Agent of Chaos || ONC2025

Mason Calloway is the kind of secret agent you call when all else fails and then immediately regret it. Reckless, sarcastic, and armed with nothing but sheer luck and a death wish, he's spent years botching missions in ways that defy logic, physics, and basic self-preservation.

Then he's handed the impossible assignment: take down Lilith, the most dangerous woman on Earth.

She's more than just a target, she's a ghost, a legend, Brilliant, manipulative, and stupidly beautiful. Every time Mason gets close, she's already ten steps ahead-laughing, taunting, and letting him live just to watch him fail. And fail he does. Spectacularly.

But the more Mason chases her, the more he realizes this isn't just another mission. Lilith isn't just another villain. And the agency he works for? Yeah, they might not be as righteous as they claim.

With his own people turning against him, an unstoppable enemy toying with him at every turn, and the terrifying possibility that he might actually *like* the chaos she brings, Mason has to ask himself: is he hunting Lilith, or is she hunting him?

Outgunned, outmatched, and increasingly out of patience, Mason knows one thing's for sure-if he's going down, he's taking some cocktails and a bad decision or two with him.

**********

She studies me, swirling her own glass of something expensive-looking. "Tell me, Mason. Are you here for business or pleasure?"

I take a sip of whiskey, meeting her gaze. "Who says I can't multitask?"

Her smile is slow, deliberate. Dangerous. "Careful. That kind of thinking gets people killed."

I lean in slightly, lowering my voice. "That a threat?"

Lilith chuckles. "A warning."

God help me, I think I like this game.

Lizzy's voice hisses in my ear. "Mason, do not flirt with the Antichrist."

Too late.

**********

Written for the open novella contest 2025

Prompt 106 : A cat and dog, caught in their chaotic rivalry, begin to realize there is more to their animosity than meets the eye.