Reyna swallowed. “I’m not good enough.”
“Worst-case scenario only. If all goes as planned, you won’t even need this.” Gabe released the clip and broke the gun down. “I’ll be there. Try not to think about anything else.”
She nodded. “Okay. Okay.”
“Now go get pretty.”
“I’m already pretty,” she teased as she hurried toward Meghan.
They took the elevator to a room outfitted to look like a dressing room. There was a dresser full of makeup and hair products and brushes and every color of lipstick imaginable. Two garment bags hung against the far wall.
“Whoa,” Reyna whispered.
“Yeah. I have a slight hair and makeup obsession.” Meghan pointed at the chair. “Now, sit. I have to make you presentable for tonight.” Meghan tossed her a button-up shirt. “Put that on so you don’t mess up your hair when you change after.”
Several hours later, both Meghan and Reyna were presentable for Penelope’s New Year’s Eve ball. Reyna wore a black sequined halter dress with a full tulle skirt from the waist down that had pockets allowing her access to the thigh holsters that held a handgun on each leg. Her dark hair was down around her shoulders in supermodel waves, and Meghan had mastered a cat eye and smoky makeup that transformed her face. Meghan looked like a movie star in a slinky gold glitter dress that sparkled with every movement. Her long red box braids were in an elaborate updo, and her light-brown skin glittered with a matching gold shimmer.
Tony came in for the final touches. They each had an earpiece, a microphone, a hidden camera in their bodice, and a diamond-encrusted ID bracelet that doubled as a tracking device. Spy 101.
“One last thing,” Meghan said. She handed Reyna a box. Inside was a delicate black lace mask with sewn-in beads and glittery sequins.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Reyna let Meghan secure it to her face. When she looked in the full-length mirror, she hardly recognized herself. She looked like some dark ethereal creature.
Death. She was death, come to claim her next victim.
Meghan nodded her approval. “Killer. Ready?”
Reyna turned away from the mirror and smiled grimly. She was ready.
A knock on the door surprised them both. Washington stood on the other side.
He seemed out of breath. “I had to come tell you that I have results for you.”
Meghan glanced between them. “We only have a few minutes, Reyna. I’m going to make sure everything else is set up. Find me after this.”
“I will.” She turned back to Washington. “What results?”
“It’s a scientific breakthrough! I realized I’ve seen blood like yours once before. Very early on when I was first studying blood type matches. Actually, the very idea for the cure came to me because I found a perfect blood match.”
Reyna tilted her head to the side. “A blood type match? Aren’t there millions of them?”
“Yes. But this was a blood match.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A blood type is exactly what everyone already knows, but a blood match is a snowflake. It’s a fingerprint. It doesn’t have to match the bloodtype—it matches the blood composition itself. It is an extremely rare, one-to-one match between two people’s blood.”
Her heart stopped beating. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying that the reason Beckham can sense your blood has nothing to do with him drinking it. William shouldn’t be able to sense you, because there is only one perfect blood match for you.”
Reyna held up her hand. “Hold on. Harrington can’t sense me?”
“As far as I know, no. Though you should still be on your guard tonight. There might be more to your blood than I know,” Washington warned with a stern look. “But the fact that you and Beckham found each other is truly incredible.”
“Wait, so…Beckham is my…blood match?”
