Page 23 of Countdown to Murder
I met his gaze, which probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but he pissed me off by calling her abeinginstead of a woman.
“She’s a woman figuring her life out, and I’m aware we can’t have any kind of relationship until this job is complete.”
He shook his head. “There are things you need to know. For starters, she was never intended to walk among the public for longer than it would take her to do a job and return to her home base. We negotiated a lease to the Master of Maryland because we needed her to take out a political figure, and that was only going to happen if she was seen in his household for a time — long enough this political figure’s security would allow her around him. Several years, because gaining the trust of a monster isn’t easy.”
My heart fell to my stomach. That couldn’t be right.
“Whatever lease you think exists is clearly history. Kendra gave Mira her freedom. It comes with some caveats for now, but they’re working towards getting rid of the safeguards still in place.”
“Kendra is trying to find a way around the lease. It’s why they’ve let her out earlier than they should have. She and Fawn are doing everything in their power to find a loophole that will allow them to keep Concilio property even after the lease has ended. Abbott took over the lease, but when he ceded the territory to Kendra, it went to her.”
“Concilio property? By definition, any slaves in Kendra’s territory are no longer slaves.”
He shook his head again. “Concilio law trumps the law of the land in all cases. You know this.”
I did, but I had a feeling Kendra would see her rule about no slaves being allowed in her territory unless she gave the okay as being one that would trump Concilio law. She probably wouldn’t be able to enforce it, but she might try.
Apollonius sighed. “You are correct, unfortunately.”
“You read my mind?”
“I heard your thoughts.” He crossed his arms and stood straight and tall, his feet planted as if giving a decree. “Mira isn’t what you think she is. She’s a carefully crafted weapon. She isn’t capable of the kinds of feelings necessary to form interpersonal relationships. She’s doing a good job of faking it, but only because we taught her to fake such things.”
I recalled her telling me I was making her genitals become active, and Apollonius looked as if he might be sick. He put his hands on his hip and stared at me fifteen seconds before responding.
“That shouldn’t be happening. Having sex with her would be one of the worst things you can do. Catastrophic.”
“What, you’ve put instructions into her head to make her kill anyone who tries?”
“If only it were so simple.” He blew out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest again. His face no longer showed anything except someone on a mission. “If she thinks the two of you have the same goal, you can trust her to have your back. If she gets even an inkling that you may not be on her side, you’re as good as dead. You can send her to take out this vampire alone and she’ll do it. No need to go with her as backup, and in fact, you’ll just slow her down if you try to help her.She’s a weapon. Nothing more. Nothing less. We’ve gotten quite good at turning certain reptile shifters into...” He turned away from me, took two breaths, and turned back to me, his face once more a wall. “Finish the mission and then forget about her. I’ll make it clear to Aaron Drake that she’s Concilio property and he should not consider her an employee once this mission is complete.”
He took another breath and spoke with a different voice. Deeper. More official. “Your non-disclosure agreement with the Concilio is in effect for this entire conversation. Tell her, and you forfeit your own freedom. We’ll either kill you or take possession of you. The same fate awaits you if you speak toanyoneof this.”
Without warning, I was standing beside Mira again, and Apollonius was gone.
“What did he tell you?” she asked.
Her face showed no emotions. Her scent told me nothing.
“Do you know which organization trained you?”
She nodded. “The Concilio. I was their weapon until they sold me. Now, I belong to Kendra, but she’s working to legally release me and give me my freedom.”
My NDA with the Concilio says I can’t even tell anyone I’m under contract with them. Aaron and Nathan know, because I wouldn’t sign unless that was part of it, but no one else knows, and I couldn’t tell Mira, either.
I opened my mouth as if to speak, and cringed, as if it hurt. “It appears I’m unable to speak to you about it.”
She took three steps back and sat in a chair without losing eye contact with me. “Fuck.”
I pulled a pad and pencil from my pocket, but before I could try to write, she stood, walked back to me, and put her hand on mine. “Don’t. It will just piss them off, and you won’t be able to tell me anyway. You’ve probably already angered them by trying. Don’t make it worse. I won’t hold whatever it is against you for not telling me.”
Her hand still rested on mine, and she didn’t pull it back. We stared into each other’s eyes. She licked her upper lip and my heart sped. My dick throbbed.
I needed to know if she’d attack me if I pushed her towards sex. I could argue I did it as part of the mission, testing to see if she was, indeed, a weapon instead of a female woman full of feelings and emotions.
In truth, I did it because I needed to taste her, and even more, needed her to know how I felt about her.
Chapter Thirteen
