Jennifer Estep

“Instead of a thigh-high miniskirt or a leather bustier, I wore my usual ensemble—dark jeans, heavy boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a black fleece jacket. Since it was almost Christmas, I’d donned one of my more festive T-shirts to celebrate—thick crimson cotton with a giant candy cane in the middle of my chest. The fabric was dark enough that Vinnie Volga’s blood wouldn’t stand out on it—much. Happy holidays.”

“Oh, Finn isn’t an assassin,” I cut in. “He’s much, much worse. He’s a banker.”

“Easy was for people too weak to suck it up and do what needed to be done. And I wasn’t weak. Not anymore.”

“What do you think?” I asked. “Is it too much?” Finn tilted his head and gave me a critical once-over. “You’re dressed up as an ice queen dominatrix. I don’t think there is such a thing as too much.”

“Don’t make it a challenge. You know how much I like those.”

“I know, I know. But I can always kill him later. This way, at least we get to humiliate him first.”Finn eyed me. “Sometimes I think you’re even more devious, twisted, and vicious than I am.”I grinned. “You only wish you could be as ruthless as me.”“Absolutely.”

“I hate to say this, but not everyone seems happy that you’re still alive,” Finn said, picking up on the glares coming my way. “You can’t please everyone,” I drawled. “And you know how much I hate to disappoint our dear friends in the underworld.”

“Have I ever told you how scary it is that you think of heels in terms of their possible shiv potential?”

“You do realize that the cost of that bracelet is within spitting distance of my going rate as an assassin, right?” “You mean your going rate back when you were actually killing people for money,” Finn said. “Or as I like to call them— the good ole days.”

“Oh yes. You’ve caught me. I confess. My sole purpose in life is to gleefully, willfully, maniacally destroy all of your precious chrome babies.”

“Gin! Gin, are you here?”“Right behind you,” I said.Finn shrieked and whirled around. I winced at the high-pitched sound.“Dammit, woman.” He clutched the folder to his chest. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I'm crazy about you, Spartan.”

“Oh, fantastic," Vic muttered. "Just bloody fantastic. The goddess has given me to a bleeding pacifist-”

“That was my favorite dagger."She had a favorite dagger? Seriously? And she thought that I was a freak.”

“Let me walk you to your room," Logan offered in a helpful voice. "You, me, and the Gypsy girl could have our own bonfire tonight." Daphne and I stared at each other. I rolled my eyes while Daphne sniffed."Oh, please," she scoffed. "Like I need a guy to protect me. I'm a Valkyrie, remember? I could pick you up and break your back over my knee, Spartan. Like you were a piñata.""Kinky," Logan said, smiling at her. "I like it."She snorted. "Save the smarmy charm for Gwen. We all know that she's the one you're really trying to impress anyway." We did? Because I hadn't gotten that message at all.”

“Are you OK?" I asked."I think so." Logan stared at me, and a smile pulled up his lips. "But maybe you should give me mouth-to-mouth, just to make sure.”

“My own eyes narrowed. i didn't like being made fun of, not even by a dangerous bad boy like Logan Quinn. "Yeah, well, this Gypsy girl happens to have a grandma who can curse you so bad that your dick will turn black and fall off, so watch your step, Spartan.”

“The people I've killed over the years, yeah I did most of them for the money. Because being an assassin was a job and one that I was good at. But the biggies, all the folks I've taken on in recent months......they've all practice for you bitch.”

“Oh, baby. You have no idea what I’d do to get through those layers and down to the good stuff.”

“Better be careful talking about how good my cooking is. Roslyn might get jealous.”The vampire madam let out a soft laugh. “Oh, I’ll freely admit that your cooking is much better than mine, Gin. But I have certain skills you don’t, especially in the bedroom. I think that Xavier far prefers those, even over a plate of the Pork Pit’s best barbecue.”Roslyn gave Xavier a sly look, and the giant’s grin widened.“Well played, Roslyn,” I murmured. “Well played.”

