrieve the rat's body."
That sentence hit like a slap.
Rin's breath snagged in his throat.
"Wait... are they talking about Liam?"
Liam had been one of theirs. A deep-cover operative embedded in Russian intelligence for over three years. The only one who got close enough to even whisper about Persephone—until he went silent.
Now they knew why.
'So they killed him. And they knew who he was. Shit…'
His gut twisted, but he forced himself to focus.
"A secret nuclear weapon under development… and Russia and Japan are in bed together. American intelligence involved. And a dead spy in the mix."
Rin gritted his teeth.
"All these pieces... they fit. But it's still just a puzzle of theories. I need evidence. Concrete. Tangible. Something I can bleed out of them and bring home."
That's when Kai's voice slid back into his ear—oily, smooth, perfectly timed.
"Romanov just left. Looks like he received a call."
Rin narrowed his eyes.
"A call? Now? Mid-meeting?"
Then he paused.
"Wait—hold on. How the hell are you tapping their conversation anyway?"_
He was expecting a smartass remark, but Kai answered casually. Too casually.
"A woman named Anastasia offered me a tour of the house. I had no reason to decline. Slipped a bug into the keyhole of their room. Easy."
Rin's eyes twitched.
Anastasia Bella Romanov.
The youngest daughter. And not just that—an alpha.
Publicly, she ran the Romanovs' philanthropic wing.
Privately? She was rumored to be trained like her brothers. Cunning. Poison-tongued. And dangerous. Very.
And she gave Kai a private tour?
"Okay, no. Nope. Forget Persephone for a second. Who the hell is this guy?"
The way Kai was moving through this nest of wolves like it was a hotel lobby. The way he knew everything before Rin even asked. The way he got invited, granted access, laughed like this was a game.
None of it made sense.
"No random informant gets this far. No freelance agent just shows up inside the Romanovs' home and installs listening devices like it's IKEA furniture. Either he's working for someone even bigger… or he is someone big."
Rin pressed two fingers to the comm.
"Where are you?"
Kai didn't even blink.
"Basement control center."
"Doing what?"
"Keeping an eye on you, duh."
Rin blinked—and finally noticed the tiny red light blinking from a camera embedded in the stone arch above the balcony.
He narrowed his eyes. Then, slowly, very deliberately, he flipped both middle fingers at the lens.
"Classy," Kai chuckled, laughter trickling through the mic like dripping gasoline.
Rin snarled silently.
"This guy is a damn parasite with WiFi."
Then Kai continued, his voice cool and calculating:
"The call Romanov went to take... I'm not sure who it's from, but I did see a landline at the end of the second-floor hallway. Another in his private office. They're on separate circuits. So if he's taking the call in his office, it can only be answered from there."
Rin's eyes sharpened.
"You've got it tapped, right?"
"Yeah, but only if you can pick up the second line exactly when he does. You've got ten seconds."
Rin barely moved. Just whispered: "Hm. Alright."
Inside, he was already in motion.
"Ten seconds. Got it. I need to mirror Romanov's pick-up perfectly to access the call bridge. Can't miss the timing."
He crept to the balcony edge, muscles coiled. The drop wasn't too steep. Below him, the second-floor balcony stretched like a stone lip. He cracked his neck once. Let out a silent exhale.
Then jumped.
His fingers caught the ledge with trained precision. Dust and aged brick scraped his palms. But he pulled up smoothly, with the athletic precision of someone who knew exactly how much muscle to use and when to use it.
"Wow... Impressive." Kai purred.
"That piece of shit... I'm here risking my life like a goddamn cat burglar while he's down there with surveillance feeds and snacks," Rin thought, gritting his teeth.
He pulled out the Redline Mk.II, the sleek polymer blade sliding out with a soft click. It glinted faintly in the moonlight. Rin cut a precise circular hole through the window glass, just wide enough to slide his arm in.
Snick.
The latch popped open.
He slipped inside like a whisper—silent, deadly.
No one was around.
The vintage rotary phone stood like a relic on a polished desk—black and gold, absurdly out of place in such a digital world. But the line was secure. Analog. Untappable. Which is why Rin had to be there to hear it.
"Alright, I'll count you in. Get ready."
Kai's voice took on a crisp precision, dropping the dramatics for once.
