Page 5 of Seducing Jenny
No guard uniform or a weapon. The man wore a beige house servant’s uniform. I had punched the help.
Great job, I scolded myself. “Where’s your boss?” I barked.
He rubbed his jaw, eyes wide. “I have no idea.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not! I mean, I know you’re probably really confused right now—”
He started to rise. I loomed over him and he stayed put.
“Alright, alright. Calm down,” he muttered. “I know this all must be a lot to process—”
“Who do you work for?” I demanded.
“I don’t know.”
Frustrated, I reared my right foot back to kick him into the next century, but something grabbed my leg and yanked. I spun, already swinging, but my opponent ducked. Fast. Too fast.
She grinned, then kicked me square in the chest.
I hit the floor but flipped back up to my feet fast, fists ready. My chest burned from the hit. She just stood there, arms folded, like she hadn’t broken a sweat.
“I can keep handing your ass to you,” she said casually, “or I can tell you what I know. But I can’t do both at the same time, Malice Ripper.”
My breath caught. Sheknewmy name.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why did you attack me?”
“Why did you attack Trunk?”
I glanced at the guy still nursing his jaw. “That’s his name?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“What do I call you?”
“Petal.”
I relaxed a bit, but remained guarded. “Petal, you hardly handed my ass to me.”
She laughed. “I went easy on you. Didn’t think you’d want to go hard your first day here.”
My jaw ticked. “Where is here?”
“There are two answers to that question,” she said, and began to pace the length of the room, which turned out to be a well-appointed parlor.
Trunk had taken a seat in the far chair, clearly content to let her do the talking. He was taller than me by a few inches, like Petal, but his skin was deeply tan and in the dim light of the parlor I could not see his luster. He was handsome, and his black hair and brown eyes put me in the mind of Tiger, and I had to fight the rising panicking thought that I might not ever see him again.
I couldn’t think of Tiger right now, or Jenny.
Petal’s uniform was beige like Trunk’s, but it was cut closer to her muscular frame. She flicked her violet eyes up to my face and smiled. The braided hair on her head was pink but her gray tail hung loosely. A loose tail meant either she was a practiced liar, or she was about to tell the truth, but with that lead-in, I assumed she was the former.
“How can there be two answers to that question?” I asked, irritation slipping into my voice. “It’s a simple question, Petal, and I am in no mood to play games.”
“Clearly not. However, I cannot change the fact there are two answers to the question.”
I exhaled sharply through my nose. “And they are?”
