The Dark Duet by Kasonndra Leigh

drawer beside the refrigerator, pulling out a gun. I cock the barrel and rush toward the living room, my heart thudding inside of my chest, panic fueling the urge to defend the man who just left me.
    Time slows down, stealing my ability to learn the truth, yet again. I don’t reach him, because the dream goes black.
    Rudolph Burkenstein
    “Things are going smoothly,” Rudolph Burkenstein says to Vladimir, his boss and old friend. The man rescued him from a life of poverty and anonymity after serving his stint as a spy for the CIA’s international division during the Gulf War. Once his treachery had been discovered, Rudolph knew he had to decide whether he would stay and face the wrath of the Americans who had hired him, despite his German heritage, or if he would take the offer provided by the man whom he was originally contracted to take down. The answer was simple, but his need to become a household name, that slippery little demon known as ambition, was too great to resist. In America, he faced a life of servitude, but under the leadership of a man who had continued to elude the governments and Special Forces units of several countries he was destined to become a legend.
    “I assume you’ve already considered the ramifications of this plan? How your two little experiments could turn on you?”
    “Indeed,” says the dark voice on the other end of the line. “I’m fully aware of Nikolai’s obsession with revenge. However, that isn’t any of your concern. Is the girl, the one you call Ghost, ready for her debut?” Vladimir’s heavily accented voice asks. Burkenstein swallows hard. He had wanted to make sure the girl would live up to his boss’s expectations before sending word of her readiness, but now, the eager yet impatient voice on the other end of his phone line—his silence cutting through to the core of Burkenstein’s fears even more so than his words—is pressuring him for an answer.
    “I assure you, she will be properly trained in time to perform her required ... uh ... duties,” Rudolph confirms.
    “And those duties would be what?” he asks in a measured tone. Rudolph doesn’t fail to hear the change, the darkness inside the question.
    “To bring down the last five informants,” Rudolph answers, his pulse quickening. He knows there’s more to this conversation, and he shudders to find out what he’ll be expected to do next.
    “Do not play around with me, Rudolph. There’s more. Is she ready to perform the other task as well?” he hisses. Burkenstein can almost feel the venom that’s dripping from Vladimir’s voice, sailing through the phone and stinging him.
    Vladimir wants to use the girl to shut down his greatest archival, the man who poses the most threat to his fledgling empire, Sergey Dostovsky. And the best way to cut down a man like that is to target his weaknesses, those things making him vulnerable. In this case, that would be Sergey’s estranged family, led by the son who managed to destroy his undercover market of arms trade and illegal fighting, among many other degrading things he assigned those boys to do. Vladimir’s fascination with Alese Ballentine makes the first time he has ever brought a female into the Order.
    “I must insist you speed up her readiness,” Vladimir demands. “We need her to get closer to Katerina Dostovsky. Do you understand?”
    “Right, but I’ve spent too much time here in Italy already. I’m afraid the labs back home will suffer if—”
    “Nikolai’s punishment takes precedent, and you can use the girl as a ‘negotiator’ thereafter.”
    “I understand, but—”
    “Do as you are told. Or you could find yourself on my list of the soon-to-be-extinct as well.” The line goes dead. When will his genius be appreciated? The answer is simple ... never! Burkenstein will do as the Widow says for now.
    I can’t risk losing the funds for my research, and I sure as hell am not stupid enough to cross a madman on a mission. He’s not just