Page 10 of V for Vengeance

I’d been worried at first that there was some kind of telepathic warning system these assholes used, but luckily, that only seemed to happen in movies and not here. It’d make our lives infinitely harder if they knew their brothers in blood had perished the minute it happened.

“Let’s go,” I whispered to Jo.

Her smile was outright criminal. “Time to play pretty prey and get them alone. I’m expecting great things from you.”

“Oh, good. No pressure,” I retorted with a sneaky grin.

The two of us made our way over to the twins to lay on the charm and isolate them from the crowd and any prying eyes that could make our beat down a public show rather than a private viewing.

Chapter 6

Pissing Off Assholes

Jo

Ihadn’t expected the Organization’s genetic monster with ancient Fae blood to be a pretty little fire-haired darling who laughed and smiled as much as she fought like her life depended on it. Make no mistake, it did.

Had she given me reason to kill her before her powers became chaos personified, I would’ve in a heartbeat. I’d killed others for less.

But getting to know the free-spirited Hunter surprised me more than I cared to admit. She beguiled every person she met, and for good reason. Even that arrogant, self-interested Hunter fell for her. Knowing what I did about that pain in the ass, it hadn’t been on purpose. My intel about the Hunter’s past was extensive, and even I wouldn’t have bet on him falling in love after what Eros did to the ones he cared about.

Not that I could blame him.

I’d stayed relatively unattached since…well, since I lost the only woman I’d ever loved. Sadly, that asshat and I shared that in common. Both of us were tainted by the deaths of ourgreatest loves. And yes, I was painfully aware of what a goddamn overused trope that sort of thing was. If this were a movie, they’d play some shit music and dim the lights, expressing what a sad little thing I was.

But they’d be wrong.

Thinking about Reyna and what happened to her made me homicidal, not depressed. Her death hadn’t frozen me; it gave me purpose and life. I was desperate for vengeance in whatever form possible. I impatiently waited for the day when I could put the heads of the Organization’s worst on spikes to serve as a glaring warning to any bastards attempting to pick up where they left off.

I wasn’t much for yammering on about my broken heart or how I’d never love again. I would. She made me promise her that one day I would. But I refused to fall for anyone until the Organization was destroyed at its very roots. Vengeance was my sole objective, and I’d do anything to ensure it happened.

Unlike me, Phillip maintained a semblance of a moral compass. Color me impressed because fuck if I ever pegged him as the sort. I thought for sure the asshole would be the type to burn the world down to avenge his lost love, but he’d gone the honorable route to overthrow the Organization. He’d cooked up revenge from within.

I, on the other hand, wouldn’t be broken up about a few innocent deaths on my hands. And due to the nature of my Fae blood, I didn’t wear the marks of innocent lives taken like that bastard Cash did. I’d never be marked by the dark acts I’d done to achieve a goal.

And I made no apologies about it either.

The misinformation that lasted thousands of years about my kind was pervasive and destructive. Over the years, there’d been widespread efforts to wipe Ancient Fae kind from existence, so we stayed under the radar. One test and we were dead. Reynaand I had escaped to this plane to avoid it all, start anew, only to stumble on something worse—humans with a desire to become more than they were.

Reyna’s death was a reminder of why I couldn’t rest until the Organization was stopped. Not after those fucking monsters killed her and then used her blood in their genetic trials. Experiments that would eventually lead to V’s creation. So, I became a killer. The second-most sought out assassin by the Organization despite never knowing my face or abilities. At first, it was my intention to cripple them by putting an end to their prized weapon.

But then I met her.

She was nothing like I expected. Her smiles and optimism, her cleverness and raw power, they could be cultivated for good as much as they could be tainted by evil. She reminded me of Reyna, and I couldn’t get over the similarities. The two of them could’ve been sisters. I hadn’t given myself the freedom to hope for anything since losing Reyna, but for once I thought we stood a chance at bringing those bastards down.

Despite the Fae society’s assurance my kind were long gone, we weren’t. Only the truly chaotic ones were. The rest of us found a way to control our chaos powers. And after the last few weeks, I was confident so would V. She’d already controlled so much with very little instruction. I was forever impressed by her fortitude. For most, it took years, but for V, weeks. Months, maybe.

She was proving to be as formidable as the Organization intended her to be. Except, now the tables had turned. Their plan had backfired. The weapon they created to do their bidding would instead be their undoing.

“Jo?”

I tore my eyes away from the wall and looked straight into her red-speckled hazel eyes. Confused, I dragged my gaze across the space and discovered the world was frozen, everything inside of it in a perpetual state of motionless.

Lights beamed but didn’t move. The clubgoers were paused in the midst of their sultry dances; several of them two shades from sex, and a couple handsy bros a pinch away from sexual harassment. Both of our beefed-up marks were on their way over to us, a pair of smirking assholes in clothes three sizes too small, ready to lay on their disgusting charm because our Royal Siren blood called to them.

But the Asshat Twins—as V so accurately named them—weren’t what stopped me in my tracks. Frozen fucking time was. More accurately, everything frozen but me and the monster queen. I hadn’t been prepared for it, so my expression gave me away for a second.

“Is this…?”

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