"три." (three)
"два." (two)
"один." (one)
"Теперь." (now)
Rin grabbed the phone.
His hand trembled—not from fear, but from the awareness of how fragile this moment was.
One slip.
One noise.
One hesitation...
And this entire mission could detonate.
He pressed the receiver to his ear.
And listened.
Rin sat frozen, crouched beside the mahogany desk, fingers clenched around the old rotary phone so tightly that his knuckles turned bone-white.
"I don't hear anything…"
"Shit. Did I miss it? Did I screw up the timing?"
His eyes flicked to the second hand on the ornate grandfather clock across the room, its slow, deliberate tick grinding into his nerves like a countdown to failure. He held his breath. Just five more seconds before he—
"Ah. Perfect timing. We were just talking about it..."
Rin's pulse spiked, his heart thudding in rhythm with every syllable on the line.
"We just came to an agreement. Japan said they'd send a technician."
"That's great news. When will they send them?"
"They depart tomorrow. Should be in Moscow within two days."
"Tomorrow... just two days... and this ghost technician arrives. Another covert operation wrapped in silk smiles and fake passports."
"Be careful not to let any rat tag along like last time."
"They'll be disguised as an Indian tourist. Should be harder for the Americans to track."
Rin furrowed his brow.
"A masked operative, slipping through diplomatic loopholes. Japan's really threading the needle this time. They're either scared... or invested way too deep."
"Let's keep a close eye. Don't forget to report back to me regularly."
"Understood."
Then—click.
The line went dead.
Silence filled the room again, heavy and thick, like smoke after an explosion.
Rin slowly returned the receiver to its cradle, mind racing.
"They're speaking in half-truths. Codes hidden in casual words. But I've got enough. This wasn't just random chatter. This was logistics. A plan. Japan's in on it. The Dragunovs are clearly active. And that technician… disguised, placed with purpose—he might be the key to unlocking the entire operation."
"They think they're being careful. But they've just opened the door for me to walk right through."
He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowed, adrenaline still pumping.
"Thanks to them... my resolve is stronger than ever—"
SKKRRREEEECCCCCHHHHHH
The noise stabbed through his skull like a nail being driven directly into his eardrum.
Rin screamed—or maybe he didn't. The sound was so loud, so violent, that he couldn't even tell if his voice made it out of his throat. The screech roared through the tiny comm device in his ear like a banshee, a feedback scream that no normal frequency should've been able to produce.
His whole body convulsed as he collapsed onto the cold marble floor. The pain was so sharp it blurred his vision. He clutched at his temple, eyes wide, the edges of his sight flickering black and red. It felt like an icepick had been rammed through one ear and straight out the other.
"What the—what the fuck—what happened—"
With a grunt of pure desperation, Rin ripped the comm from his ear and hurled it across the room. It clattered and bounced under the leather chaise near the fireplace.
Panting, gasping, he rolled onto his side, still blinking spots out of his eyes.
"It was working perfectly… what happened?! Was it interference? Was it hacked? Did someone jam the signal? Or…"
He sat up slowly, his legs still trembling under him like jelly.
"...Was it intentional?"
The thought sat in the pit of his stomach like a block of ice.
Because only two people had access to that comm frequency: him—and Kai.
He narrowed his eyes, still shaking slightly.
"...Did you do this, Kai?"
Or was it someone else entirely?
His hands twitched, struggling to stay grounded. It felt like his brain had just rebooted. Everything spun for a moment—room shifting like the floor had been turned into a carousel.
"No way that was random. Someone's on to me. Or worse...'
"I need to get out of here. Fast."
The hallway was suffocatingly quiet, save for the rhythmic crunch of boots against the polished floor. Shadows of armed guards moved in fractured glimpses, their reflections distorted in the glass panels of the doors lining the corridor.
Rin's back was pressed flat against the inner side of a heavy oak door. His breath was shallow, silent, controlled. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his temple, vanishing into the collar of his black shirt.
"Are you done searching?"
That voice. Cold. Commanding. Immediately recognizable.
"Tsar Nochi Romanov…" Rin thought, his eyes narrowing. "He's still here?"
Another voice responded, sharp and clipped—the head of security, maybe.
