Chapter 30
VICTORIA
Iwake up confused. Something feels wrong.
Azrael should be on the other side of the bed, but he’s not, nor is he in the room at all.
I try calling him once, twice, then ten more times just to make sure he’s actually not picking up.
And no, he is not. Each of my calls is directed to his voicemail, asking me to tell him something.
Well, I think he’s the one who needs to tell me things.
Once it becomes clear that he is not going to pick up, I do what any sane person would do: I search for him throughout the entire hotel. Hotel lobby. Hallways. Side entrance. I even check the bar, hoping maybe he needed a drink to swallow down that disgusting wine in the minibar.
But Azrael is nowhere, gone, like he never fucking existed.
I stand in the center of the lobby looking like an idiot, feeling my wild heartbeat in my throat. He has left me.
One second he was next to me, and the next, poof, he’s gone. I might as well just have imagined all that happened last night.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t have. I know what I saw in his eyes: hunger and need and devotion—everything that he is willing to give me freely. But if he’s that devoted, where is he now?
I grab my phone with shaking hands and dial Alex. It hurts me to admit it, but he is the only one who can help find things when I need them. And right now I need the Professor more than I need air in my lungs. He picks up halfway through the first ring.
“He’s gone,” I snap. “He left. He’s not here. Track him. Now.”
The fact he’s not replying is enough to earn him a ticket straight to hell.
“Victoria—what the hell is going on?”
“Don’t act clueless.” I’m pacing now, my voice barely holding steady. “Don’t think I don’t know this was you. You gave him my plan. You told him where I was.”
“That’s not—”
“I will kill you for this,” I cut in. “This isn’t a fucking game anymore. But first—” I swallow the lump rising in my throat. “Find my man.”
I’m very aware of how desperate I sound. I’m also very aware of everything I am saying. It just feels like Alex has been hands on with everything in my life but the Professor. And if he wants to see tomorrow, he needs to find him. Now.
Alex hesitates, and that’s enough to confirm I’m right.
“Just tell me!” I shout. For fuck’s sake, why is he so secretive? It’s not like this is the first time he’s handed over a shitty mission.
“I have something,” he says. “Not about Azrael. Or… maybe about him.”
I stopped pacing. “What do you mean, maybe?”
“That mystery number—the one that’s been triggering our systems, bouncing through different IPs—”
“Alex.”
“It was Azrael’s number.”
No, no, that can’t be right.
“That’s impossible,” I say, but my voice isn’t as sure as I want it to be.
“I checked twice. Triple-checked. It was his number. For the first time, it was visible.”
My pulse isn’t working, and I’m pretty sure I’m a second away from dying—or going straight into panic.
“No, it is not.” I’m not particularly sure who I’m trying to convince, him or me.
“It is,” he answers. “We got the full profile three hours ago.”
I blink confused, the math isn’t mathing.
That was right around the time he said “Never”. Look at that, the fucker’s definition of never is three hours.
“What did the dead man send?”
Alex hesitates again, and right at this moment I promise myself, after this mission, I’ll find a new little bitch. “Alex.”
“He said you’ll get the details of the job in twenty-four hours.”
My stomach drops.
“You’re telling me he hired me for a job?”
No, this cannot be. Why would he? The most important person. No, no, no, fucking no.
“Yeah. He’s in a lot of shit…” Alex trails it off.
“No, he’s in trouble,” I correct him.
“Victoria,” Alex says carefully, “you don’t know him.”
“I do.”
“Then explain what the fuck is going on?”
“I told you he wants to kill me.”
The plane ride back home is a blur of events, nothing makes sense anymore.
My mind keeps replaying his voice, our last minutes together, everything he’s been doing since he burgled my apartment a week ago. Nothing makes sense, and I can’t hold it in anymore. Even the driver notices it and keeps on glancing at me in the rearview like he is waiting for me to snap.
Once back in my apartment, I open the file of the mystery caller. This folder has exactly three lines, and the only info inside it is some random details Alex sent over about the caller’s previous location. VPN to Japan, rerouted IP from Singapore and one direct ping in…
No, he didn’t. He wouldn’t dare, but—.
The last time he contacted, right before I accepted his offer, the fucker sent the message from my apartment, right after I let him fuck me.
Why didn’t Alex send me this before? Seems like Azrael has had this whole situation planned for weeks now, almost begging me to figure it out.
I start laughing at nothing to the point that even Cat gets scared. The fucker played me like a pawn, and now I’m supposed to accept a mission from him?
What the hell are you doing, Azrael?
My phone screen lights up, and Alex’s name is visible on the screen.
I pick up instantly. “What?”
“We got the message. Istanbul.”
“Target?”
“Malek.”
My body jerks like it’s been sunk in ice.
Malek.
If this was not crazy, it would have been quite funny. Fucking Malek. Couldn’t he be at least a little creative? There are literally billions of names out there, and he chooses to use his real one? He must be joking.
“Victoria?” Alex’s voice cuts through. “Did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know him?”
“I know of him. He’s just a dead man.”
Or he will be in the next twenty-four hours.