Page 5 of Poison Ivy
And that’s it. No fanfare, no need for a detailed report. They were hired to kill this dude, and it was contracted to me, and now it’s over. My phone dings with the bank transfer, and the second half of my 50K fee has landed.
“So, Mr Handler-man,” I say to Ramsey as I reach for my brush and yank the towel off my head. “What else you got for me?”
When I start brushing my hair, my towel slips down, pooling around me on the stool. I don’t bother hiding. I’m not Ramsey’s type, and it’s not like he hasn’t seen me naked a thousand times before.
“What the fuck is that?” he asks, jumping off the bed and crouching behind me.
“My arse?” I say, looking over my shoulder at him.
“No,” he growls, jabbing at the deactivated rune inscribed into my skin on my lower back. “That.”
“Oh, that would be a little help from a warlock friend who owed me one.”
“Which. Friend?” he clips out, rising and glaring at me in the mirror.
I lower my gaze and concentrate on brushing out my hair. “Vex.”
He hisses at me. “Vex? You meanVex? The warlock who doesn’t think the word ‘consequences’ exists?”
“That would be him.”
“Jesus, Ivy!” he snaps. “Why did you go to him? You know there will be payment for this!”
“No, he owed me. This was payment to me. We’re square.”
“Oh, you naïve little shifter. You will never be square with Vex.”
I shrug, not overly worried. Vex is an arsehole, sure, but I know which buttons to push on him. He’s easy to handle if you handle him right. And Poison has the right hands for the job. “Look, never mind that. You said we had business.”
He huffs out an annoyed breath, probably already thinking of a dozen ways to make sure Vex doesn’t come looking for a payment for this little loan. It’s one of the many reasons why I love him. We were thrown together by the Syndicate, the creatures we both work for, but ended up besties for life. I couldn’t do any of this without him.
“New job,” he says distractedly and picks up his laptop, tapping in for a few seconds before he places it back in front of me.
I blink at the new screen that is up, and then my blood freezes. I look up at him, and he gives me a shrug.
Staring back at the screen, I let out a low growl. “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me?”
3
TORIN
“I don’t know, mum,”I snarl into the phone as Bram and Tate snicker, exchanging a glance that speaks volumes. I reach for the empty beer bottle near my hand and fling it at Bram. His quick reflexes kick in, and he snatches it out of the air before it can hit him in the face. He gives me the finger with a scowl, but it fucking shuts him up. “I haven’t seen or heard from him for a few days.”
“So where is he?” she cries.
“Probably with one of the many little sluts he has stashed around.”
“Torin,” she growls.
“Look. You know what he’s like. It’s not the first time he’s disappeared, it won’t be the last. He’ll turn up.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t particularly give a shit if he does or not, but that fucking meeting with the Brasch Coven istomorrow. I do not want to sit there and havethem look down on me because I’m a fucking female.”
I roll my eyes. My mother is one of the most vicious vampires I have ever come across. The other is my dad. They are a match made in hell, choosing to stay together for power and influence rather than love and all that bollocks. “Dad is the head of the Ainsley Coven,” I state the obvious. “He knows his duty. And if he doesn’t show up, then I will have to take over. I’m his heir and sub-boss of this fucking Coven of prick vampire mages, so to be honest, I’d rather not. But if you don’t want to do it, then fine.”
“You are being a real cock right now,” she snaps.
“Yeah, am I ever anything else?” I growl.
