Bound by Deception

20.1 The Coitus Compromise

 Aria and Sterling met up the next week on campus to plan the next steps of their mission. The day was chilly but satisfying in a way that made Aria's stomach rumble delightedly. She munched on a delicious croissant that she had bought from Yohan's truck and toyed with the papyrus scroll that she had been given by Kazuki when she arrived. Scribbled on the frayed yellow paper was a rough layout of Edward's mansion, and Aria began to study the black lines when she reached the training area. She sat on one of the stone benches and began to observe the crooked lines, waiting for her partner in the dark evening sun.

Sterling arrived half an hour later, his side profile covered in splashes of blood and his shirt torn. The muscle line that traveled seductively down his chest was stained in the same sticky liquid as his clothes and a gun hung from his long, loose fingers. With labored breathing, Sterling collapsed on the bench and let his head fall against the stone wall behind them, his icy gaze thawing as his eyelids closed.

"Where have you been?" Aria didn't bat an eye as she listened to the rhythmic pumping of her partner's heart.

"Working," Sterling breathlessly responded. "I told you, Madame's got me on my toes." He lifted himself up and tossed the gun on the ground. "Poor guy. I didn't give him the chance to suffer a little."

"Don't feel sorry for your victims. That weakens you." Aria rolled up the papyrus and faced Sterling. She put a hand on his cheek and wiped the blood from under his eyes. "I'm glad to see you, though, because we need to talk about the mission."

"I know." He took her hand and began to lean to kiss her, but Aria pressed her fingers against his lips, stopping him.

"Not yet," she whispered. "Let me speak first."

Sterling's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay," he agreed and waited while Aria stood up, picked the gun from the ground, and walked to the shooting range. Curious, he followed her, studying the way her deft fingers reloaded the gun and pocketed a few spare bullets, and he stood behind her as she lifted the gun, waited a moment, then released the trigger. A crack split the sky and the bullet pierced the target that was situated meters from where Aria was standing.

"Edward wants to sleep with me." Another shot was fired.

"So I heard. What did you say?"

"I needed time to think."

"Is that the truth?"

"No." Another shot. "I don't want him to touch me, that greasy bastard."

"What did he tell you?"

"He told me about his betrayal. Grandville supposedly saved him, and now he's out to help them take over Rouver." Another shot. "He told me that he killed innocent Rouverians. He doesn't care that he hurt them. He's bitter against the government for punishing him in the first place."

"Despite it being his fault?"

"It wasn't his fault." Aria reloaded the gun. "Hades started the church fire, Sterling. I was there. I saw them do it...Madame, that is."

"It must have been for a good reason if Madame of all people did it."

"She let innocent people die."

"For a good cause. It's sad but it happened. Edward's poisoning your head."

"I suppose." She shot another target, this one further than the last few. The bullet missed by a couple of inches. "Damn. I'm losing my edge."

"You haven't practiced in a while, I suppose. Is that all he said?"

Aria fired another shot into the same target. She clenched her jaw and didn't meet Sterling's inquisitive gaze. "He knows about us."

"Us?" Alarm roughened Sterling's calm features. "Us as in...you and me? Our jobs?"

"No. He knows about Hades - He knows about the syndicate and the underground operations that we do." Aria fired two shots at once. "He wants to sleep with me so that I can prove my loyalty to him, that fucker."

"And allowing him to fuck you proves loyalty?" Sterling stepped forward. "You were right to deny him!"

"I didn't deny him." Aria pulled the trigger with more force. "I told him I needed to think about it."

"Oh, come on, Aria. You can't tell me that you're actually thinking about this." Sterling marched up to her. She didn't turn, but she felt the tension hit her like heavy fumes. "It's stupid! It's horrid! He's coercing you into sex, and I know you're not dumb enough to agree!"

"What choice do I have?" Aria threw the gun and whirled on him, stomping her foot in childish irritation. "Do you know how many lives we are risking? I have to do this!"

"No, you don't!" Sterling gripped her elbows. "This is going too far!"

"The plan was to seduce him!"

"Yes, not fuck him! Have you ever had sex with anyone before?"

"No! No, I haven't!" Aria's eyes stung. "But what does it matter? I never will. For ten years, my body has been nothing but a weapon. What makes this any different?"

"Because...because..." Sterling found himself at a loss of words.

"See?" Aria sighed. "It doesn't make a difference to me, Sterling, and it's just for one night. I'll be able to learn more - perhaps enough so that I can call this mission a day and just kill him already."

"No! No!" Sterling shook his head. "There has to be another way. There must be something else we can do..."

"Sterling." Aria put her hands on his biceps, coaxing him into silence. "Why does it make a difference if I have sex with someone to kill them or you have sex with someone to kill them?"

"Because that's what I do! You're the brains, I'm the tool."

"Yeah? Well, maybe I'm tired of you being the tool." Aria's hands balled into vexed fists. "It's not fair that you do all the hard work when I don't do anything."

"That's not true! You're the reason we've pulled off even half of our missions! Without you, I'd have been dead or exiled years ago!"

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the risks that you've taken. Your life has been put in danger for our job more times than mine. Sometimes I think I have no right to call myself an assassin."

"You damn right do have a claim to that title," Sterling growled. "And don't you dare say otherwise. Aria, please, don't think that you have to do this. I-I mean, don't you want your first time to be with someone...special?"

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What's Sterling's final answer going to be? What's going to happen? Will Aria really sleep with Edward? 

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