The Shadow Circle

Chapter-30

We were at the airport at Lhasa. The sun was shining brightly, glinting off the glacier-covered mountains like sunlight off a silver sword. The mountain air was fresh and chill. One of these days, I was going to come back here and actually enjoy myself.

But for now, I had only two days left. One, once I get where I have to be.

The problem now was getting where I had to be. Kai and Julian were talking while Elizaveta was flirting with Ryo. I awkwardly stood on the sidelines as a silent observer.

I needed to get my hands on Kai's cellphone so I could call Arianna.

After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that Kai was way too sharp for someone as clumsy and inexperienced as me to act. So I decided to ask him directly.

"Kai."

He stopped his conversation and looked at me.

"Can I see your phone?" I asked.

"No."

He continued his conversation with Julian.

"Kai?" I tried again.

"I said no, Kestrel."

"Those guys are in military fatigues," I said pointing towards the soldiers a bit far off. I had nothing to worry, according to Elizaveta. The soldiers weren't the ones guarding Nakamura.

I still made sure Kai walked into the airport first though.

"Can I scream bloody murder?" I asked.

Kai looked at Julian and Ryo who only shrugged.

"What do you want my phone for?"

"You don't trust me?" I tried my best to look affronted.

"You didn't answer my question," he said.

"Answer mine first!"

He fished out his cellphone and passed it over to me. I saw that it had no company names or markings. I reached out to take it but he just jerked it away from my reach.

"One condition," he said.

"Yes. You give me the phone and I won't make a scene," I offered.

"Two conditions then. You're not using it," he said. "Tell me what you want."

"We can't give up!" I yelled.

"Lower your voice! And in case you haven't noticed, we're kinda screwed right now!"

"You killed Talaq!"

"With the help of Shah, Arianna, Cavilleri and Ryo! Now three of them won't help!" He hissed.

"We'll get them to help!"

"Kestrel!"

"Kai!"

"Why do you need my phone, Kestrel?"

"Fuck it," I snapped and turned to walk away.

He caught my arm and dragged me into a vacant corridor, leaving his team with weird looks on their faces.

"You know Arianna is the mole," he said.

I turned to walk away and join the team but he simply pulled me back again.

"And now you know why I dragged you along," he carried on.

I tried to walk off again but Kai simply dragged me back for the second time and placed his hands on the wall behind me so I couldn't move. Well, I could kick him where the sun doesn't shine but he'd probably kill me.