Page 54 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

“Christian is just a pawn,” I reminded her. “If you kill him, we risk not finding out who the man behind the curtain is.”

“Is that aWizard of Ozreference?” she teased. I grumbled half-heartedly at her, cursing her name. “I knew you’d watch it, you big softie.”

Some of the real Kenzi was coming out to play.

“It was our favorite movie growing up,” she admitted, a twinge of sadness lacing her words once again, but this time, she didn’t pull it back. “Every Friday night, we used to do movie night together. Me, Ava, and—” She paused, her breathing growing rapid as memories of her dead sister pushed and pulled at her fragile mind. For just a moment, she was a vulnerable nineteen-year-old again. “Anyway…” The false Kenzi was back. “I knew you’d like it.”

“Never said I liked it,” I mumbled.

“People don’t quote movies they don’t like.”

God, give me strength.

“I’ll admit I liked the movie if you tell me more about the Dollhouse.”

“Nice try.” She rolled her eyes. I knew it. I had a sixth sense for those things. “I already told you what I know. I thought I was going to college like he promised. Instead, when I arrived in England, they took me. The moment I stepped off the plane, they grabbed me. No one batted an eyelash. Not one person in that terminal lifted a hand to help me. That is how much power they have.”

“Then what?” I pushed. I needed more information; I couldn’t fight an enemy I couldn’t see or find. Information was power, and Kenzi had that information. She just needed to see the power it gave her. “Where were you taken?”

“It was all very Red Room,” she admitted. The false Kenzi faded away to something new. Someone devoid of emotion, her voice sounding far away. She was disssociating from her memories, protecting herself against the trauma she endured. “The very first day, they stripped us of our clothes. Made us do everything naked. They said it would desensitize us. They wanted to get us used to being naked, and if we pushed back—” She shivered slightly, her cold, detached persona dropping minutely before her shell fixed itself back in place. “They showed us just what they would do to ensure we understood what it meant to not comply.”

I stopped once we reached the SUV and gazed down at the woman standing with me. In many ways, she was still just a child. Then again, growing up in a household like Elias’s, was she ever really a child? Trauma and pain were two key essentials in casting childhood aside, like a wet rag that could no longer be used.

From what I learned from Ava; Kenzi was an outcast in her own home. In the game of chess, she was the first pawn to be sacrificed. How many times had Elias told her she had no worth? No meaning because her womb was barren and she couldn’t be married off? Even if she could, I doubted that Elias would have fetched a worthy enough alliance with another family when she couldn’t bear an heir.

That would explain why he sold her. With no chance of an alliance, money was the only other use she had.

“Get in,” I murmured, opening the door for her. Kenzi’s gaze flickered to her surroundings before she slid into the running vehicle. Leon was already behind the wheel, waiting.

“Here.” He reached back to hand Kenzi a small black tablet that had been sitting on the passenger seat. “Mark said he loaded everything for you.”

“Thanks.” Kenzi nodded as she took it and powered it up.

“We’re not done with this,” I warned her. “You’re holding back.”

Kenzi huffed and reached forward to dial Mark on the small screen attached to the seat in front of her. The seat in front of me had one as well that would mirror hers, so there was no need to lean over and share. “We’ll see.”

I grunted. We were not done with this, and that was a promise. The Dollhouse and the Chameleon Agency presented a big problem. I couldn’t have families selling their children for cash to fund underground assassination agencies or worse, selling them to brothels or perverts.

“Kenzi,” Mark’s warm voice greeted from over the crisp video feed. He was sitting in the office we’d given to him, his guards visible in the background. He’d needed to earn our trust back after the incident with Archer, and he was well on his way to doing so. “Sir.”

I nodded my head in greeting and left the rest to Kenzi. The pair had been working closely for the last week to find the information I requested. The pair of them were like the nerd hacker wonder twins.

“All right.” Kenzi placed the tablet in the cradle that sat between us. It allowed for me to view the information without having to pass it back and forth. “You gave us quite the task when you asked us to search for this Kirill Kasyanov guy.”

“Shouldn’t have been all that hard,” I drawled. “I even provided a photo.”

Kenzi blew out her lips. “Yeah, the only problem is that Kirill Kasyanov doesn’t exist. At least, not anymore.”

“So, he is dead.” This is what I had hoped for, but the look on Kenzi’s and Mark’s faces told me another story.

“Nope.” Mark shook his head. “The problem is that Kirill Kasyanov literally doesn’t exist. His surname isn’t Kasyanov, it’s Tkachenko.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

That name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Where had I heard it? Before I had a chance to think too long on it, Leon answered instead.

“Like the TkachenkoBratva?” His voice was laced with suspicion and disbelief. He knew about my father; I’d told him and the others everything there was to know about Kirill Kasyanov’s pathetic life. Never once had I associated him with the name Tkachenko. “TheBratvaof allBratva?”

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