PROJECT ASTERIA

F I F T E E N

Andrei's throat closed.

He very clearly remembered what Rin had said to him the first day Carina had arrived.

I may not be able to hurt you, if you turn out to be a traitor, she said. But I can hurt her. And if I hurt her, I hurt you.

He closed his eyes. He knew a promise when he heard one. As he watched what was literally his second daughter turn the corner and disappear, he felt as if he couldn't breathe. Isadora, his biological daughter, had died, even though he moved the heaven and the earth to make sure she was safe. And here he was, dragging Carina into this mess.

He remembered when he had first met her, when she had nearly blew their cover in an black operation because her project messed with their comms. He remembered when she'd been arrested and had been so scared. She was a genius, so he recruited her into the CIA.

And science was where she could've stayed. Andrei was regretting the choice to put her in clandestine.

He felt the overwhelming urge to follow her, but he knew that wouldn't be a good look. If she couldn't even approach Rin without him being on her back, how was she going to be a member of the Seven?

He muttered a prayer.

If she cracked, then this was all over.

***

Rin was waiting. Not sitting on a chair the way Lorenzo had, but just leaning against the wall as if she was just a normal person. That was what made her so dangerous. She wasn't pretentious like Igor or the others. She was just an ordinary human, someone able to blend in with the rest of the crowd, which meant no one would ever know she was capable of so many evil things.

Carina nodded in respect, to which the woman responded likewise.

This was a dangerous game. Politics, in general, was a dangerous game. Inauthentic, as one of her mayoral friends had put it. Carina couldn't show any signs of weakness, or she'd be ripped apart. But she couldn't show all her strength, lest she wanted to threaten Rin. And that was definitely not a good idea.

"Hello, Liliana," she said, rolling Carina's fake name off her tongue, as if she knew that it wasn't her real name.

"Ma'am."

The woman furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "Please, no," she said. "Don't call me that. It makes me sound old."

"Oh, sorry," Carina smiled. "What should I call you then?"

"Rin is fine," the woman said. "Now, let's take a walk, shall we?"

Every instinct in her body screamed at her to turn around and run. She likely wouldn't leave this unharmed, physically or emotionally.

"Sure," she swallowed. "Let's do that."

"So," Rin raised an eyebrow. "You want to join the Seven. What is your motivation?"

Carina paused. What was her motivation? They had never discussed this. Andrei hadn't told her anything.

"Nothing?" Rin asked. "Power? Money?"

Carina shrugged. "I guess."

"Oh, please," the leader sighed tiredly. "I'll tell you this. When we first created the Seven, we had one goal in mind: to bring this world to peace."

Clearly, that hasn't been going well. Carina resisted the urge to say something cutting. "And...?" she asked. "What is it now?"

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Of course it has remained the same," she said. "Do you truly believe we would hurt anyone if it wasn't for the greater good?"