Page 11 of Legacy of Chaos

“The weapon will contain ensorcelled microchip electronics,” he said. “Your expertise makes you the perfect choice for the assignment.”

Oh, hell, no. Kynan was wrong for so many reasons. “I wouldn’t be a good fit. Send Xoei.”

He pulled the papers back across the desk. “Xoei is talented and smart, but she doesn’t have your experience or innate skill with electronics and weapons. I want our best on this, and you’re it. I’m sure—”

“I can’t,” she blurted, not caring that she’d interrupted her boss. “I can’t work with Stryke.” She swallowed and took a moment to temper her voice, if not her words. “I think I’d want to kill him.”

“You and everyone else,” he muttered. But Kynan didn’t get it. He hadn’t worshiped the ground Stryke walked on, only to have his idol prove to be a disappointment at best and an accessory to murder at worst. “You probably won’t even see him. And I don’t need to tell you how much of a game changer this weapon would be for us,” he said, echoing her earlier thoughts.

“And the Smiter was a game changer for The Aegis.” She closed her eyes as if doing so would shut out the mental image of Shanea, her body torn apart by The Aegis’s new demon-shredding firearm. It didn’t, and she reluctantly looked back at her boss. “I’m sorry, Kynan. I can’t do it.”

He tucked the papers into a folder and stuck them in a desk drawer. “I wish you’d reconsider, but I understand.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think you do.”

Yikes. Instant regret. She shouldn’t have said that, especially not in that bitchy tone. Fortunately, Kynan was the most even-tempered human she’d ever known in her thirty-seven years of life, and he merely sat back in his seat, his expression contemplative.

“I’m not going to get into a pissing contest over who’s gone through the most shit,” he said quietly. “I know Shanea’s loss is still raw, and you’re grieving. Maybe you should take some time off. Isn’t Benjamin Franklin Day coming up? It’s a big holiday for your species, right? Go celebrate.”

She stiffened. “Is that a suggestion or an order?”

“It’s a suggestion, Cyan. Nothing more. I won’t force you to work with StryTech’s team or take a vacation. But doing one or the other instead of hanging out in your dark lab might be a good idea.”

“My lab isn’t dark.” At his steely don’t-fuck-with-me stare, she relented, knowing she’d pushed him about as far as was wise. “Fine” she said. “I’ll think about it. Is there anything else?”

He shook his head as if she were a lost cause.

She probably was.

She stood, intent on returning to the lab, but Xoei was probably back from lunch, and Cyan didn’t want to deal with her lab assistant’s super positive, upbeat energy or questions right now.

Maybe Kynan was right. Perhaps she needed a break.

But taking a break from work meant facing her empty apartment. It meant dealing with her loss.

And, unfortunately, there was no tech spell to make it any easier.

Chapter 3

The suppressant will kill you.

As Stryke stepped into his personal Harrowgate at the back of his office, Eidolon’s blunt words rang through his head.

Stryke didn’t merelyhearthe words, either. Thanks to his synesthesia, they pulsed in fluorescent orange in his mind, so bright and vivid that he could almost taste them the way he could taste music. Oh, wait…yup, there was just the slightest hint of anise on his tongue.

Apparently, impending death tasted like black licorice.

Figured. He hated licorice.

As if the topic of suppressing sexual urges was a trigger, a sudden wave of arousal made his cock twitch as he pressed the symbol for his house. He glanced at his watch. Yup, it had been exactly four hours since his last injection.

The next one could kill you.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Eidolon was such an alarmist.

Growling under his breath, Stryke stepped out of the Harrowgate and into a foot of fresh snow. Son of a bitch. He wondered for the millionth time what he’d been thinking when he had the gate installed outside on his deck instead of inside his living room.

Well, he knew what he was thinking. Security. If an inside gate ever malfunctioned or was hacked, demons could potentially pop into his house. But outside on his deck, warning systems, traps, and a couple of lethal countermeasures ensuredthat no uninvited visitor made it to the bulletproof, fireproof, and magic-proof sliding glass door. Not in one piece, anyway.

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