PROLOGUE
Jeleňa Angeloff. The name whispered with respect and fear in Novi Grad. She was both the town’s most beautiful girl and its most dangerous. No one dared cross her path; Jelena knew how to fight, how to survive, and always carried a small, razor-sharp knife concealed in her boot.
When the sun shone over Sokovia’s capital, Jelena—Elena, as she was often called—was forced to play the part of a normal teenager, attending high school for the sake of her sister, Anastasia. A fragile facade for a life steeped in shadow.
But as the sun dipped behind the mountains, Elena resumed her true occupation. She assassinated targets on command, for a price. A steep price, but one she’d pay to protect Anastasia. She drew a line she wouldn’t cross: no children, no innocent women. Only those who deserved it. They were always careful to avoid being seen as collateral damage.
Elena and Anastasia had only fragmented memories of their parents. They’d run, fleeing from one small town to another, until they landed, penniless, in Novi Grad. Their parents were murdered along the way. Elena knew, with a chilling certainty, that they were never safe. The world was always watching.
Elena had poured every ounce of her energy into learning how to fight, how to defend herself. She’d earned money by fighting in underground rings. She’d taken more than a few blows, walked away with bruised eyes, but it was worth it. Anastasia deserved a normal life, and Elena would earn it.
Years passed. They turned seventeen. The ring fights had earned them enough to afford school, but Elena couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it. Her sole purpose was protecting Anastasia.
In four years, Elena mastered ninjutsu, learning to wield a samurai sword with deadly precision. Boxing classes taught her how to strike, to attack. She’d hacked into the principal’s computer, altering her grades to ensure she passed. She’d learned to hack on her own, to steal what she needed.
This was her life now: hack and attack.
One day, everything changed. Anastasia secured a job, and their schedules no longer aligned. Elena found herself searching for work alone. She met a man in a dimly lit bar, a man who whispered about opportunities for those willing to take them.
She accepted the job without knowing what it entailed. The man taught her how to handle a gun. It was a dark descent into a world she had always avoided. She was an assassin, for a year, all while keeping it from Anastasia. She earned enough money to buy a house for them both, but she knew she could never reveal the source of her income. It would raise too many questions.
Elena’s resolve hardened with each kill. She would find her parents’ murderers. She would find them, and she would make them pay.