Page 4

CHAPTER 4

CUPID

Olympia thinks assassins never mingle. Or maybe they know everything I do, and they let it go because they need us. Either way, killers gossip as much as the gods and goddesses we’re named after. We’re only human, after all.

With so much time between assignments, identities and passports that could take us anywhere, and more money than most of us know what to do with, my colleagues and I often link up in the wide world. A true hunter recognizes a fellow hunter: it's in the eyes.

We talk. We share all the dirty details Olympia forbids us to regale. And we can get away with it because we’re not easy to kill. Crack down on us, and there will be hell to pay. It’s a delicate balance.

It's how I knew Hera was my handler before we spoke the code phrase.

It's how I knew that she’d been reassigned to Ares—that Olympia had found out about us, and decided to keep us apart.

The gods have made a mistake.

Ares. I met him in Japan years ago. He was a brute, preferring blunt force over tact and precision. Good drinking buddy, though. I had no reason not to like him. No reason until Olympia gave Hera to him.

He was easy to subdue, easy to extract the information I needed. Stealth is not his strong suit, and he never saw me coming. I even let him live, but he'll be out of commission and off-grid for a while. I saw to it that his needs are met. I'm not an animal; I'm just in love.

It's a hot, clear day on Tahoe's massive mountain lake. Ares gave me the location for first contact: a small beach on the north side. Hera's identifier is apparently an all white bikini with a red thunderbolt on one breast. Is Olympia taunting me?

You broke our rules, so we’ll offer her up to Ares like a piece of meat.

Apart from my payment for the last job (as always, a cash drop in Spain) I've had no contact with Olympia. There's been no indication of a new assignment or new handler. Hermes has not found me to deliver a message. Maybe they’re letting me go. Maybe they decided that eliminating me would be too much trouble.

Still, I can't help but think they’re poking me. If they know I'll go after her, they’re fools for not realizing that antagonizing me is a fatal error.

I'll kill them all for her.

Ares was supposed to approach Hera from the beach, but I've opted for my own route. The boat I purchased cruises smoothly along the clear water, cutting the emerald blue as I guide it into a small bay. I’ve been living on it for a few days, sleeping in the cabin below, working on my tan as I wait. It came with a little captain’s hat, and I’ve grown fond of it. The beach is just ahead. There's only a handful of people on the sand, and only one of them is wearing a white bikini.

Through my binoculars, I spy on her body. I've seen her naked from head to toe, but the way that two-piece digs into her curves does something new to my desire. Her dark hair is braided into playful pigtails; she looks less like a spy than ever. If she were alone on that beach, I’d run this ship aground and take her in the sand.

Instead, I kill the engines. The anchor plops into the water as the boat slows. I toss my captain’s hat aside, take off my shirt, and dive into the refreshingly cold lake to make the swim ashore. I’ll miss that hat.

I'm not sure when Hera realizes that I'm here, but she's on her feet and shaking by the time I wade out of the shallows. Water cascades off of me with each step. I stop an arm's length from her, catch my breath, and stare into those cool green eyes.

Time slows itself for us, lets us live in this moment.

If there are any threats on this beach, I’ve lost the will to look for them. All that matters is that perfect, stunned look on her face.

"No need for code phrases this time, no?"

"C-Cupid..." Does she know how badly I want to hear my real name leave her lips? "You shouldn't be here. How did you even find me? You need to leave before—"

"Before Ares arrives?"

She closes her eyes. "What have you done?"

"He's alive, but I did what I had to. Did you think I'd let you go?"

"Cupid..."

I step toward her, so close that I could unfurl her bikini with the tug of a string. "Did you really think that I wouldn't come for you? That I wouldn't do anything to find you?"

If I've been wrong about her, Hera will walk away from this. She'll report to Olympia that I've gone completely rogue, that Ares is out of the game. They'll hide her from me. They'll do their best to kill me, no matter how much damage I cause on my way out.

"You need to leave," Hera says through trembling lips. "You need to get out of here, and I'm coming with you."

Her words stagger me like a slug to the chest. Actually, I’ve been shot before, and this is far more exhilarating.

"What about protocol?"

Hera smiles, green eyes full of defiant fire. "Fuck protocol."

We don't care who on the beach is watching us. A couple of them might even be assets of Olympia. I dare them to try to pull our lips apart, to pry our bodies away from one another. I'm the deadliest assassin on the payroll—I know it.

And they know it, too.

Finally, I’ve found something truly worth killing for.

We abandoned the boat in the bay. I left the keys in the cabin. Eventually, someone will climb aboard and claim their new toy. The stupid thing only cost me six hundred grand. A drop in the bucket of my blood money.

The cabin we’re hiding in only cost a million more. We’re tucked away deep in the mountains outside of Tahoe. No phones. No Internet. I even had Hera ditch the bikini when we jumped into the car I had waiting for us, just in case there was a tracker sewn into the hem—that made the drive more fun than it should have been. For two weeks, I've been planning our escape. That's the mark of a proper assassin: preparation.

Olympia will expect us to run halfway across the planet. They’ll watch for us to board flights or ships, so we'll stay right here for as long as it takes.

Forever, if necessary.

How we proceed relies entirely on Hera. There are things she doesn’t yet know, things I have to say to her, and those secrets might turn her against me.

If that’s the case, I’ll load the gun for her.

Hera comes out of the bathroom just as I get a fire going. Her silky hair hangs wet down her back. The sun kissed her pale skin today, but she looks the same as that night in Paris. She's perfect.

She clears her throat and gestures to the baggy flannel I set out for her. The shirt hangs off her like a dress. "It's a little big."

"It suits you." I stand and beckon her near the fire. "But, I must say, you were a sight to see in that bikini..."

"God," she laughs. "I fucking hated it. That's the first time Olympia set me up in a swimsuit for a rendezvous."

"First and last," I correct.

Hera sighs and falls onto the deep sofa. Worry lives on her face. "Yeah. We're really doing this. Congratulations, you've infected me with your insanity."

"We could eliminate the target they gave you. Maybe that would put us back in their good graces."

"They know we can kill targets, Cupid. That's not enough. We disobeyed orders. We're AWOL. And you attacked another asset. The gods are unforgiving. No, this is it. We’re on the run—always will be. You realize that, don't you? Is being with me worth looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life?"

The floorboards creak as I drop slowly to my knees before her. With my hands on her thighs, I stare up at her like a worshiper.

"If they had killed me out there on that beach, if a sniper had been waiting and taken me out before I even had the chance to say a word to you, it still would have been worth it to see you one last time, Rose ."

She gasps like I've torn her soul wide open. "W-what did you just call me?" She squirms and shakes uncontrollably. How long has it been since she's heard that name, since she's looked in the mirror and seen her true self?

I hold her hands so she won't flee over the back of the couch. "Rose Watson," I say it, and she sobs. "There’s so much you don’t know..."