False Horizon - Alex Archer [87]
“Just by joining my sword to your cause.”
“Exactly.”
“And what would I have to do?”
“Remove any troubling people from our path. Much the way Hsu Xiao does for me right now.”
“So you’d have two assassins instead of just one.”
“The more, the merrier. Isn’t that the saying in the West? With two of you by my side, we can truly take over anything that we want. And we can rule the world as a triumvirate of power.”
“I told you before that the sword doesn’t make me invulnerable. You’ve seen yourself how Hsu Xiao was able to injure me.”
“She is able to do that because she is the best at what she does. I trained her to be that way.” Vanya shrugged. “But others? They would fall before you like the long grass before a harvesting scythe.”
“How poetic,” Annja said.
Vanya smiled. “Stow your sarcasm and join our cause, Annja. We have room in our organization for another powerful woman. Join us and see what the future may hold for you.”
Annja looked at Hsu Xiao. “And how do you feel about that job offer? You cool with Vanya offering me a place next to you?”
Hsu Xiao smiled. “Whatever my mistress wishes, it is my duty to obey.”
Annja frowned. “That’s not exactly the warm and cuddly answer I was looking for.”
Vanya waved her hand. “Hsu Xiao will do whatever she is told. If that means accepting you into our ranks, then she will do so gladly. I did not raise her to dispute my desires.”
Annja nodded. “See? That’s kind of what I have a problem with. Maybe it’s an authority-figure thing. I just can’t seem to get over this idea that following orders blindly without engaging the ol’ noggin is a good way to go for me.”
“It’s the only way for you now, Annja. If you don’t agree, then you’re leaving me no choice in the matter.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Annja said. “Seems to me that Hsu Xiao and I could team up and just cut you out of the picture entirely. Why share something three ways when a partnership is so much more powerful?”
Vanya shook her head. “You’re crazy. Hsu Xiao would never throw her loyalty from me to you. I’ve done too much to help her. I’ve taken care of her family—all of her brothers and sisters enjoy a wonderful standard of living in China’s new economy thanks to me and the power I exert on their behalf.”
“And I’m sure she’s grateful for that,” Annja said. “But really, no one likes being under anyone’s control for too long, do they?”
If Hsu Xiao had any reaction to Annja’s words, she wasn’t showing it. Vanya glanced at her and then back at Annja. “You’re wasting your time.”
“Am I?”
“Hsu Xiao will not turn against me. We’ve come too far together to throw it all away just because you talk a good game.”
“Seems to me I’m talking the same game you’re trying on me,” Annja said. “So who’s to say who is better at it than the other.”
Vanya looked at her watch. “We’re running out of time, Annja. I need your decision.”
“What’s the hurry?”
Vanya smiled. “Let’s just say that my power grab relies on something very big and terrible happening so as to start the cracks of unbalance back in Beijing.”
“What the hell does that mean? What have you got planned?”
“You no doubt realized that there were very few people still around last night?”
Annja nodded. The place had seemed deserted. “Yeah, I noticed all right. What about it?”
“They’re all dead.”
“You killed them?”
Vanya shrugged. “They had fulfilled their requirements. Each one of them was contracted to work for a certain amount of time and then they were to be released in order to go back to China proper.”
“All that to sell us on the idea that this was Shangri-La?”
“You still don’t get it, do you? This isn’t Shangri-La at all. I told you that.”
“I know that. So what is it?”
Vanya stared at Annja. “Are you going to join us or not?”
“I don’t think so.”
Vanya frowned. “That’s truly unfortunate. Very well, then. You leave me no choice but to finish