"We're still searching, but there seems to be an intruder. It's dangerous for you to be here, sir. We'll escort you downstairs immediately."
"Half of the guards are pulling back to escort him? Good. That leaves… maybe two, three still patrolling this floor."
"Still…" Rin's eyes flicked to his stolen handgun, tucked under his belt, "...they're armed and trained. Not amateurs."
His jaw tensed.
"I need to take initiative. Let's make it quick."
He moved like a phantom.
Rin slipped behind a tall, broad guard walking past—so silently it was almost unnatural—and before the man could turn—
WHAM.
The sharp crack of metal slamming against flesh echoed for a split second. Rin had struck cleanly with the butt of his gun—right to the base of the neck.
The man's eyes rolled back. He crumpled with a dull thud, sprawled motionless on the rug.
Rin barely had time to breathe.
"Hey… you okay?"
Another guard rounded the corner, crouching to check his fallen comrade.
CLACK.
The barrel of Rin's gun pressed against his temple.
POW.
Quick. Precise. No hesitation. The second guard collapsed, but this time, the shot rang out like a war drum.
Then—shouting.
"INTRUDER! THERE'S AN INTRUDER! SURROUND THE AREA!"
Rin's eyes widened.
"Shit. I've been made."
Without waiting another heartbeat, he bolted down the hallway, boots slapping against the floor. Bullets zipped past him, grazing air and splintering door frames.
BANG. BANG.
One shot missed by mere inches, blowing a hole through the wall beside his face.
He flung himself into the nearest room, throwing his shoulder against the heavy door. Inside—dim light, cold air, dust swirling in chaos.
SLAM.
He grabbed a broken wooden table and jammed it against the door, trying to wedge it into place. It splintered under pressure, but it bought him seconds.
Panting, he spun around, eyes darting.
"Wait a minute… this room—this is the third-floor suite. The empty one."
Luxurious carpet. Crystal chandelier. Velvet drapes. Still completely abandoned.
"I've looped back… How the hell—? I could've sworn I entered from the other end—"
His gaze landed on something.
A tall wine cellar rack stood against the far wall. Ornate, built into the marble. But something about it didn't sit right. It hadn't been there before—or he hadn't noticed.
POW.
A bullet blasted through the door panel just above his shoulder.
"Shit. I'm fu—"
He backed away, every inch of him clenched, hands ready to raise the gun—but as his heel brushed the floor behind him—
Click.
His boot pressed something.
A faint hiss.
The Wine Cellar Rack creaked open like a trapdoor revealing a darker, cooler tunnel beyond. And suddenly—
FWHUMP.
A rush of cold air—and something else. A scent. Sharp. Clean. Familiar.
"Pheromones… Kai's?"
Then—before Rin could turn—
Hands.
A palm slapped over his mouth from behind, strong and precise. An arm snaked around his waist, yanking him backward into the dark, tight space of the secret chamber.
"Mmmphf!" Rin's muffled shout died behind the closed panel as it clicked shut.
He struggled for a second, heart hammering like a drumline in his chest.
Then he turned and caught sight of him in the dark—Kai.
Kai's breath was steady, almost annoyingly so. His hand stayed clamped over Rin's mouth, and his other arm gripped Rin like a python. Rin's eyes were wide, but Kai didn't even look at him.
His focus was sharp, eyes fixed through the narrow cracks between the wooden slats of the wine rack.
He didn't blink. Didn't twitch.
He just watched—the kind of watching only a man used to killing in silence could do.
Rin's eyes blazed with a dozen questions. But outside—
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
The door to the suite was kicked open.
"...What the—Where is he?! He was just here!"
"Search the walls. He couldn't have gone far."
Boots stomped around the suite. One guard even stepped close to the wine rack, brushing his gloved fingers along the shelves—but nothing. No trigger. No sound.
They were standing inches away—and had no clue.
Rin watched them silently from the hidden slit.
Then it hit him.
"If Kai hadn't pulled me in... I'd be dead."
They moved like ghosts.
The narrow tunnel wound beneath the floorboards like a buried secret—cold, silent, damp. Each step echoed, soft yet deliberate, in the tight underground space. The flickering emergency light strips embedded into the walls cast long shadows across their faces, illuminating sharp cheekbones and sharper thoughts.
