“It’s too hot in here.” I drop my arms then make for the exit. Stomping out, I take in lungfuls of the cool evening air.
“The ceremony starts in three hours.” Jess walks to the car parked by the side.
Swerving around, I yank open the passenger door then drop inside.
“You sure you weren’t in there with a man, G?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
“Very sure.” I fold my arms over my chest. “No man, just a…” The need to confide my mixed-up feelings is overwhelming. But what do I tell her? That I’d allowed myself to be finger-fucked by a stranger?
A man I am never going to meet again, whose name I don’t know. Whom I must forget. Except it’s going to be difficult. The taste of his lips is still imprinted on mine. I can still smell that dark-chocolate scent of him on my skin.
“A…?” Jess tips her chin down.
“We’re going to be late.” I strap myself in.
“Hmm.” Her lips firm. “I’ll worm it out of you yet.” She sets the vehicle in motion.
The breath I’d been holding rushes out.
We drive in silence for the next ten minutes until we reach the Royal Palace set just off Red Square.
Parts of it have yet to be rebuilt after the fire that the dragons set off when they defeated Igor, the last Leader of Moscow. They killed the Dark Fae Lord, and his daughter took over.
“You think Amara is happy at having the opportunity to set right the mistakes of her father?” I glance at Jess.
“Not like she has a choice.” She turns the steering wheel to veer off the main highway and into the driveway. “She is the logical successor. And the only one who can put right the atrocities Igor committed on his people. She has a chance to redeem the reputation of the Faes in the city.” She halts the vehicle in the area designated for special forces, who’ve been called in to take care of the security arrangements for the day.
“All the clan leaders from the biggest republics will be present today.” She parks the car. “Even the mer-shifters are making an appearance for the first time.”
“It’s a plum assignment, to guard Amara during this critical time.” I unfasten my seat belt and make to open the door.
“Exactly why you need to focus and not screw it up.”
I stiffen.
A sliver of apprehension courses over my skin.
There’s no way that she could have guessed about the encounter with the Fae, could she?
But Jess is one of the sharpest intelligence agents I know; it’s why the Bureau sent her with me. She’s talented, with deadly fighting skills and sharp instincts. In short, she is not a fool.
“You want to tell me what you’re getting at?” I grip the door handle with fingers that have gone numb.
“Just that you have the distinction of being the first human recruit—”
“The only one so far,” I sniff.
"True that." She jerks her chin at me,” You also graduated top of your class at the Bureau. Talk about being an overachiever."
"And you didn't come here to reel off my accomplishments." I shove open the door, jump down, and head toward my quarters to get changed.
Jess follows close behind. Her long legs eat up the distance between us. “I am just reminding you that you were chosen as Amara’s personal bodyguard for this specific occasion because you appear unthreatening.”
“If someone comes for Amara, they are bound to underestimate me.” I turn to meet her gaze over my shoulder. “You would do well not to misjudge me either.”
Her face breaks into a smile that lights up her features. “I never doubted your commitment, G.”
The tension bleeds out of my muscles. I hold up my fist.
Jess bypasses it and throws her arms around me. “I know you’re going to make the Bureau proud and open the way for more humans to enroll.”
I bare my teeth. “Anyone planning to hurt Amara is in for a nasty surprise.”
8
Dante
“You’re late.” Tristan ambles away from the low wall on the edge of Red Square.
“Correction, you got here early.” I set my jaw. I am precisely on time.
“Don’t fuck with me.” My partner on the mission leans forward on the balls of his feet. “You’re sweating, like a woman on a first date.”
And that’s the problem when your pal knows you too well, when you trained with him, faced enemies with him, when you’ve saved each other’s asses more times than you’ve sucked pussy. You. Can’t. Hide.
I bunch my shoulders. “Just ran into a little…diversion.” That’s what I want that little scene back at the bar to be, anyway. If I pretend hard enough, I may even be able to convince myself. Not.
He narrows his gaze. “Get your bloated head back in the game, Kill.”
Kill, short for Killer, very original. But hey, can’t help it if my rep precedes me if even conflict-hardened Fae stick to that nickname, right? “Don’t go getting your panties in a wad, Chef.” Fucker used to be a Michelin-starred cook, though that’s not the only reason he got saddled with that moniker.
He scratches his chin. “You know the commander would love to see you fail this mission.”
“You’d be right.” I crack my knuckles. "I don't plan on giving him the satisfaction. I am going to see this assignment through at any cost."
“Don’t go doing something reckless now." Tristan frowns, "Much as I hate your guts, you know me, and the rest of the Fae Corps have your back.”
“All that love.” I thump my chest. “I was positive that the eight of us stuck together because we are the only ones in all the Fae race who can teleport.”
“Sadly, so can the commander. He also has the ear of the Fae Elders. Not one to be fucked around with. Catch my drift?” Tristan shakes back that glossy blond hair. His pretty-boy looks mean he never can blend in with a crowd, and neither can I, but for the opposite reason.
I look too mean, too much of who I actually am: a cold-hearted fuck who loves to deliver that final killing blow and take people out. Most mortals tend to give me a wide berth, which works well for me; less riffraff to contend with.
Only, I do value my own life too much to be distracted.
I don’t intend to die, not anytime soon.
Not until I’ve had a chance to break a human female who smells like sunshine and tastes like…like she's ripe for my touch.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to still my thoughts. Sure enough, the vision of her eyes fills my mind.
For fuck’s sake. Her features seem burned into my brain.
I must be losing my ability to keep my emotions under control. I never let my emotions get in the way. I am an asshole to everyone, no favorites there. And there were no feelings involved with what had transpired between me and Starlight…were there?
“You okay, Kill?” He frowns.
“Get off my ass, will ya?” I rub the back of my neck.
“Not fooling me.” Tristan clicks his tongue.
“Now what, you can read my mind?” I set my jaw.
“Don’t need to. Your pulse is elevated. Sweat glistens on your upper lip. You seem like—” His forehead crinkles. “No, but that can’t be it, can it?”