“Any chance of getting something sweet to go with my coffee?” [Finn] asked in a hopeful voice.I arched an eyebrow at him. “You mean all those pieces of strawberry pie that you ate for lunch weren't enough?”“I’m a growing boy,” Finn said in a sincere tone. “I need my vitamins.”Bria snorted. “The only thing that’s growing on you, Lane, is your ego.”Finn sidled up to my sister and gave her a dazzling smile. “Well, other things of mine also tend to swell up in your presence, detective.”

“What happened?”Bria shrugged. “I waited until I was sure there was no one else around who could get hurt, then threw my coffee in the bastard’s face and took away his gun. While he was screaming from the pain and the second-degree burns, I cuffed his ass and hauled him down to the station. End of story.”Fin gave my sister a warm, admiring look. “Nice takedown, detective. Even if you should have found another way to do it. Don’t you know that you never, ever waste a cup of coffee like that?”

“Art should look like art, trees and flowers and people, not weird shapes and splotches of color all smeared together.”

“I eat haughty, arrogant, manipulative, self-important bitches like you for breakfast, sugar. And then I go back for seconds.”

“Shut up, Vic!”

“No matter what happens, I'll always come back to you.""Promise?" I asked in a shaky voice.Logan's eyes burned with icy determination. "Promise.”

“Let him look," he whispered and kissed me again.”

“I'm a figment of your imagination. You're only imagining that I'm sitting here eating with you. Because I'm just so freaking awesome that people daydream about being seen with me.”

“It was better to know what people were really like than put your trust in someone who just wanted to hurt you in the end.”

“And I was stuck here at Warrior Freaks R Us.”

“The band geek has liquor?”

“I did not glow with the thrill of battle. Cringe, yes. Glow, no.”

“All black, of course. Just like his rotting soul.”

“They still weren't as cold as my heart was, though.”

“Don't you agree, fuzzball?”

“What was it with people always trying to kill me in the library? Nickamedes so needed to put up warning signs. Danger: Working here could be hazardous to your health.”

“I know that look. What are you up to, Gwen?""What makes you think I'm up to something?"The Valkyrie snorted. "You're breathing, aren't you?”

“Death was a release, in so many ways. An end to suffering. An escape to something else. What that something else was, I didn’t know. Maybe heaven. Maybe hell. Maybe nothing at all. But I doubted it could be any worse than some of the things I’d seen and done in my lifetime.”

“Really, Gin, did you have to ruin my suit?” he said.“This was a Fiona Fine original.”

“I pulled the trigger twice, cutting off his protests, and Finn joined my lover on the floor.”

“I strolled into a downtown parking garage, wearing a black pantsuit and matching heels. I’d pulled my dark, chocolate-brown hair up into a high, sleek ponytail, while black glasses with clear lenses covered my coldgray eyes. I looked like just another corporate office drone, right down to the enormous black handbag I carried.”

“Always take the most unexpected route”

“Breaking into the building was easy.Too easy for an assassin like me.”

“For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her. Then the bitch blasted me with her water magic, and I got over it.”

“I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.”

“I used to murder people for money, but these days it’s more of a survival technique.”

“Just another part of that Spartan killer instinct. I can slay the ladies just as well as I can reapers.”

“That's why you look so tired, isn't it?" I murmured. "You used up all your magic to find me last night."Owen shrugged as though it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing to me. Besides Finn and the Deveraux sisters, I couldn't even remember the last time someone had cared enough to come looking for me when I was in trouble. I was so used to being on my own for so long, always being the tough, strong, capable one, that I'd forgotten how nice it felt to have someone else look out for me.To have someone else care about me.And just like that, the fragile strings of my feelings for Owen joined together, all the tangled threads wrapping around and weaving their way through my heart. Scary and painful in some ways, but necessary in others too.”

“Donovan Caine naked, water droplets sliding down his lean body, his muscles clenching and relaxing as he washes himself. Mmm. Nice image. Despite our earlier confrontation, I still found the detective extremely sexy. He'd be even more attractive if he'd lose the righteous anger and the stick up his ass. But no man was perfect.”

“You won't hurt me. I know you won't." Logan said."How can you be so sure?" I whispered."Because you're that Gypsy girl, and I'm the bad-boy Spartan. And I think it's time we were finally together, don't you?”