‘No. This must all sound strange to you. He’s your father, and you love him. But he’s a very dangerous man.’
Anna squeezed the water out of the sponge and laid it down on the side of the white porcelain bath. Like Kankava’s private quarters, the fixtures in the main bathroom were old and ornate. But here they were also worn, the porcelain lined, the cracks looking like a snaking network of blue veins. And the decor was cold. White tiled floors, white-painted walls. There was nothing homely about the room. ‘You said you saw what he could do?’
‘Yes.’ Alex stared into space.
Anna’s father had always been so loving to her, so doting, but she’d long sensed there was another, darker, side to him. It wasn’t lost on Anna that most fourteen-year-old girls would be shocked to find out their father was a hired killer. But not Anna. The more she heard from Alex, the more intrigued she was about who her father really was. What he was.
And what she was.
‘And?’ Anna asked.
‘I saw him murder two of my comrades. In cold blood. Just like that. One second they were standing there, a few yards in front of me, and the next they were dead.’
‘How?’
‘There were four of us. We were manning the two entrances to a building where the Mkhedrioni were meeting. Nobody heard him coming. Nobody suspected a thing. I barely blinked, and all of a sudden this... shadow.’
Anna said nothing, didn't move, as she waited for Alex to carry on. She now firmly believed that telling the story had shaken him.
‘The other guard and I ran over to help our friends,’ Alex eventually continued. ‘They were dead before anyone knew what was happening – their throats sliced, stab wounds to their kidneys, their hearts. Multiple blows that had taken just a second or two to inflict. I’d seen violence before, people being killed, I’m a Vor, but that? It was something else. It was so surreal, like a dream.’
‘Why did he kill them?’
‘To get to his target. Your father slipped past us into the building while we were still trying to figure out what was happening. He took out the target before anyone had even raised the alarm. And then he vanished into the night.’
‘Who was the target?’
‘It’s not important,’ Alex said, though Anna knew there was more to the story than Alex was letting on. There was silence for a few seconds before Alex spoke again. ‘Your father was once a spy. Did you know that?’
‘No. I didn’t.’
‘For the Russians. He travelled across Eastern Europe, infiltrating rebel groups, passing information back to Moscow.’
‘My father hated the regime.’
‘Not always. He wasn’t an idealist. He didn’t care for politics. He just cared about protecting his own interests. And money. That’s not a bad thing. Deep down, it’s what drives most of us; self-preservation.’
‘So what happened?’
‘I don’t know the details of why, but someone in Moscow betrayed him. Your father found out and–’
‘He killed them?’
‘Yes. But not just one man, an entire family. The man’s wife, his brothers, sisters – six people in total. He made a statement. After that he went into the shadows, loyal to no one but himself. And his family.’
Anna didn’t outwardly react to Alex’s words. Was she shocked to hear of what her father had done? A little. But she also felt a longing for him, and a burning sense of pride that her father had always done what was necessary to protect his own family.
Right up to the point where he’d sent his young daughter to Winter’s Retreat, that is.
‘Do you know what people call him?’ Alex said.
‘No.’
‘After that day, when he’d butchered that family, that’s when the legend started. The Silent Blade. That’s what people called him. And it wasn’t hard to see why.’
Anna opened her mouth then closed it quickly before any words escaped.
Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘You’ve heard that name?’
‘I heard people talk about it yes. But I never–’
‘Believed that Silent Blade was your father?’
‘No. Not that. I never believed Silent Blade was real.’
‘He is, Anna. He’s very real. Maybe not everything you heard really happened, but, like I said, most legends have truth to them.’
‘I need to find him. I can’t stay here.’
‘He’ll only be found if he wants to be found. You should stay here, where you’re safe.’
‘Safe?’ Anna said, her tone harsh.
Alex stared at her for a few seconds, and Anna knew he was still holding onto something.
‘You’re young, Anna. It’s a big and nasty world out there. Your father put you in here for a reason. And knowing the man he is, my advice to you is to stay here until you know that reason.’
Anna said nothing for a good while, hoping Alex had more to offer. She reached forward, took out the bath plug and listened as the water gurgled out, then set about getting the rusted pulley ready to hoist Alex out of the bath.
‘I have to find him,’ she said.
Alex let out a long sigh. ‘I really don’t think you should do that. But, if you do decide to, I know a man who might be able to help.’
‘Who?’
‘A Vor. Like me. Your father worked for him one time.’
‘One time?’
‘Let’s just say that job didn’t go quite to plan for either party.’
Anna gave Alex a questioning look but didn’t push for more. It wasn’t important and she didn’t think Alex would tell her what he knew even if she asked. ‘What’s his name?’
‘Come closer.’
Anna leaned toward Alex and he whispered the name into her ear.
She moved back again. ‘They were friends?’
‘No, Anna. Your father had no friends. Not then. Not now. And if you decide to go out into that dark world to look for him, remember this: Don’t. Trust. Anyone.’
CHAPTER 13
Present day
Ryker’s journey across the Atlantic and onwards to Southern Spain was gruelling, taking well over twenty-four hours. Having rested in a simple hotel on the outskirts of the Andalusian city of Malaga, Ryker headed to a car rental shop early the next morning and took the second cheapest option he could find – a two-door Ford that he just about managed to squeeze into.
At nine a.m. the temperature was already stifling, with the midsummer sun blazing in the blue sky above. Ryker was dressed in a light cotton shirt but his jeans felt heavy and cumbersome even in the morning heat, and he put the air-conditioning in the car as cold as it would go.