stone chuckles. sheâs a smart girl, not smart enough, but still she knows the routine - the dance. but she wanted to jump to the end, she thought she could snub him and be curt. but the dance wasnât over yet. from inside his waistcoat pocket he pulls a small knife, the freshly sharpened metal glinting in the light. he flips it casually, feeling the perfectly balanced weight in his hand. âi work for miss clare. pretty much everyone here does. and everyone in mi6 and the cia. she runsâŚthe world. and i am very very lucky because she gave me permission to do âŚÂ whatever i want with you.âÂ
âand youâre not going anywhere just yet,â she says, looking down at his watch, âwe have a flight to catch in an hour. i promise marion that i wouldnât make you bleed to much. after all, the seats on the jet are imported leather. but that doesnât mean we canât have fun. after all, you donât need your molars and with you gagged the bleeding wonât be a problem. you can just choke on it.â
heâs speaking like heâs running through the plans for a backyard barbecue not a torture session. thereâs a smile creeping onto his expression, lopsided and unhinged: filled with a deep, sickening desire. heâs waited for this for a very long time.  âactually, klara, youâre going to sit down, shut up, and let me tie your hands.âÂ
âif you so much as squirm that cute blonde miss clare has in her possession wonât go home to her kids. hell, iâll turn them into orphans if i have to. do i make myself clear, sister?âÂ
if stone thought a small knife was going to be enough to get her to comply then clearly her father had not taught him well enough. the cool touch of metal against her skin was a good reminder that her own knife was concelled away and was ready to use when she needed it. she had no plans of taking it out yet, let him think he had the upper hand for a few minutes. he could slip up and then it would be her chance. "well how kind of miss clare to give you such permission then. you wait for all her commands then? like a dog. thought the rule my father taught us was to always work for yourself."
there was something about his threat that made the hair on the back of her neck stand. it was the tone of his voice, or maybe how he said it. it felt all too familiar to her. in the cursed words he threw at her she could hear her father's tone in it all. so calm and direct. almost casual sounding but there was that edge in there. and edge that would cut you the moment you underestimated it.
the assassin was ready to say something else when another threat left the man's lips. lena. they had lena. if they had her then they could have some of the others. yet, this whole thing could be bluff to call against her. there was that chance that lena was safe downstairs at the party, unaware of what was happening to her sister just above her head. but he knew of her children. lena had done everything possible to keep them safe which meant if they knew about them then there was true danger here.
there was no way to tell 100% if he was telling the truth, but for lena she couldn't take the risk. klara had promised her she would do everything in her power to make sure they were safe. and if that meant facing this maniac alone then she would do that.
"i am no sister of yours." she hissed at him.
the part of her brain that screamed at her to think of her own self-preservation was silenced as she took her first step towards the chair. then another and another. like a march to gallows. maybe to her doom. but if that step meant even the smallest amount of safety for her team she was going to take it.
klara's eyes never left stone's as she took her seat.