After knocking Professor Randolph unconscious, the twins left his office without a trace of urgency.
They walked calmly across the quiet university grounds, climbed back into the waiting limousine, and closed the doors behind them.
Only several minutes later did another figure enter the office.
He wore a janitor’s uniform.
After glancing around to confirm the hallway was empty, he wrestled a large black garbage bag out of the room. It was bulky enough to require both hands, but eventually he managed to drag it to a waiting sanitation truck.
To anyone watching...
It looked like nothing more than another load of trash.
Inside the limousine, General Ross watched the scene through the window with an unmistakable frown.
When the "janitor" finished loading the bag, Ross finally turned toward the twins.
"I have to admit..."
"I’m surprised you’d use him."
The surprise in his voice wasn’t the whole story.
There was contempt.
And irritation.
Contempt, because he looked down on the sort of man who ended up working as muscle disguised as a janitor.
Irritation, because the twins had trusted that man instead of the elite operatives he had personally selected.
Salysra calmly lifted her unfinished glass of champagne.
"Because we’re certain he isn’t one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s informants."
Ross frowned.
"The agents I selected aren’t S.H.I.E.L.D. assets either."
"Perhaps."
Alythess lazily watched bubbles rise through her champagne.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. prides itself on being everywhere."
"We don’t place our trust in government operatives until they’ve been tested over time."
"And yet you trust him?"
Ross couldn’t hide the mockery in his voice.
"At first I thought your nightclub was just a convenient front."
"I never imagined you’d actually recruit people from it."
"Men like him don’t believe in anything."
"They’d sell you out the moment someone offered a better deal."
The man Ross referred to wasn’t some anonymous thug.
It was Luther.
The nightclub’s second-in-command.
Of everyone available, the twins had chosen him alone to remain behind and transport Randolph.
Ross genuinely couldn’t understand it.
Had they never learned the oldest lesson in every criminal organization?
The second-in-command was always the first to betray you.
"If someone lacks conviction..."
Salysra took another sip.
"...then give them one."
"A person with genuine conviction won’t betray it."
Ross merely chuckled.
As if faith were something that could simply be manufactured.
Alythess smiled knowingly.
"General..."
"Planting a belief inside someone’s heart isn’t nearly as difficult as you imagine."
Never underestimate a demon’s understanding of mortal hearts.
The Night Watch of Duskwood had once stood as courageous defenders, sacrificing themselves to protect innocent people from worgen and the Scourge.
Yet when the Burning Legion invaded...
Every last one of them had turned.
The people they had sworn to protect became sacrificial offerings instead.
If demons could twist such unwavering guardians into fanatics...
Then what chance did a drifting gangster like Luther have?
He already stood on the edge of corruption.
The former lieutenants of Kil’jaeden didn’t even need fel magic.
A few carefully chosen words.
A handful of subtle suggestions.
That alone was enough to nurture blind devotion and absolute personal loyalty.
Of course, the twins weren’t interested in recruiting everyone.
Those without talent weren’t worth keeping.
Broken tools could sometimes be reforged.
Worthless ones were simply discarded.
Although...
When it came to their eight personal battle attendants...
Beauty admittedly played a significant role in the selection process.
The group returned to the United States without incident.
Professor Elliot Randolph simply...
Vanished.
Ross personally handled the cleanup.
According to official records, Professor Randolph had fallen ill during his lunch break and left campus seeking medical treatment.
On the way to the hospital, he was reportedly killed in a traffic accident.
With no surviving family, his estate was donated to the university according to his will.
His body was cremated.
His ashes scattered at sea.
A neat ending.
One that invited no further investigation.
The twins had no intention of leaving such a valuable specimen in Ross’s custody.
They trusted his political usefulness.
Not his competence.
On the outskirts of New York stood an old church.
Years of neglect had nearly reduced it to ruins.
That had changed after the Eredar Twins quietly purchased the property.
Now the structure had been completely restored.
The nightclub served well enough for business.
It was a terrible place to build underground laboratories beneath the middle of Manhattan.
A forgotten countryside church attracted far less attention.
People assumed some wealthy benefactor had chosen to restore a historic building.
No one questioned it.
Strictly speaking...
It wasn’t a church anymore.
It was a monastery.
The twins’ most trusted battle attendants had all been stationed there, dressed as nuns.
With characteristic flair, the twins christened it:
Evernight Abbey.
To make the place appear even grander, they had reconstructed the entrance with an absurdly imposing staircase twenty steps high.
Salysra stopped before the doors.
"Veronica."
"Open the Hive."
The lead nun stepped forward.
She wore the serene expression of a devoted woman of faith.
Hands folded around the cross hanging from her neck, she approached the statue of the Virgin Mary and pressed an almost invisible switch hidden beneath its base.
A tiny opening appeared.
Veronica leaned close.
"Grievous."
"Brutality."
"Fortitude."
"Inspiration."
Each code word echoed softly.
Deep beneath the monastery, hidden mechanisms awakened.
The stone floor in the center of the sanctuary slowly split apart.
A concealed passage emerged from the darkness below.
Alythess nodded toward Randolph’s unconscious body.
"Take him down."
"The Hive is primarily your responsibility, Beekeeper."
Veronica bowed respectfully.
At her signal, two other nuns lifted the unconscious Asgardian and disappeared into the underground facility.
Before following, Veronica paused.
"How should we handle the subject, my ladies?"
Salysra looked toward the entrance.
"We don’t exactly have many options yet."
The Hive had only recently been completed.
Most of the sophisticated equipment they wanted hadn’t arrived.
For now...
The underground complex was little more than secure storage and basic laboratory space.
"The restraints we placed on him will keep him unconscious."
"You don’t need to worry about him waking."
She considered it for a moment.
"But just to be safe..."
"Put him on ice."
Cold storage was currently the best containment available.
"As you command."
Veronica bowed once more before descending into the Hive.
As they left Evernight Abbey, Alythess lit a cigarette.
She exhaled slowly.
"That little warlock’s ambitions are much bigger than I first thought."
"He always looks so unreliable."
She hesitated.
Then frowned.
"Tell me..."
"Do you think he’s actually serious?"
"He possesses all three of those artifacts."
"If he truly intends to use them..."
"...we’ll need to prepare."
Salysra fell silent.
Then slowly shook her head.
"I don’t think so."
"Do you remember what he asked us during his last visit?"
Recognition flashed across Alythess’s face.
She laughed quietly.
"Right."
"He asked how the Legion reacted after the warlocks seized Dreadscar Rift..."
"...and after the demon hunters claimed Mardum."
"He also wanted to know Dreadscar Rift’s true importance within the Legion."
She smiled.
"If he were planning to go through with that..."
"...he wouldn’t have asked those questions."
"My concerns were unnecessary."
Salysra nodded.
"What interests me more..."
"...is the final favor he asked of us."
Her expression became unusually thoughtful.
"What he wants to create..."
"...isn’t exactly good news for our kind."
Then, almost immediately, her smile returned.
"But..."
"...it does sound fascinating."
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