"I can't believe there's a tunnel here…"
Rin thought, his eyes scanning the brickwork.
The craftsmanship wasn't new. This wasn't an escape route built in panic—it had been there for decades. Romanovs always planned for betrayal. Their wealth wasn't inherited—it was survived.
They reached a narrow iron staircase that twisted upward like a ribcage. Kai didn't hesitate. He moved first, fast but light, like a creature that knew exactly where every board would creak. At the top was a trapdoor built into the floorboards of what looked like a storage room—judging by the thin slivers of light leaking through the cracks.
Kai pressed his back to the wall and gave Rin a look. It wasn't a question—it was a code. A shared signal between killers.
Rin nodded. He didn't need to say it out loud.
"Someone's there."
His hand adjusted around the grip of his pistol. He shook his head slightly.
"Not yet."
Kai responded with the faintest tilt of his head. Then Rin gave a quiet thumbs-up. No words. Just the rhythm of breathing and the tension pulling tight like a bowstring.
CREEAAK.
Kai pushed the trapdoor up.
"AARRGH!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets screamed through the floorboards—one passing so close to Kai's head it split the air by his ear. Rin flinched, heart skipping hard. Kai's eyes snapped wide at the blast—but then narrowed.
He didn't duck.
He didn't flinch.
He smiled.
"What the hell...?" Rin's thoughts were racing.
"He almost got shot point blank, and he's SMIRKING?"
The shooter—a nervous, younger man in a crisp uniform—was standing just a few feet away, firing again and again, wide-eyed, panicked.
"No—no, STAY BACK! DON'T—!"
Too late.
Kai was already walking toward him—his expression unreadable, but eerily calm. The man emptied his clip in blind terror, but Kai didn't even blink. In a blur, Kai closed the distance—grabbed him by the face with a slow, crushing grip...
And then—RIP.
A disgusting, wet sound that tore straight into Rin's stomach.
"JESUS CHRIST—"
Rin stumbled back, a hand flying to his mouth.
The guard let out a gurgled half-scream—then Kai's boot connected, shoving the man backwards through the shattered glass window behind him.
CRASH.
A car outside screeched as it drove right over the body with a sickening crunch, then kept going.
Rin turned immediately, staggered to the window and leaned out—vomiting. Not bile, not blood—just water.
The only thing in his stomach. But it came up hard.
He coughed, spat, and gripped the window ledge with white knuckles, his whole body trembling.
"I can't... I can't unsee that."
"That was a human being. That wasn't neutralization. That was a goddamn execution."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his glove, swallowing hard. His heart was pounding in his throat.
"What the fuck is wrong with this guy?"
"He's not just manipulative—he's dangerous."
When Rin turned back, Kai was already wiping blood off his hand, as casually as someone flicking dust off a sleeve.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked. His voice was level, like this was all routine. Like he hadn't just ripped someone's face open.
Rin stared at him, chest still heaving.
"He was unarmed. He was... he was running away."
Kai raised an eyebrow, his eyes cool.
"He saw my face. That makes him more dangerous than a loaded gun."
Rin's lips curled into a grim line.
"So that's your rule, huh? Anyone who sees behind the mask doesn't get to live?"
Kai didn't answer. He just turned toward the hallway, hands in his pockets, already moving.
"Let's go. We're running out of time, and so is Persephone."
He wanted to scream. He wanted to punch Kai in the face.
But instead—he stayed silent.
Because deep down, he needed him.
Even if Kai was a monster...
He was Rin's monster—for now.
The footsteps were getting louder. Fast. Boots hitting marble with synchronized urgency.
Rin froze for a split second at the sound.
Too many to fight.
Too close to hide.
Too late to turn back.
"They're coming straight for us—"
Kai didn't hesitate.
"Change of plans," he muttered, voice low but urgent.
Before Rin could even react, Kai grabbed his wrist—strong and unyielding—and dragged him backward, back into the same room they just escaped from.
"Kai—what are you—"
Kai didn't answer. He pulled Rin toward the broken window, glass still shattered on the sill, wind slicing in.
"Brace yourself."
"Wait, what?!"
Rin's eyes widened. He barely had a second to process before Kai yanked him by the front of his shirt and—
"JUMP. NOW!"