Wicked Games

Chapter 11

LISA

Jennie and I arrive at New Imperium Park early. The park is an odd shape, most of it is a giant hill that overlooks a lake and a wooded area. The stone arbour we're meeting at is at the top of the hill with an amazing view of the city, and if you strain hard enough, you can make out the shimmering haze of the Border in the distance. Jennie and I stand under the arbour for protection from the rain, which is spitting.

I notice The Poisoner before she sees me. Her head is bowed, her breathing elevated as she trudges up the giant hill. A flicker of irritation passes through me, that I'm not the one making her pant. I suppress it. Stupid thought. She's wearing jeans that hug her curvy hips and a tiny crop top. A slip of flesh showing between her belly button and waist.

I swallow.

"And you don't like her?" Jennie says, shaking her judgmental head. "Put your cock away and stop drooling."

I glare at her, refusing to bite. "Go do a final scout around. Make sure we've not been followed. Make sure there's no one in the park."

"Just think about it... about letting it go and being happy," she pouts at me, but I point at the park and she leaves, stepping into the growing rain and jogging to the edge of the woods at the bottom of the hill.

She runs the periphery of the woods, a giant circle around the base of the hill. But the park is empty. It's late, for one. Second, it's starting to rain. And third, my senses aren't prickling. That's one of the first things they train you to heighten in the Assassin's guild. I trace my fingers down the tattoo that's now a scar. Even though I'm not connected to the Assassin's guild building anymore, I still have my natural born magic. Sure, it's not as powerful as it was when the guild building had collected me. But I can still tap into my training, my skills. We're safe here tonight.

The Poisoner finally looks up, her eyes dart to Jennie running around the hill. Her cheeks are rosy, where she powered up the hill. We'll have to train her hard the next couple of weeks before we go into the Borderlands. If we're trekking through the city on foot, there's no room for stragglers.

Much as I try not to let it inside, I smile at the prospect of making her sweat. But I'm not sure if it's because I want to make her sweat in the gym or the bedroom.

I knead my temples. This is going to be hard. But I'll be damned if I'm telling Jennie that. I'll prove her wrong. I'll seduce The Poisoner, find some incriminating evidence to cripple her business and then leave her heartbroken.

I've changed my mind. It can't be that hard, can it?

But then she crests the hill and smiles at me, and the rest of the park disappears.

"Hi," she says and looks up at the sky, her eyelids fluttering as droplets of rain patter against her cheeks.

"Hi." I need to relax my jaw and stop grinding my teeth. It's deeply unattractive. I gesture at the arbour behind me. "Shall we?"

"Sure," she says and hustles the final few feet. She's got to be almost a foot shorter than me. Gods, she's going to slow us down in the Borderlands. This was a terrible idea. As if she can read my mind, she strides out in front of me, marching to the other side of the arbour.

My eyes slide down her back to her arse.

It swings from side to side. Boom, boom, boom, as her hips kick out.

No. It's just an arse. Nothing special.

Whatever.

Jennie, thankfully, is jogging up the hill, a welcome distraction. The rain grows heavy, droplets pounding a rhythmic beat on the arbour roof.