His body twitched, the last remnant of his life slowly leaving him until he went still.
The assassin unwrapped the wire, one of Riot’s designs that Calix had made for her, built to siphon and store magic, and slipped it back into his pocket. Then, quick and efficient, he spun the corpse around and sliced the skin. That done, he cracked open the chest and yanked out the heart. The blood dripping down the screen gave it a real movie-like quality.
Even drained and asphyxiated, a mage wasn’t ever fully dead. Magic still lingered in the heart. If a strong enough mage got his hands on the body, they could potentially revive him with enough time and magic. But with no heart? No chance. He was now dead dead.
The assassin stepped into frame, dark hair falling into his steel blue eyes, the only splash of color on him. His thin-lipped mouth hadn’t changed since he started, and he held up the heart, voice flat. “Assignment complete. Please confirm.”
How about having a little fun? This assassin seemed uptight and immovable, so he might give me a bit of a challenge.
I leaned forward, making my voice low and sultry, teasing him with a flash of cleavage. “Soooo efficient.” Biting the side of my lip, I taunted, “What would you do if I didn’t confirm? Comeafter me?” Licking my lips, I watched his eyes dart down, and triumph flared in me.
“Miss Riot told me to say ‘behave yourself.’ Kill has been confirmed.” And just like that, the feed cut.What the fuck?! Riot warned him about me? Ugh!
I slumped back in my chair, my victory stolen by my own damn sister.
Right in the middle of cursing my sister, Van strolled in, envelopes in hand, and looked around the room before putting his jacket on the chair. “Already had that kind of a day?”
“No.” Eyeing the green pullover and black pants he had on, I sat up straighter to feast on that delectable body. While the outfit gave him a bit of a preppy vibe, the green lit up the softer hues in his hair, giving him a dreamlike look. “Day’s been normal. Had to watch an assassin take out a piece of shit.”
He nodded knowingly. “Alabama, right?”
I winked in confirmation as he said, “I already have a replacement set up.” Pulling out his phone, he sent off a text and got a quick reply. “Yep. He’s in place, and we will be getting regular updates until we’re satisfied.”
If that was the only issue today, I would be ecstatic. “Before that, I had to stop Cara and Fashi from murdering each other over Mr. Samuel.”
Van stopped, faced me and blinked. “They’restillfighting over him?!”
His shock mirrored mine. Cara and Fashi were two of my finest, a pair of identical snake shifter twins with a flair for chaos. One with ink-black hair, the other snow-white, both had eyes likecut rubies. They were sensual, shameless, and up for just about anything as long as it ended in mutual pleasure, especially if it was rough. You didn’t find talent like that, you cultivated it.
Too bad they were each other’s biggest rival.
“Apparently.” I sighed, already exhausted by the memory. “Cara’s pissed because Mr. Samuel asked for Fashi again even though it was just a continuation from three days ago. Fashi said she should chill since he sent Cara a canary diamond to smooth it over, but Cara still felt slighted. She even tried to fake her way into the booking with a black wig. Fashi found out, yanked it off, and they started throwing sex toys and stilettos.”
Van handed me the mail over my desk before he dropped into the chair across from me and shook his head like he’d just seen his grandma's porn stash… and it was kinky. “That guy’s a bald, chubby human. What the hell could he possibly offer that’s worth all that?”
I pressed the button on my desk,click, and a knife popped out from the side. I grabbed it and sliced open the first envelope. “Apparently, since they’re sea krait snake shifters, they can hold their breath underwater longer than most. Lately, they’ve been using that skill in the pond room. He likes to hold them underwater while they thrash around like they’re fighting him as he fucks them.”
Van’s expression darkened, his eyes holding the kind of fatigue only people in our business earned after so many years of seeing the depravity that people wanted. Nothing truly shocked us anymore. Still, my curiosity flickered at the edges.
“The kicker,” I pulled the letter out, scanned it, and promptly tossed the mayor’s declaration of love into the trash, “is hecan only manage that with one girl at a time. Not exactly an endurance king.”
Van barked out a laugh, so I kept telling the story. “Last time, he finished early with Fashi and promised her a redo. Cara’s been waiting her turn, so she lost her mind over it. I had to put Mr. Samuel on speakerphone for them just so they’d stop throwing things. The twins ended up talking him into taking Viagra and extending the room booking for another hour. I swear, you can’t write this shit.”
I opened the second envelope, our renewed supe-owned business license, which had been extended another five years.Thank you, E.
Putting it on the desk, I admitted, “Honestly, I’m tempted to book a session with him myself, just to see what the fuss is about.”
Van leaned back and shot me a wink. “Me too.”
We paused for a beat, letting the mental image linger just long enough until we cringed and cracked up. We would never fuck below our standards; we were just too pretty.
“You know,” I said between laughs, “I’d pay good money to see that.”
He gave me a glare laced with amusement. “You would, you pervert.”
Grinning wide, I lifted my hands in surrender. “Never claimed I wasn’t.”
It felt good, easy. I’d worried things would get awkward after our… slip-up, but Van was still Van. Grounded, steady, my favorite kind of playmate. The truth lingered behind our smilesand good times. One day, he’d meet his mate, then he’d leave this behind,mebehind, and go play house like all the others. He was the type to be devoted like that.
