Killer Empire

Chapter 31

"YOU WANTED TO see me?"

Months after she had been inducted into the organization, it was safe to say that Devora was no longer afraid of Julius Cain. Or at least, she wasn't as afraid as she was back when she had first arrived. Of course, it wasn't as though the older man had suddenly become her best friend but she had a newfound understanding in regards to his general personality which made him more human than she had first thought. That made it easier for her to interact with him.

When she entered the room, the first thing that greeted her was Nathan's back which was facing the door. The huge table which he leaned his upper body on was situated at the far right of the room. He had no doubt noticed her entrance just as Julius Cain did but Nathan didn't look back. Instead, he stared straight ahead at their superior.

Instinctively, she walked over to him. Once she was by his side, Devora heard Nathan ask, mumbling his words, "Devora? What are you doing here?" He retracted his hands from the table's surface as he spoke, letting it fall back to his sides.

"I called her here, of course. Don't ask such nonsensical questions, Nathaniel." Waving a hand nonchalantly, Cain dismissed Nathan's confused expression.

"I don't recall seeing you use the speakers." Nathan frowned.

"I have other ways," came Cain's vague reply.

Immediately, Devora's mind flitted over to the little boy that so very resembled Julius Cain in appearance. Markus Cain was his father's son for sure, all the way down to his enigmatic personality.

"Now, Devora." Cain clapped his hands together as if he were celebrating something. If Devora didn't know better, she would've thought that it was perhaps a new mission was about to be thrown onto their backs. However, they still had an incomplete task on their hands, which made that thought unlikely. "I have a task for you and Nathaniel. Actually, it's for your little friends as well."

Cain's closing words made confusion settle snugly into the pit of Devora's chest. A mission from Julius Cain would perhaps be something that she and Nathan could easily deal with. However, a task, on the other hand, was a little more different. It seemed like even Julius Cain would bend down and ask for favors.

"I'm listening," she said.

Her curiosity peaked. After all, it wasn't every day a person like Julius Cain would reach out for favors. She folded her arms across her chest, Nathan copying her action and following suit. His thumb lightly ran over the pink of his bottom lip as if thinking hard. Devora couldn't help but let her eyes gloss over his figure for a split second, admiring the view.

"As you might've guessed, I've made plenty of enemies ever since I started this line of work," Cain began to explain. "As the years go by, these enemies increase in number. It has reached a point where even my agents are starting to rebel against me."

"Gee, I wonder why," Nathan muttered under his breath, making Devora's shoulders quake as she tried to disguise her laughter with a hectic cough.

Pretending to not hear what Nathan had said, Cain continued, "We don't know the exact number of rebels but it's safe to assume at least thirty percent of the organization had already gone rogue."

"So what is it that you want us to do?" Devora asked, tilting her head slightly to a side. "Kill them off one by one? They are all experts in our field. In our 'little group of friends', we don't have the skill nor the numbers to bring so many of them down effectively."

"And," Nathan piped up, "We have no idea who they are. How are you so sure that we're not one of them?"

"I know that," Cain snapped, finally losing his patience.