Shadow WIngs (Skeleton Key) by Skeleton Key, JC Andrijeski

comrade,” she said, giving him a grim smile. “Not if you intend me no harm. Not if you do not pose a danger to anyone else. But if you are right about Golunsky having a political motive, it becomes my problem. And that you would offer this information to me puts me in a difficult situation.”
    “Because you are obligated to turn me in to your superiors in the KGB?”
    Ilana stared, her jaw dropping. She’d almost forgotten his mention of “Special Projects” to that idiot ment. He really did know where she worked.
    Raguel noticed, but did not wait for her to speak. He held up a hand.
    “I am sorry,” he said. “I know it disturbs you that I know these things, but I do not have time to play human games with this. That is what you meant, yes? That you are obligated to turn me in, since I told you I am aware of a possible political crime about to be committed?”
    She closed her mouth with a snap.
    “Yes,” she said simply.
    “But if you think I’m insane, then that is just a formality for you, is it not? You won’t even look into the possibility that I might be right about Golunsky, will you, given that?” Raguel folded his muscular arms, made more bulky by the sweater he wore. “So it does not even help to get you back working on the political angles of the case, if you turn me in?”
    Ilana found herself staring, in spite of herself, trying to make sense of his words. When she didn’t answer for a few seconds more, Raguel exhaled.
    “So this is it?” he said. “You will humor me and then take me back to that jail cell and forget I said anything?” Raguel watched her, his expression rock-still. “That, or you will take me to your superiors to torture to find out how I knew so much about you... and why I would claim Golunsky had political ties? Or possibly, if you are feeling pity for me, you will take me to a social worker or a psychologist. None of which helps me. Or you, for that matter.”
    Her frown deepened. She was a little unnerved to have him repeat her own thoughts back to her a second time. “What would you have me do, comrade?”
    “I would have you hear me that human politics are not a demon’s concern,” Raguel said, leaning over the table once more. “They are a tool, Ilana, nothing more. He would harm you as human beings . He does not care about your politics. He does not care anything about your quarrel with the United States... or the even more quiet wars you conduct within your own borders. Or within your own government.”
    Puzzled, she stared at him. “What is the difference?”
    Raguel narrowed his gaze. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, what is the difference between something being political versus politics being used as a tool for a specific end?” Ilana said.
    He exhaled. “A great deal, if you waste time worrying about the wrong people and things.” He continued to watch her face, his gray eyes a darker, smokier crystal now. “You could give Lahash time to make his move. He could act before I return to a form where I could actually stop him. Or he could simply find someone to kill him in prison––allowing him to jump bodies and making it impossible for me to find him at all down here.”
    She smiled faintly in spite of herself, folding her own arms and copying his body posture without really thinking about it. “This is what worries you about this scenario? That I might not follow the investigation into Golunsky’s political affiliations? That I might ‘waste time,’ as you put it? Versus helping you to stop him?”
    He frowned at her openly. “What else should worry me, Ilana?”
    “Prison, perhaps?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Torture? Confinement in a mental institution? All three? Have you done time in a real Russian prison, comrade? I suspect if you had, you would be more concerned about that problem of yours than you are about whatever Golunsky might do.”
    “Perhaps I trust that you will not let such a terrible thing happen to me,