Page 128 of Falcon's Prey

I thought about it for a second, letting myself think about what this could mean. In the end, it kept Ember safe, so I’d sell my soul to the devil if it meant I could stay with her another day.

“You have my word.”

“Until we meet again, Falcon.”

She gave me a nod as she rose to her feet. She was a lot shorter than I would have thought. Her presence alone made her appear taller.

As she made her way to the elevator, she said, “Let’s go.”

I tried not to make a move.

“Boo,” was whispered by my ear.

I turned my head and finally saw the other person who had been in the room all along, ready to kill me had she given the order. He was my height, making it easier to look him straight in the eyes with a face anyone would recognize in plain sight. He was on all the magazines and tabloids. If Ember was the princess of diamonds, he was the oil prince. One day, he’d dropped from the face of the earth—turns out, he had been residing in hell.

“She’s a pretty little dime,” he taunted me.

I whipped my gun out so fast, the barrel touching his forehead. The fucker smiled at me, his white teeth gleaming.

“He’s kinda mouthy, but I need him.”

Both our heads swung to where the lobby door was now open, and it illuminated her as she spoke. She was like Snow White, if that bitch was gothic.

“Bas,” she warned.

The asshole took a step to the side and followed her. He was in a suit while she wore a commando getup. I made my way after them, making sure that they got on the elevator and left Ember and me alone.

Just as the woman pressed the button to the elevator door, I passed on Gideon’s message. And all I could hope was that the fucker didn’t get me killed. Because I knew the pale woman with the face of an angel was a demon. One of their deadliest members. No one knew her real name, just her alias.

“Petals don’t last long on their own.”

There was no emotion on her face, which was still as impassive as it had been earlier. She put her hand in her back pocket, and just as the door started to close, she brought her hand out like a cobra. I heard a loud thud behind me, but I didn’t turn around.

I put my gun down as I watched the elevator make its way down, knowing I’d be meeting them again. Once the numbers showed that the elevator had made it to the first floor, I turned around.

On the floor was a canvas bag, and inside was an obsidian dagger with rubies adorning the hilt. I took it out, observing the craftsmanship. It was a beauty of a knife, no denying that. In the middle of the handle, it had a scripted S.

There was a reason G called her petal, why her calling card was the same flowers she used as her alias, Daphne’s were toxic, and so was she.

You could run from everyone in this world except for the organization she worked for.

The Sect: feared by all and bowed to none.

Epilogue

The monitor roomwas quiet and peaceful, unlike the rest of the house. I never knew the Day of the Dead could be so chaotic. Checking the camera feed, I found Ember right away as she smiled at whatever her makeup artist told her. She looked beautiful, full of life, different from how she had looked the first time I saw her.

My dick got hard just looking at her. Something that had also happened the first time I laid eyes on her through my computer screen. Her rookie mistake of not covering her camera lens had probably saved her life. If I had never come along, who knows what would have happened to her?

Now when I looked at her, there was no sadness in her gaze, but I did see fire. She was full of it. She ran her company with a passion that enthralled you, and I noticed it every time she spoke about it.

I stopped staring at her and checked the rest of the cameras in the house. The maid was making food, and the guards were posted by the front entrances. Ember’s dad was on the terrace, reading a magazine.

He would not be joining us today. He wanted to spend the day alone. It was obvious he’d never gotten over his wife. I moved the screen again so I could put Ember’s room on the big monitor. Since fashion week, we had been going solid. Fights here and there, nothing major, just mostly stress on her part at the fact that we were both a bit fucked-up and I didn’t do a nine-to-five job. Except somehow I got roped into being the Remingtons’ head of security all while doing a favor at a time for the Estacados.

Something Ember wasn’t allowed to ask about. If something ever happened, I wanted her to remain clean.

Having the Sect’s enforcer come gave me peace of mind that no one else would be coming for me. I finally had a future. It never felt like I’d had one when I was living my life one day at a time, but this time I was making it count.

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