Page 343 of Lodestar

Maverick:Lol, definitely fitting for you, Star. You little spider, you.

Lodestar:Charming.

Maverick:;)

Alessa:In Russia, it is more sinister. Less about spiders and more about saying their name out loud and it coming at a risk.

Maverick:Sort of like Candyman, Bloody Mary, or Beetlejuice, I guess.

Lodestar:I can believe that. I’d never heard of them though. I spoke with Russians about them too.

Alessa:They would not say anything. It is too ingrained in them to stay quiet.

Lodestar:Huh. I was working with Maxim Lyanov while I was over there. He never said dick about the name BUT afterward, when I got into shit, he tried to get me out of Anton’s clutches. I guess I owe him more than I already thought I did lol.

Alessa:He tried to take you? Physically? Or did I misunderstand?

Lodestar:It was a misunderstanding all round so I’m not surprised that it makes no sense. Anton, kind of, imprisoned me.

Maverick:What?!

Lodestar:I was trying to kill him at the time.

Maverick:Ah. Burying the lede again. The only way to stop you is to lock you up. And I say that knowing your past. :/

Lodestar:Mhm.

Maverick:So, Maxim tried to help rescue you from Kuznetsov’s clutches?

Lodestar:Yeah.

Maverick:Alessa just gasped like she’d seen the boogeyman lol. So I’m going to assume that was a baller move from Lyanov.

Alessa:It was!

Maverick:Wait, is that why the Bratva in New York is now called ‘The Forgotten Boys?’

Lodestar:Yeah. Conor said Moscow cut ties with Lyanov, but the men on the street over here backed him so they created this new faction.

Maverick:Interesting.

Alessa:He must be a good man, or a crazy one, to take on Kuznetsov.

Maverick:Or both.

Lodestar:Both, I’m thinking.

Maverick:So, Alessa and Kati are safe?

Lodestar:They are.

Alessa:Thank you, Star. For everything.

Maverick:Yeah, thank you. I’m fucking sorry about letting you down with Kati, Star. Especially when I knew what you were doing.

Lodestar:I’d say don’t worry about it, but if it happens again, you know you need to.

Maverick:It won’t happen again. That’s a fucking promise.

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