Silver Sable: Payback: A Marvel: Heroines Novel


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I was escorted back to the front of the house by Captain Verlak, Doom striding off down that never-ending hallway toward – well, it wasn’t for me to think about. Just as my foot hit the top step, she called out to me.
 
 “Silvija Sablinova.”
 
 I turned to look at her. “What is it?”
 
 “You’re not one of us, so this might not mean very much to you,” she said, and there was an intensity in her voice that was almost as powerful as Doom’s. “But you should understand that you’ve been given a very special opportunity, one that Doctor Doom offers to very few people. Getting the chance to serve him was the most challenging thing I ever decided to do, and it proved the mettle of my character to me.”
 
 I shook my head. “I’m not serving him. This is a job, just like any other.”
 
 “Not like any other,” she replied. “Not even close. And I think you know that, Silvija. Just… tread carefully, and whatever you do? Don’t fail him.”
 
 
 
 
 
 More Marvel Heroines
 
 Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest by Cath Lauria
 
 Black Cat: Discord by Cath Lauria
 
 Rogue: Untouched by Alisa Kwitney
 
 Domino: Strays by Tristan Palmgren
 
 Outlaw: Relentless by Tristan Palmgren
 
 Squirrel Girl: Universe by Tristan Palmgren
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 © 2023 MARVEL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 First published by Aconyte Books in 2023
 
 ISBN 978 1 83908 219 1
 
 Ebook ISBN 978 1 83908 220 7
 
 All rights reserved. The Aconyte name and logo and the Asmodee Entertainment name and logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Asmodee Entertainment Limited. 
 
 This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 
 
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 Cover art by Bastien Jez
 
 
 
 Distributed in North America by Simon & Schuster Inc, New York, USA
 
 
 
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 An imprint of Asmodee Entertainment Ltd
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 There are Silver Sable fans out there who've been eager for new content and who welcomed me into their fold as soon as they knew her book was coming. I hope this one makes you as happy as it does me!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter One
 
 What do you think of when you hear the name “Silver Sable”?
 
 Do you picture the mercenary? The freedom fighter? The woman who’s made some regrettable decisions when it comes to her personal life?
 
 All of these impressions are valid. So all-encompassing that sometimes, I can’t see beyond them myself.
 
 Tonight, though, I needed to see past them. I needed to go all the way back, to ground myself with the very earliest tendrils of my memory, because given the meeting I was about to walk into, I couldn’t afford not to be ready for anything that might be brought up.
 
 When you’ve been invited to a talk with Victor von Doom, it always pays to be prepared. Even when your preparations hurt.
 
 It’s difficult for me to remember my own past. Not all of it, of course – as a mercenary, I need to be able to put names to faces fast, memorize and retain the layouts of buildings and cities, anything that makes taking down my target easier. Every job I take leaves an impression, whether it’s hunting down Nazis, fomenting revolution against tyrants, or underwater battles with benthic beasts.
 
 But the early years, those are so much harder. To recall the person I so briefly was, the child who didn’t even know what to fear beyond spiders and dark places and unquiet dreams… it’s almost impossible to get a clear mental image of what I experienced so long ago. However, to properly move forward sometimes requires a hard look back, and so… let me see, how do these stories start?
 
 Ah, yes. Once upon a time.
 
 Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Silvija who lived with her parents in a small but beautiful home in the country of Symkaria. They loved her very much, and she was so happy with them. Her parents hoped their daughter would grow up in a peaceful land, with the freedom to live any sort of life she chose for herself.
 
 Then one day, her mother was murdered in front of her. Her father’s enemies gloated in the light of the terrible