The Price Of Hatred

Chapter 32 – The Pawn Strategy - 1

​“We have the first one under complete control, and we are not going to fucking lose it,” Roman said, his fingers tightening over the edges of the ancient leather casing as he lifted the chained book from his desk. His voice carried a calculated, heavy resonance that echoed off the cold concrete walls of his office. “This book is exactly what we need to locate every single soul on this grid who knows about the existence of the stones—and what these stones truly are. We just have to play this path strategically with everyone .”

​Vener, who was still clutching her digital tablet tightly against her chest, shook her head. Her brow furrowed deeply as she tried to process the sheer scale of the manipulation he was hinting at. “What? Wait, Roman... I don’t really get what you’re trying to say. Just lay it out completely clean for me.”

​Roman turned around slowly, his eyes gleaming with a sharp, predatory focus beneath the dim office lighting. “This book is a roadmap, Vener. It holds the names and lineages of everyone who has ever touched or hunted the stones. It is exactly what we need to know everyone who knows anything.”

​“Okay,” Vener said, her voice dropping into a cautious whisper as she stepped closer to the desk. “So why would you want to use this book right now? What is the actual endgame?”

​“To use every single person recorded inside this book against each—” Roman paused, a cold, empty smile spreading across his face as he locked eyes with her, “—other.”

​Vener’s breath hitched in her throat. “What? Why the hell would you want to pit everyone who understands the stones against one another? That is pure chaos, Roman.”

​“Because, Vener, there are still two ancient stones out there, completely lost, and we can’t even begin to trace their coordinates yet,” Roman explained, his voice growing intense as he tapped his knuckles against the weathered pages. “But through the people recorded in this book? There will be someone out there who knows exactly where those lost pieces can be found.”

​“Why would you want to hunt for the lost stones when we already have on—”

​Vener didn't finish her sentence. Roman’s hand shot up, cutting her off instantly.

​“Stop.”

​The heavy electronic lock on the office door hissed, clicking open abruptly. A female tech operative stepped into the private room, holding a secure tablet. She walked with hurried steps, completely breaking the isolation of the room, and came to a halt right in front of Roman’s desk. Vener straightened her posture, moving slightly to stand right by Roman’s flank, her eyes narrowing at the interruption.

​“Next time you want to come into my private office, you knock before coming in,” Roman delivered smoothly, though his voice was laced with a chilling, quiet warning.

​The woman halted, her shoulders tensing as she realized she had stepped over a boundary. “I’m incredibly sorry, sir. I will make sure to knock next time.”

​“Fine. What do you have for me?” Roman asked, leaning his weight against the mahogany desk.

​The operative tapped her fingers rapidly across the glass screen of her tablet, transferring a localized tracking grid onto the display. “We haven’t been able to establish a digital footprint for Kia or Din yet. Not even Lin. They’ve completely gone dark in the lower sectors,” she reported, zooming in on a fluctuating signal near the coast. “But we did manage to isolate this guy.”

​Roman leaned forward, analyzing the facial recognition profile flashing on the monitor. A slow grin stretched across his lips. “That’s James’s friend, Todd.” He turned his head slightly, throwing a sharp glance toward Vener. “We can use him to get exactly what I need.”

​The operative looked up from her screen, her eyes flickering with curiosity. “Haaa... what exactly do you need to get, sir?”

​“You don’t have to be worried about what I need,” Roman shot back instantly, his tone shutting down her inquiry like a steel door.

​The woman cleared her throat, trying to salvage her position. “No, of course not, sir. I just want to know so I could perhaps be more useful to your personal operations.”

​“Okay. Where is Todd located right now?”

​“Six miles away, right down by the old beachside corridor,” the operative answered, scrolling through the real-time data. “Our satellites show he’s currently attempting to initiate an outgoing call.”

​“Good. Can you hack directly into the frequencies right now so we can hear exactly what he’s saying?”

​The woman shook her head, letting out a frustrated breath. “No, not right now. I can’t initiate the intercept because the specific person he’s trying to call hasn't picked up the line yet. The connection is still looping. Until the call connects, I can’t bypass the encryption to hack in.”

​“Alright. Just keep your eyes permanently locked onto him,” Roman commanded, his voice hardening. “Anywhere he goes, make completely sure you don’t lose his trail.”

​“I won’t lose him, sir. Is there anything else I can help with?”

​“Yes, and that is all for now. You can go,” Roman said seriously.

​The woman nodded quickly, turned on her heel, and exited through the heavy door, leaving the two of them alone once more. The moment the latch clicked into place, Roman faced Vener, his expression shifting into pure calculation. “I’m going to use James’s friend, Todd. He is going to be the one helping me pull this off.”

​Vener looked at him, her tone strictly professional but laced with deep suspicion. “For what exactly, Roman?”

​“To get James out of where he’s currently being held,” Roman stated plainly, slamming the massive book shut on the table with a resounding thud.

​“Why on earth would you want to extract James from that sector?” Vener asked, her voice rising slightly in confusion. “And why would you be using his civilian friend to get him out? I don’t understand this play at all.”

​“I am absolutely not sending my own tactical guys out there for a high-risk rescue mission, I don't even want Butcher, to notice” Roman explained, walking around the desk. “So I will be using Todd to pull his own friend out of that steel container. If he doesn’t, James will thoroughly die inside that metal box within the hour.”

​“Why do you even care if he dies there or not?” Vener countered, her eyes flashing with sudden emotion. “He killed your father! And not just your father... to me, Arthur was our father.”

​“Our father?” Roman repeated, letting out a cold, sharp, inner breath that sounded like a mocking laugh. “He was no God, Vener. He was just an ordinary man who built an empire out of blood. And he was my biological father—not our father.”

​“I know he wasn't thoroughly a good father to you,” Vener whispered, her gaze dropping slightly. “He never treated you like the other elite kids.”

​“Neither did he treat you like a normal child,” Roman countered, his voice cutting like a razor.

​“But you still had him as a father,” Vener said, looking up, her voice thick with old wounds. “I never had a father at all. He took me out of the dirt of that orphanage and took care of me. Not just me alone, Roman. He did that for many other abandoned kids out there.”

​“And none of you ever had a happy ending, did you?”

​“We weren't exactly expecting a happy ending,” Vener snapped back defensively. “Not when all we ever felt before he took us into the system was absolute, unadulterated suffering.”

​“I’m glad you finally recognize that,” Roman said, his demeanor turning completely icy. “But nothing you say will ever change my mind from getting exactly what I want from this time.”

​“And what is it that you truly want, Roman?”

​“What is rightfully meant for me.”

​Vener stared at him for a long, silent moment, the distance between them growing wider than it had ever been. “I have known you since the day we left the compound together, Roman. And you don't help a single soul if you aren't getting something massive out of it.”

​“Get back to work, Vener,” Roman directed, letting out a heavy, dismissive breath as he turned his back to her. “I will handle this part of the game myself.”