Read Tsar Wars: Agents of ISIS, Book 1 for Free Online Page B

I’d rank her the one with the
better potential— if you can convince her to take the job at
all.”
    “If?”
    “I’ve never asked her how she feels about it.
She’s always listened politely to my stories and my instruction—but
with her parents’ death … plus I didn’t know for sure the subject
would ever come up.”
    “I see.” There was a pause of about five
seconds—for Nkosi Wettig, a very long pause indeed. “Well, I’ve
never gone wrong before trusting your judgment. Da, bring them in.
I’d like to have a talk with them.”
     
    * * *
     
    As Avram went into the office to talk with
Lady Hasina, Eva turned to her cousin. “I suppose this has you all
excited,” she said.
    “Of course. This is what I’ve waited my whole
life for. Next to our act, this is the most important thing I could
ever do. Don’t you feel it too?”
    “You still have a parent,” Eva said slowly.
Her expression was more serious than Judah could ever remember. “I
only have uncles.”
    Judah’s face fell. “Oh Eva, I’m sorry. I
wasn’t thinking—”
    Just as quickly as the somber mood had come
upon her, it vanished again. “Besides, it would put a hell of a kibosh on my sex life.”
    Relieved to be off the hook for his faux pas,
Judah bantered back, “Spies have a great sex life. Ilya Uzi has at
least three different women each book.”
    “You know me better than that. If I do
something I do it all the way. It has to become the most important
thing in my universe.”
    “You’re saying sex is the most important
thing in your universe?”
    “Right now, the act is the most important
thing in my universe. Everything else revolves around that. I never
miss a rehearsal, I never miss a performance. Come hell or high
water, that’s the rock my life is built on.
    “Fortunately, even with all that work I still
have time for a hobby. And when I’m at my hobby, that becomes the thing that consumes me. When have you ever known me to
do anything by halves, boychik ?”
    Judah smiled, and there was the faint hint of
a blush. “You do tend to throw yourself into things.”
    “Right. And I’ve listened to Uncle Avram’s
and Uncle Mikkel’s stories. Being a spy is an all-day, all-night
job. You’re always onstage. No breaks, no time for hobbies. I
couldn’t do anything less.”
    Judah tried to return to his earlier point.
“But sometimes a seduction can be part of the assignment.”
    “It’s not the same thing at all. Sex as a
hobby is something I can enjoy. I can let myself go. But if I’m shtupping some guy to save the Empire, I can’t relax, I
can’t let it be fun. I’ll always have to remember why I’m there,
who I’m pretending to be. There’ll always be a clock ticking in my
head. I know myself well enough to know that.”
    She shook her head. “No, as long as I was
working on an assignment it would become the only thing in my life.
And that’s a commitment I’m not sure I’m r—”
    The office door opened and Avram Bar Nahum
stuck his head out. “He’d like a few words with the two of you,” he
said.
    Judah looked over at his cousin, who simply
shrugged her shoulders and walked into the office. He followed her,
curbing his enthusiasm outwardly for her sake, even though his
heart was racing with excitement.
    “They’re both here, Nkosi,” Avram said as he
closed the door behind them.
    “Avram tells me you can both be trusted,” the
knyaz began without prelude, “and I trust him implicitly. Let me
explain the situation I face and what I would like to see
happen.
    “There is an undercurrent of treason running
rampant through the Empire. Local separatist movements are
springing up on one world after another. I’m sure you’ve heard the
news reports of all the anti-imperial riots lately.”
    “It’s hard not to,” Eva said. “There’s one
almost every day, somewhere.”
    There was a few seconds of silence from the
other end of the line. When the knyaz continued, his voice was a
little