My Husband Never Dies - Chapter 78

— Belle? Belle? Did we get disconnected? Belle? Can you hear me?

She’d thought she’d only drifted off for a moment, yet Ivan — who was rarely one to grow impatient — was making an unusual racket.

Pulled back to reality, Evelia frowned.

“I’m here.”

— I thought the line had dropped.

Ivan replied with obvious irritation. Writing off the odd sense of déjà vu as nothing more than fatigue, Evelia dismissed it and muttered:

“That place must have plenty of hounds.”

Hounds was their term for guards. If the target was the head of an old ducal house, heavy security was only to be expected. The job sounded troublesome.

Even so, anticipation stirred inside her. The more difficult the assignment, the greater the satisfaction of pulling it off. Not to mention the payout.

— Well… that’s one reason the fee’s so high. There’s no one else I can trust with this besides you, Belle. We’ve actually tried twice already. Both attempts failed.

“I see. So where are those two now?”

Ivan chose to remain silent. Well, they were probably dead. In this line of work, a failed mission usually meant exactly that.

“Fine. Go over the terms again.”

As Ivan repeated the conditions, Evelia looked out the window beside the counter toward the harbor of Pallici Island.

The docks were quiet in the afternoon. Two fishing boats bobbed at their moorings. Seagulls wandered along the pier. Somewhere, the wind carried the sharp scent of salt.

After staring at the same view for six months, she was sick of it. No front line. No contracts. No reason to move. To Evelia, days spent doing nothing with perfectly healthy arms and legs felt more suffocating than a prison cell.

“What guarantee do I have?”

A mercenary learned early that there was nothing in this world worth trusting. Clients were quick to dump the blame on hired hands the moment things went wrong. Payments moved through false names and shadow accounts, which meant a mercenary had no proof even when cheated.

Then again, a mercenary carrying around evidence would be a problem in itself.

— We’ll put the agency’s name on it. I’m guaranteeing it personally.

Evelia had a rough idea of the kind of man Ivan was. He served as an agent for one of the major powers within the Osmund Union, Lakeland’s rival across the continent. And whatever sort of figure Ivan answered to, they were influential enough that his agency maintained a spy network spanning the entire continent. From royal nobles to republican officials, there were few places beyond its reach.

If Ivan was willing to stake his own name on it, that was good enough for Evelia. He had no reason to lie. The deal only paid off if the job was completed. Trying to deceive her would only cost him as well.

“Fine. I’ll go meet him.”

— Good choice.

“Before that, though, you’d better provide anything I ask for, the moment I ask for it. You know what I mean, right?”

She was making one thing clear: Whatever support she required, she expected it immediately.

— We’ve been working together for years. Of course. We’ve already prepared intelligence from inside Lakeland, local contacts, and safe houses. Anything else you need?

Ivan’s crisp reply left Evelia quiet for a moment. For some reason, a chill crept down her spine. It felt like she was about to walk willingly into the jaws of death…

For a mercenary, instinct was as dependable as any trusted comrade. Two operatives had already died attempting this mission. And the meticulous care with which Ivan had prepared every detail set every alarm in her body ringing.

This wouldn’t be an ordinary contract. It might even be her last.

— Belle?

“…One question.”

— Yeah?

“What is this? A lion going up against a tiger?”

The lion was a stand-in for the Kingdom of Lakeland. The tiger represented the Osmund Union.

For years, the international balance had teetered on the edge, with those two rival superpowers at its center. One wrong move, and war could break out.

— Why does that matter? You just have to carry out the contract, Belle.

Evelia asked no more. By refusing to deny it, Ivan had given her all the answers she needed.

The world’s really gone to hell.

An internationally wanted criminal like Evelia Lockwood was apparently about to spark yet another international incident from the shadows.