Chapter 17 · Viktor's Price

The text came through at two in the morning.

Viktor: *Warehouse 9, Red Hook. One hour. Come alone or I delete everything I have on Mara.*

I stared at the screen until my eyes burned. My thumb hovered over Ethan's number. He'd told me to call him if Viktor made contact. He'd made me promise.

I deleted the message instead.

The cab dropped me at the edge of the industrial zone. The driver gave me a look like he knew I was making a bad choice but wasn't paid enough to care. I walked the last three blocks. My phone stayed in my pocket. If this went wrong, I didn't want Ethan cleaning up another one of my messes.

Warehouse 9 had been abandoned long enough that the loading dock was half-collapsed. The door was propped open with a cinder block. Inside, a single work light hung from a rusted chain. Viktor stood underneath it, smoking.

"You actually came," he said. "I'm almost impressed."

"You said you had information on Mara."

"I said I had everything." He flicked ash onto the concrete. "Photos. Intake logs. Transfer authorizations. Even the original tissue samples Eclipse Medical took before they moved her.