The door hissed open behind him.
Max turned sharply.
The Three of Spades stepped into the room, his dark coat trailing behind him like smoke. He moved with the same silent confidence, each step calculated, precise.
His eyes — sharp and unreadable — settled on Max with a kind of grim familiarity.
Max didn't move.
The door shut with a quiet but definitive click behind them.
The Three of Spades didn't sit. He paced once around the room, as if inspecting it, before stopping just a few feet in front of Max.
"Before we talk about anything else, I think you should know something," he said evenly, folding his hands behind his back. "A little update from the outside world."
Max's eyes narrowed. "What now?"
The Three of Spades tilted his head slightly, his voice as calm as ever. "Good news, your beautiful assistants are trying their best to find you. Bad news, they are bound to fail. And now the worst news, you've been marked."
Max blinked. "Marked? By whom ?"
