Page 29 of Soulless Deeds

Remi shuffled his feet for another minute, then relented. “She’s been scarce since the Ludus attack. But there is one event she would not miss for anything.” I perked up at his charged tone. “Without a doubt, Mistress will visit her sister for the Eternal Nights Festival.”

“Where is her sister buried?”

“Nightingale Cemetery.”

I grinned.This will be easier than I thought.

XII

Echo

“Isn’t it…Echo?” Aster snapped. My mind jolted back to reality.

I stood guard behind her as she occupied the seat at the head of the long conference table. We were in her ostentatious penthouse apartment, her decked-out office housing all the leaders of Vice. She’d scheduled a debrief meeting since she couldn’t venture out in Serpents Row herself—a position I fought for due to the threat of Ludus Maximus and the unknown variable, Khaos.

Her spine snapped straight and legs crossed as she spun in her swivel chair towards me, red-painted lips tilted into a frown.

Shit, what are they talking about? Some enhancer Variant drug? Missing block kids? The underworld in upheaval? Which one?

I took a stab in the dark. “Yesss?”

Aster’s expression hardened into granite. “Leave us,” she announced to the room as her beady eyes remained on me.

Sudo—the last person to depart—spared me a sympathetic glance as she closed the door behind her, which caused the temperature to plummet to below freezing.

“What’s going on?” Aster asked, her tone fed up with nil room for negotiation.

I shook my head, unwilling to speak in case a roar escaped instead. I was hanging on by the thinnest piece of thread, the constant imprint ofhertattooed into my brain.

I couldn’t eat, couldn’t think, regret and grief consuming my every waking moment—hell, every unconscious moment as well. Her entire entity haunted my dreams… Or were they nightmares? I honestly couldn’t tell anymore.

Aster sighed, uncrossing her legs, and stood. “Go and get your dick sucked or something. Your distractions are pissing me off. Clear your head—both of them. And when you’re back to normal, that’s when you can come back. For now, you’re taking a break.”

My eyes widened. I’d never taken a break—ever. Not since I was initiated into Vice. “I don’t need a?—”

“This isn’t a request, it’s an order, Echo. Whatever the fuck is going on with you,fix it,” she said with a savage glare.

She departed, leaving me to rile in my misery. My fists clenched, desperate to escape my haunted reality.

How the fuck do I free myself from this possession? How do I exorcise this ghost?

Sudo awaited me in the elevator, and as the doors lapsed shut, she said, “I have a new girl in training. More than enthusiastic about displaying her oral skills—specifically requesting to practice on you.”

My shoulders rolled back. “Why the fuck are you telling me?”

Her eyes widened. I’d never denied a proposition before, and with my track record, the available pool to choose from was dwindling smaller.

Aster’s previous request filtered through.Fix it.With an internal shudder, my voice steeled. “Take me to her.”

What’s the old saying?To get over someone, you’ve got to get under someone else.

I stood in the centre of a refurbished ranch-style room at Playhouse, a petite blonde thing on her knees before me. She stroked my length through the material of my pants, cowboy boots the only attire she wore.

My spine tingled with the anticipated pleasure, and a smirk pulled my mouth as my dick hardened—it wasn’t broken after all.

Since the trauma from my devil of a first crush, commitment was a word scored from my vocabulary. Anyone getting involved with me already knew the score—I eat when I want, drink what I want,fuckwhoever I want.

Who could ever want for more?

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