Page 61 of Before Broken Vows
"Who do you work for?" I ask.
He looks up at me, his breath slightly quicker but his voice steady. "You really have no idea what you're walking into, do you?"
Another swing, this time to his other thigh. "Answer the fucking question."
This psychopath starts laughing. "I'm merely a humble servant to powers greater than either of us."
I grab his throat, squeezing just enough to restrict his air without cutting it off entirely. "You think this is a game?"
"No," he wheezes. "But you do. That's what makes it so amusing."
I release him and step back, frustrated. This isn't working.
Dimitri returns from searching the bedroom, shaking his head. "Nothing. Place is clean. Too clean."
I turn back to Nicolas. "How do you know me? Where have we met?"
He just stares, that infuriating half-smile still on his lips.
Dimitri steps forward, flexes his hand, and without warning drives his fist into Nicolas's face. Blood sprays from his nose, splattering across the pristine white rug beneath him.
"Answer him," Dimitri demands.
Nicolas spits blood onto the floor and laughs again, this time it sounds wet and disturbing.
"You're all going to die," he says, through bloodstained teeth. "You two, Ares, Calli. All of you. It's already done."
I grab him by the shirt, lifting him and the chair he's tied to. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me," he replies, blood dripping down his chin. "The wheels are already turning. Nothing you do to me changes that."
I slam him back down, the chair legs clattering against the hardwood floor. "Who sent you? Who are you working for?"
He just laughs, harder this time, like he's genuinely enjoying himself despite the blood streaming from his nose. "You still don't see it, do you? After all this time, you Kastaris brothers are still blind to what's right in front of you. Just like your father."
Dimitri flies past me and starts punching him repeatedly in the face. Over and over.
I pull him off.
"Wait, wait," I tell Dimitri. "Hold on. I think…" I trail off.
And then it all comes together. Hearing him mention my father unlocks what I need.
"What?" Dimitri asks, breathing heavily.
The picture.
The one Ares reminded me of. The one he emailed me.
I grab my phone, fingers clumsy with sudden urgency, and scroll through my emails until I find it.
The last known photograph of our father alive.
In it, he's talking to someone we don't know. The other man's face turned just enough that only the left side of his profile is visible.
There wouldn't be any scars visible from that angle.
But...
