Page 11

Grace

“Grace, meet your partner…code name: Mirage.”

Grace had known he’d come face-to-face with the man from the hall sooner or later.

He’d thought of the mysterious stranger several times since then because it’d been his first feeling of stimulation in months.

When Grace had left the silent suite, Mirage had left an air of mischievousness lingering in the blackness that seeped into his chest.

Mr. Slick-Dressed Director was reading from the paper as if it were a prepared script.

“Named Mirage because of his previous life, background, and strict discipline that never seemed real. As if his self-control was ingrained and unshakable…but not.”

Grace stared down Mirage.

He focused his gaze on the tilt of his new partner’s glacial blue-grayish eyes, fascinated by the way they gleamed with calculated menace.

Grace watched him with detached curiosity, the same way he’d watch a rare tiger at the National Zoo.

“Mirage left his world without a trace, as if he was never there. He has a brilliant mind and more degrees in science and medicine than I thought one person could obtain. That’s all now coupled with lightning-quick reflexes from his enhancements.”

Now, I’m a bit more intrigued .

“To his enemies, he’ll disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye.”

The director scanned his paper and then flipped it over.

“His incomparable knife skills are probably a lingering talent from his profession as a surgeon.”

Hmm .

“He can throw knives so fast, like phantom blades, that they leave his targets confused.”

Mirage watched him, maybe for a reaction, while the director kept reading off his unique qualifications.

Grace didn’t know how his face looked, but his partner frowned as though he didn’t like it.

He and Mirage stared at each other.

Two men paired together because of the rare ways they could kill.

“I’ll leave you gentlemen to get acquainted. You got months of training ahead.”

The director glanced back and forth between them as if he were a matchmaker, then left the room.

The fuck? Acquainted?

This wasn’t a first date at a coffee shop where they’d discuss the latest book they’d read, their favorite hobbies, or if they’d watched both seasons of House of Dragons .

What did the director want them to say to each other?

Good to meet ya. I look forward to killing with you.