Page 11 of V for Vengeance

V’s lips tilted into an impish smirk. “I guess I figured it out. I know I’m not supposed to be more surprised than you are, but fuck…” A cute breath whooshed out of her, and she pumped her fist before striking a victory pose. “Talk about awesome as fuck! I’m going to do a lot of great things with this…like ruin Phillip’s hair and maybe even his day. That jerk doesn’t know what’s coming for him.”

She tapped a finger against her lips, devising a master plan to fuck with the men in the group. It was a concerted effort not to smile like a total asshole at how adorable this young Hunter was.

Oddly, I seemed to struggle a lot when it came to V and her antics. The Hunter and I shared a mutual love for ruining big men and their days, and I admired how genius some of her pranks were. While I leaned more towards violence, V wastactically inclined towards public humiliation—and I was never left bored by her witty assaults.

“Oh! I know. I’ll change Cash’s clothes to something less…you know, no-one-gets-it fashion.” Her eyes sparkled a second later. “Oh god, yes. A poo emoji shirt. It’d match his shitty personality and make him cry out in ghoulish horror. Two birds, one stone.” I offered her an eyebrow, and she snickered. “He texts more like a high school girl than I do, so he definitely knows that emoji and its meaning.”

Oh fuck, he does…

I’d been unlucky enough to catch one such message the Dark Fae sent to V after he hijacked her phone so they could “stay in touch.” It was loaded up with nothing but cute emojis. I’d vomited in my mouth a little looking at it. Of course, his abuse of texting was later met with violence from Phillip, so all-in-all a great end of the day.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed—and loud—at the thought of the Fae being forced to wear a shirt he hated.

Coughing into my hand, I gave her a look of approval and crossed my arms. Before her, I never felt so free to joke around on a job. The devilish prankster brought out sides I hadn’t seen in decades. Maybe because she made me feel young again. I remembered the person I was before revenge swallowed my personality.

“How do you feel? Tired? This power…it’s different. You have to use it sparingly,” I remarked, trying to redirect. We had a mission. I couldn’t get caught up in her little antics. Someone had to remember why we were here.

V’s smile disappeared, her lips set into a thin line and her spine straight. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have—”

“But any pranks you do, I want in. Every single fucking one.” I gave her a little smirk, relenting for a brief moment.

I couldn’t place the feeling, but I didn’t like it when she was uncomfortable around me. I didn’t want her to second-guess herself. I wanted her to hold her head high. She was a motherfucking badass, and after being around guys bent on protecting her, she’d forgotten she didn’t need them.

She beamed at my playful remark, and I’d never worked so hard not to kiss someone.

Her lips tasted like fruit—the kind that lingers long after eating it. The kind that makes you so hungry it was all you can think about. You crave it even when you’ve just spent all day having it. And right now, V was a temptation I never anticipated. I’d seen one asshole after another fall for her, but I underestimated her charm.

It wasn’t V’s power that terrified me; it was how enchanted I was by her the more time we spent together. How often I considered touching her. How I’d already gone and kissed her. How one kiss would never be enough. I wanted more, and it made me giddy in a way no bastard’s much-deserved death had. I hadn’t felt like this since…

Reyna.

The sassy redhead might be tangled up with two deadly Hunters and a coward, but those assholes were nowhere near my level. I didn’t care if she was brought to her knees by their sultry male charm, or if she enjoyed them in between, because I’d offer something they could never give her. I’d show her things about herself they’d never help her unearth.

After I kissed V, I could tell that she was just as captivated as I was. It brought out the fight in me. I hadn’t wanted someone in so long. It took me a while to recognize the feeling. It took a second to assign a name to it, but once I had, I was ready to throw my name into that overstuffed hat of hers.

My gut told me the spritely little Hunter was worth the gamble, and I always trusted my gut. If anything, the challengewould prove highly entertaining and piss off a few assholes in the process—which was all this chick could ask for at the end of the day.

Taking another gander at our surroundings, I quietly pondered my razor-tongued companion’s power. I’d never seen a time-stalling ability like it. The fact that she’d succeeded at bringing me into it with her was incredibly alarming. And honestly, unheard of.

Time abilities were a terrifying sort of power that the ancient Fae both revered and feared. Very few were gifted with such powers, and even less learned to control it. So, to say I was surprised would be an understatement. This young Hunter would be a fucking force to be reckoned with, and I couldn’t wait to take on the faceless bastards running the entire Organization with the monster helping me do it.

I was ready to ruin lives.

Chapter 7

Riding Her, Piggyback Style

Forget that I’d spent the better part of weeks learning how to control my power, but I never thought that one day that hard work would pay off. I half-expected I’d always struggle to control it. It didn’t seem likely that something so unique and terrifying could be managed, and I prepared myself for my inevitable failure to do so.

My luck was shit these days. Sadly, I hadn’t expected anything less but for everything to go terribly wrong. So, I was the first person in the room brought to my knees in surprise when it actually worked for once.

My power moved through me and burst out my core, slowing the world around us. What flabbergasted me most was how I figured out a way to bring another person into the frozen fold with me. I’d never done that before. Not with Sloan, and not with Phillip.

It wasn’t clear for what reason I could, or if it was specific to Jo alone, but I was thankful she was there to see my power for herself. And the way the confused Fae’s mouth dropped openin surprise to take in the paused world around us put a happy feeling in my chest.

I guess I just wanted to impress her. I was desperate for Jo’s acceptance, and it was all there on her face. I couldn’t put it into words. It gave me such a high. Nothing would ever come close to describing the emotion that hit my chest when a proud smile touched her lips. It was euphoric. Her acknowledgement felt special. It even beat out Grams’s words of affirmation after I’d done something right.

Unfortunately, it made me ramble something fiercely ridiculous, and I internally berated how quick I was to babble in the beautiful vixen’s presence. Her answering laugh and demand to be included in all future pranks made the heat in my body find its way up to my face again.

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