“I do,” she hisses, cutting me off. “I don’t remember everything before I cracked my skull open, but I remember her. I only knew her for…” she shakes her head. “Half a year, maybe, before Dagon took me. She’s my half-sister, on my mother’s side. Apparently, good old Mom had a propensity for giving birth and abandoning children a year into motherhood.” Her jaw flexes, and my heart aches, even as doubt clouds my mind.
If she had a sister, why didn’t anyoneknow?How didInot know? Why wouldn’t shetell me?I try to string the timeline together.Ember’s last year in high school was my most demanding year in college. We’d been talking significantly less, and I missed the spring break trip I was supposed to take back home because I had a blowout fight with my parents over what Dadreallydid that made us so rich. But… I vaguely recall Ember texting that she had news to tell me.
…it’s notentirelyimpossible that Ember does indeed have a half-sister. I’d need Toby to check in on it, go through the records of Ember’s mom and follow the trail. He might not be happy to do that, since he’s not Ember’s biggest fan, but at the end of the day, I’m his boss. What I say goes.
“I’m gonna need a little more than that, Flame,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm even though I’m freaking out. Ember has a fuckingsisterthat she’s spent the last five years nearlydyingto protect?
“It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got time, and you’ve got a fuckload of explaining to do. Talk before I decide you need something to loosen your lips.”
She blows out a long breath, staring at the ceiling. “She reached out to me when she found out about my existence. She was fostered and adopted by a family when she was younger. When she was digging around in their files, she found information on our mother, and by extension, me. She sent me an email. I thought she was full of shit so I ignored her at first, but after a while, we got to talking. She even flew out so we could meet in person.” Her brows furrow. “She’s a couple years younger than me, and so…” Ember shakes her head. “Good. She’s like sunshine in human form. Fast forward to Dagon; I tried to kill him not long into my captivity. He almost killed me instead, and when I survived, he gave me an ultimatum. Live and serve, or die and he’d kill her in the most painful way imaginable.” A shudder shakes her shoulders. "That man has a truly incredible imagination.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. This complicates… a lot, but it also makes sense. And it gives me the conduit to keep Ember here permanently.
“I’ll get your sister out from under Dagon’s thumb,” I say slowly. “He won’t be able to touch her—I guarantee. But, first, you’re going to need to make me a promise.”
“Asking an assassin for a promise is like asking a great white shark not to tear you into pieces when you’re wrapped in fish guts.” She gives me a blank stare.
I pull my bottom lip into my mouth to hide a smile. “You’re going to give me your word, and I’m going to hold you to it. Forcibly, if need be. You will not break it, and if you do, the consequences will be severe.” I take a step forward, crowding her space. “I save your sister, and you’re mine. Permanently. I’m not going to make you kill people to work off a debt, but you will stop trying to get away from me. It wouldn’t work either way, but do spare me the effort of warding off your petty murder attempts.”
“Petty?” she intones.
I press a finger to her lips. “Shh. Anyways; point is, you stop trying to kill me, and we call this good. Your sister’s protected, and everyone’s happy.”
She stares at me hard, thinking over the deal. I know what I’m offering her isn’t much better than the ultimatum Dagon gave her, but I’m a man of my word—and I have no interest in tormenting her. Well, maybe sexually, but that’s a given. I certainly won’t scar her body or destroy her mental state.
“The deal is you save my sister, and you own me?”
“Yes.”
“No deal.” She shakes her head. “You might think you can, but you can’t.”
“Ihave the best hacker in the world and an army of assassins on my side. Not to mention connections in every corner of the underworld.” I arch an eyebrow. “If anyone can get it done, it’s me.”
She mulls this over for several minutes. “Ifyou can pull this off—”
“I can.”
“—in the next forty-eight hours—”
That’ll be difficult, but, “I’ll get it done.”
“Andkeep Cain out of it—”
“No.” I shake my head. “Cain’s my commander. I can’t keep this from him.”
“Then we don’t have a fucking deal,” she hisses. “I don’t trust him not to do what Dagon did and threaten her.”
That… is actually a reasonable point. Cain absolutelywoulddo something like that if he saw the benefit. “I can do my best to keep him out of it, but he might find out from someone else.”
Ember considers this for a beat. Nods.“Ifyou can do all of that, and give me proof that she’s safe…” Ember gazes down at her feet. “I guess I’ll just answer to you instead of answering to Dagon.”
“Flame,” I say softly. “I’m a much better person to be bound to. For one, I care about you. I’m never going to abuse you. I don’t want to make you into my weapon; I just want you to beyou.”
Her eyes flare. “You want me to be the girl I was before the last five years of my life. Newsflash, pretty boy; that’s not happening.”
“Idon’twant that girl,” I say. “First of all, she was barely legal when she admitted her crush on me. I felt like a pervert for kissing her.Second of all, I was still coming to terms with my inability to grow a moustache when I realizedmyfeelings forher.”
