Chapter 2

“So I will have them eliminated,” Sergey Stalokavich says with a shrug and wave of his hand.

“It’s not so simple,” the mysterious Goji, sitting in the shadows counters. “Delgrious underestimated them and look what happened to him.”

“That, my friend is the difference between me and him,” Sergey offers confidently. “He thought all humans were idiots. I on the other hand think most of them are. Besides, your council did not select me to run this section of Winter for no reason.” The man sits back into his chair and continues drinking his vodka.

“You seem to forget your place, human,” the figure warns.

“Do I?” the man asks, raising an eyebrow. “See, as far as I see it, if I was not here to run things, all the men under my command would just up and leave. As you can see, they are loyal to me and no one else. So you tell me if I have forgotten my place again.”

“Insolent human,” the Goji growls. Anger wells up in him. But the human is right, without him the men under him wouldn’t stick around to serve the Goji. “The day will come and you won’t be able to hide behind your position.”

“Nevertheless, that day isn’t now,” Sergey sighs. “As far as these two agents go, I can easily get rid of them. No one can go unnoticed in my country.”

“Trying to get rid of them causes more trouble than it’s worth,” the Goji reiterates. “We’ve already found that out, a mistake to keep your eye out for.”

“Failure should not be tolerated,” Sergey says before downing the remainder of his drink. The Goji remains quiet as the man gets up and walks over to the bar to pour himself another glass. “I still don’t understand the purpose of using that joke of a terrorist group. I mean, if your council wants them eliminated, why not just do so?”

“It would not have served a purpose,” the creature replies evenly. “We gave them opportunity to join, but they refused. So we used them as a means to an end.”

“Which went utterly wrong,” the man points out.

“In your eyes, human,” the creature reprimands. “That’s a short coming with humans. You always rely on sight instead of other senses.”

“Oh?” Sergey says, looking toward the shadows. “Care to elaborate? Help me understand?”

“We anticipated many outcomes, never settling on just one,” the Goji continues willingly. “It turned out McKinsey was stronger emotionally than we perceived. It was Bowling and Stanos that were weak. Weakness is what is not tolerated. Weakness is what ruins well laid plans. Weakness is forgetting your place.”

“It certainly doesn’t sound like a victory,” the gangster mumbles.

“By our plan failing, it only made our goals come together,” The creature says, ignoring the man’s words. “With America weakened with fear, we have the door open to build upon it.”

“Whatever you say,” Sergey waves off the creature as he returns to his chair. “But I know my place and it’s not where you think. I don’t take orders, especially when it comes to my organization. Black Dragon has succeeded because of me, not outside forces. Ghost may have let one of you manipulate it, but that isn’t going to happen to us.”

“We shall see, human,” the creature predicts. “But remember, you are too far intertwined with Winter to just leave whenever you choose. We have you, as you’d say, by the balls.”

Before the man can reply, Maltaus is gone. “Son of a bitch,” Sergey growls.

“What do they want with us?” Shane Cook asks.

“What else but to do their dirty work,” Alvar Dahlin replies.

“They’re not getting anything from me,” Steven Patmore says, standing and clenching his fists. “You hear that?” he says a little louder, enough to be heard from outside the tent. “You’re getting nothing from me!”