Page 35 of V for Vindictive

What a low blow.

“Don’t be a dick. You don’t get to play Patronizing Phillip when you went off on your own despite having a partner. If anyone here is unprofessional, it’s you.” Her words were delivered with cutting precision, and I couldn’t have been prouder.

Hiding a smile, I got into the backseat despite her complaints. Knowing Phillip, he wouldn’t surrender the seat no matter what truth she spat at him.

And like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the Austrian leaned back with his arms bowed behind his head. “You’re right. I’ve been an asshole, and I deserve to be punished. So whenever you’d like to get on with it, I’ll let you do whatever satisfies your anger, sweetheart.”

“Oh?” she exclaimed, feigning surprise. “Whatever satisfies my anger, you say?” Something about her unnerving tone caused my body to stiffen. “Then you’ll have no problem taking the reverse serum and sparring with Sloan until my anger is satisfied. You’d, of course, need to keep taking the reverse serum for a day to really feel the pain of your injuries. It’s only fair. Can’t lie, imagining you slapped around by Sloan is already making me really happy.”

Lifting a hand, I covered my mouth and tried not to laugh too loudly. But Phillip’s face from where I sat was enough to have me snickering for days. His eyebrows rose into his hairline and his smug smile was instantly gone. It was a rare expression of surprise and confusion on my longtime mate, and one I’d tease him about for the decades to come. She’d gottenhim, and I’d never seen anyone beat Phillip at his own game quite like she did.

But very quickly, my amusement turned into acid in my throat. She and the Austrian were a perfect pair, and I couldn’t ignore how good she was for him. V could handle someone not even Kris or the cleverest Hunters managed to handle after years and years of hunting with him. Not even I could put Phillip so swiftly into his place.

“Let’s just go, you annoying prick,” she said with a huff, but I would’ve had to be blind to miss the way her lips rose into a secretive smile.

Bollocks.

Chapter 13

Nympho Chick 101

The Organization would be looking for Phillip, but the sneaky Hunter had something up his sleeve that even I had to acknowledge was impressive.

In his long life of mixing magic and science, Phillip created a device that temporarily concealed his identity as someone else. It was seriously someHarry Pottershit, but instead of morphing his actual face with a potion, anyone in contact with him was somehow affected by chemically altered pheromones similar to what Sirens used. It played with their heads, sort of like a drug, and made them think Phillip was someone nearby to them. In this case, another Hunter. He’d appear different to each person, so it was vital we get what we needed and then get the fuck out. Linger too long and someone was bound to talk and get suspicious.

It did make me wonder for a tiny second if he’d ever used it on me, but I’d probably never get it out of him. Just another reason to not-so-secretly despise him.

Sloan assured me that they’d used it enough to know how long it worked and how much time we’d have. This was also Phillip we were talking about—the ultimate trickster—so he’d cleverly evade suspicion somehow, even with the odds stacked against him.

The dude was just annoyingly obnoxious like that.

The only other little detail to figure out was me being at one of the Organization’s facilities, restricted to high-level Hunters only. I might be Sloan’s partner, but my presence would definitely raise suspicions. That was, of course, until both Hunters disclosed how my identity was not known to most Hunters, save a few already privy to it.

Perks of being a kept secret, I guess.

And because Sloan rarely went to Organization-run buildings with Kris, it was unlikely anyone would immediately think something was off that I was there. They’d think I was his elusive female partner. Despite its name, sometimes our evil creator wasn’t so, you know, organized.

Ain’t that a bitch.

“And you said someone named Eddie was going to escort us through the building to where we need to go? Isn’t that dangerous for him? How do we know for sure he can be trusted?”

I geared up, preparing for anything. If things went sideways, we’d have to fight our way out of the facility. Which was the entire reason Phillip insisted he go. With my luck, some bastard knew we were coming and already laid a trap.

Phillip wore one of his signature devious grins, dressed like the sexiest bad boy of the year—a form-fitting black tank top and a pair of fashionable jeans. You know, the kind of jeans that really clung to the body and were a bitch to get out of. Not that I was imagining the melt-in-your-mouth delicious bad boy taking them off.

Okay, I was, but could you blame a girl when Phil’s backside was impossibly pert and it was any wonder how the fabric held up to the mere girth of his bulky thighs.

That’s not the only girth I want to admire…

The older Hunter was quite literally sin incarnate with his tattoos exposed and his thick, dark hair swept back away from his eyes. I’d forgotten how massive Phillip was; how every cord of muscle was the definition of strength. I may have, just for an itsy bitsy second, imagined licking every bit of inked flesh he left exposed. His neck was especially enticing from this angle.

Flesh you could really sink your teeth into, ya know?

I hadn’t really considered how thirsty my stare had become until the Austrian winked at me, picking up on how tasty I found him. “Oh, we can trust Eddie. I have so much on that bastard he’d be personally writing and signing his own death warrant if he ever betrayed us.”

Ominous much?

Catching my eye roll, Sloan was kind enough to explain the blue-eyed Austrian’s vague comment. “Kris will release information if Eddie were to betray us at any point in our visit, and it’d be the Organization and a great number of other unsavory types who’d be after him once she did. Should we miss a check in, she’ll act, and he’s plenty familiar with how Phillip and I do things.” The ghost of a smile Sloan failingly hid a second later sent shivers down my spine.

---