Page 83 of The Bright and Hungry Future of Hawks

That was a fun meeting.

“You say that your man!”

He didn’t think he had.

He remembered assumptions being made.

“My brother get now suspicious! I fail kill man who kill hisson! This ishonourthing in my country. This now myhonour. You understand?”

Fortunately, some whiskey going down the wrong way saved him from laughing out loud at the man who had paid for his own nephew’s assassination. He recovered and waved away an insincere, but politely concerned enquiry. “Of course. I do understand fully.”

“Now I only—how you say? Stir with spoon hornet from nest, yes?”

He couldn’t honestly say he’d ever thought about Ben as a hornet. His warrior angel more like, but he wasn’t going to mention that to this annoying foreigner.

He nodded thoughtfully. “Ah, but he has gone to ground now. You have hurt him with this fire. You are...toying with him. Like a predator with prey, no?”

The brutal features creased into a frown of deep concentration and then a beam of delight broke forth. “Yes. I tell my brother when he come here that I flush his quarry to him. Is that right expression you English use when hunting? Flush of the quarry?”

You English?Fucking hell.

Wait.

Ibrahim Allouni? Coming? Here?

This was interesting.

What a pity he couldn’t engineer an extinction level event and take them both out. He was bored of this game now and, of course, it had occurred to him that there were now three people in the world who knew for certain what had gone down in that cottage.

Which was two too many.

He paused. Which was always interesting to do inside your own head. Could he do it?

It would be…? What was the word he was seeking? Audacious? Challenging? Dangerous? He brought his lovely Russian chessboard to mind once more.

All those pieces. All the moves which could be so carefully planned and executed.

Fuck it. He scooped the lot up and tossed them in the air.

He chuckled into the silence in his head. Sometimes it was just fun to see the way things fell.

“What are you both doing for the New Year?”

* * *

Chapter 46

Four Months Before April

Aleksey toed the edge of the bog, remembering.

They weren't good memories, but then he suspected he'd find it hard to recall good times for a while yet. He wasn't in the mood.

The sun had not been up for long, but was so low in the sky in December it was almost blinding as it shafted across the moors and sent shadows reaching towards him. He didn't like the one from the old stump, and wondered why he'd not come here with an axe and chopped it down years ago. But it had once saved Ben's life, so he supposed he owed it.

He'd come to say his farewells to Stefan.

He wasn't a sentimental man, but he'd been coming to his son's final resting place on and off since the events earlier in the year when he had battled something that fed on sacrifice...Aleksey pursed his lips and reconsidered. He'd been coming here frequently since being forced to confront the fact that he’dmurderedhis only son. He didn't do anything—no mawkish displays—but they chatted for a while. The conversation more on his side, this was true, but occasionally he got a reply. If he listened closely enough.

---