06-04-2019, 06:44 PM
“Violence and monsters,” Lih repeated the words as if they were unclean, ignoring Dorian’s chuckle. His brow creased as his mind raced. This was a dangerous game, and he knew it. Dorian had a certain pull over Nox now, but the atharim was still quite the most dangerous being Lih had ever encountered. Lih would test his new companion, but not too far. There was a line even Dorian would not cross.
He was about to ask more when a figure came up behind them. He wheeled around, his silenced pistol ready.
It was Nox.
The atharim was not, as Lih had begun to fear, some mutant hybrid of monster and human. At first sight at least, he appeared to be essentially normal.
That made him no less frightening. He was tall, a head taller than Lih. In his hoodie and jeans he could not be more different in appearance than the sharp well moneyed Dorian.
“Viktor Lih,” he murmured in astonishment, taking his gloved hand off his gun and shaking the other’s hand briefly. “Please look after me.”
He paused, if as wondering whether or not to let Nox in on some private information. He looked at Ivan and studied him curiously for a moment. It’s an unhappy situation Nox is in, despite all the services he’d provided Cruz and Ivan, he’d still be regarded as a difficult, dangerous person. Yet Ivan’s casual friendly attitude toward Nox convinced Lih to speak, “there’s been some preliminary investigation and the domovoi detectives are under pressure to produce results. We can’t do the tunnels without you sir and if we can clear these areas, it will make a big difference to the way we think about this Pavlo case.”
He swallowed hard. The sight of the atharim was kindling other recollections now. The apprehension of fighting, the rush of adrenaline. In the tunnels there’s one thing that’s keeping him and Ivan alive and that’s Nox.
He thought: If the team could survive as well as Ivan and Nox did in that hell hole labyrinth without breaking, then for the sake of the CCD and the protection of our people, I have to find out how and why.
He was about to ask more when a figure came up behind them. He wheeled around, his silenced pistol ready.
It was Nox.
The atharim was not, as Lih had begun to fear, some mutant hybrid of monster and human. At first sight at least, he appeared to be essentially normal.
That made him no less frightening. He was tall, a head taller than Lih. In his hoodie and jeans he could not be more different in appearance than the sharp well moneyed Dorian.
“Viktor Lih,” he murmured in astonishment, taking his gloved hand off his gun and shaking the other’s hand briefly. “Please look after me.”
He paused, if as wondering whether or not to let Nox in on some private information. He looked at Ivan and studied him curiously for a moment. It’s an unhappy situation Nox is in, despite all the services he’d provided Cruz and Ivan, he’d still be regarded as a difficult, dangerous person. Yet Ivan’s casual friendly attitude toward Nox convinced Lih to speak, “there’s been some preliminary investigation and the domovoi detectives are under pressure to produce results. We can’t do the tunnels without you sir and if we can clear these areas, it will make a big difference to the way we think about this Pavlo case.”
He swallowed hard. The sight of the atharim was kindling other recollections now. The apprehension of fighting, the rush of adrenaline. In the tunnels there’s one thing that’s keeping him and Ivan alive and that’s Nox.
He thought: If the team could survive as well as Ivan and Nox did in that hell hole labyrinth without breaking, then for the sake of the CCD and the protection of our people, I have to find out how and why.
Viktor Lih
Officer of CCDPD
Officer of CCDPD