I have no more than a few seconds to look around the palatial apartment before I'm herded down a long hallway and into a room with wall-to-wall windows overlooking the lake.
One step in, and the door clicks shut behind me. I don't need to try the handle to know it's locked.
I'm not sure why, but I feel vulnerable without Samuil next to me. It's not as if he was on my side, but at least he was the devil I knew.
The man standing in front of me is a total stranger.
"You must be Nova Pierce." He's good-looking in a rough-around-the-edges kind of way. Slightly shorter than Samuil, but his muscles have muscles. His biceps strain against his black t-shirt like they're plotting an escape. These aren't gym muscles---these are break-you-in-half muscles.
"Who are you?"
He smiles and gestures to
