Page 7

THE NEXT MARK

E MILY

Spending time with my guys is just what I need to chase the aftermath of my nightmare away. By the time we finish the movie, my spirits are lifted. They tease me about canceling my cam show this afternoon, and I roll my eyes.

“Go ahead and make fun…I can always terminate your subscriptions so you can’t watch anymore,” I threaten with a laugh.

As their objections ring out, something small and hot pink catches my eye from the console table against the wall. The small orb seems to be calling to me. I dart over and pick it up, knowing instantly what it is.

“Hey, what’s that?” Will asks, walking toward me.

“Nothing,” I say, squeezing the orb in my palm. It pops and absorbs into my hand, sending the next target information straight to my brain.

I open my hands, showing Will that I don’t have anything as I try to process the fact that my next job is Mr. Jeffries.

I need to talk to Brynn about their job delivery system. This is getting a little too close for comfort. I can’t let my guys find out about my other job. Not like this. There may come a time when we can talk about it and they might understand, but this is not the time. I can’t imagine it will be a comfortable conversation anyway, but Will discovering that I’m an assassin because I just accepted a job to kill his father? No thanks.

This particular mark will be an even bigger challenge. Will and Jeremy’s fathers have met me; they know what I look like. I won’t be able to gain access through camming. Fuck. How am I going to do this? There’s only one way that it will work.

“Did you really cancel your stream today?” Luke asks. I nod in response.

“Do you want to talk about why?” Will presses. I shake my head.

“Actually, I’m feeling a lot better. I think I might be able to do the show after all.” The lie is bitter on my tongue, but I push on. I have a job to do, and I can’t let my guilt or other feelings get in the way. “What time is it? I left my phone in my apartment when I came up here.”

He pulls his phone out and checks the time, turning it so I can see. “You’ve got time. We won’t let you be late, if you’re going to do your cam show at the usual time.”

I wrap my arms around him, hugging his arms to his sides so he can’t put the phone away yet. I need to tap into it and find a path to his father so that I can get to him later. “Thank you. You guys are so sweet to me. I don’t deserve it.” The hug lasts long enough to make things awkward, but I find the path and mark it so I’ll find it later.

When I let go, Will stares at me for a minute. “I think we don’t deserve you, so I guess we’re even.” Guilt eats at me over his sweet words, and I almost confess my darkest secret.

I give him a quick kiss, then walk back to the couch and kiss Luke and Jeremy. “I have to get ready for the stream. You guys are still gonna watch, right?” Suddenly I’m nervous that they won’t tune in for some reason. Maybe it’s knowing that I’ve already betrayed them, and I’m about to do it again. Maybe it’s general insecurity that goes along with dating. I have no idea. I can’t waste time worrying about it either.

“Of course, we are,” Luke reassures me. “Just not together.”

“Because watching together would be weird?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

Jeremy shakes his head. “No, because we wouldn’t all be able to tip you if we watched together.” He says it as if it’s the simplest explanation, and they’ve discussed the different options for watching before. I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse.

“Strangely, that makes sense. I’ll see you guys later.” They each kiss me again, and I practically float downstairs from the euphoria of it. I carry that feeling with me for a while longer as I get dressed and set everything up for the cam show. My nerves have settled, and I’m more excited to perform for my guys than anxious that they’ll be watching. As I get dressed and do my make up, I post a message letting my subscribers know that the emergency has been dealt with and the show will go on. My call client has already rescheduled, so I’ll leave that alone.

I go over the routine in my head again, making sure I have the timing figured out. For today’s performance, I select an orange wig to match the babydoll I’m wearing. Once it’s in place, I check the mirror to make sure I look as good as I feel. I start my play list at the same time as the camera, making sure that I’m not in frame yet.

I’ve been starting the stream a minute before I make my entrance lately, and it seems to work better for me. Today, I’m not doing my usual intro, though. I’m starting with my dance, then I’ll talk to my subs and take a couple of requests.

The song I selected earlier starts to play, and I weave my way around the room, going through the motions I’d practiced before. I use my power to keep the camera focused on me, and make sure that I stay in the studio area of the room. I feel sexy and powerful, exactly the way I want. With this routine, I become Jasmin—fearless and in control.

When the song ends, I take my place on the edge of the bed and address my viewers. I know there are nearly a thousand of them watching me right now, and several are sending tips in addition to their monthly subscription fees. I try not to react to the larger tips that come through, making sure to thank my benefactors for their generosity without calling them out in detail.

“Thank you all for joining me today.” I settle into my chat segment, allowing my viewers to make requests for me to act out.

When the live stream ends, I have texts waiting from each of my guys. I shut down the camming system while I read them all.

You looked so sexy tonight.

Luke’s sweet comment stabs me right in the feels.

Was all that just for us, sugarplum?

My cheeks heat as they flush at Will’s message.

Damn, Em. That was hot.

Jeremy’s text makes me laugh out loud.

I respond to each of them, then decide that I might as well get back to work. Will’s dad isn’t likely to kill himself, so I need to figure out exactly how I’m going to deal with that. I’ve never been to Jeffries’ house, and I can’t exactly cam call him to see the layout. I’ll be going in blind on this one, and I’m not excited about it.

I have to admit, there is a certain rush of adrenaline at knowing that this job could be the one that gets me caught. It won’t be, because I’m better than that. It’s probably a good idea to check the house out and get schematics if I can. I need to at least know where the entrances and exits are.

I slip into my secret room, locking the hidden door behind me. I don’t expect my guys to show up, but if they manage to get inside before I return, I need to make sure this space is protected. Once I’m safely inside the walls, I shift into my pixelated form and slide into my computer.

Traveling along network lines is a thrill in itself. With outages coming randomly, I never know if I’ll get stuck somewhere and have to find another way back. That’s only happened a few times, though, and it prepared me for what to do in those cases. Things like that are the reason my back up plans have back up plans.

When I get to Jeffries’ house, I don’t leave the computer. Instead, I go through every file on it, looking for the proof I need to be certain this is one of the traffickers. What I find is worse than I ever expected. Not only is he involved; he’s one of the top parties controlling the ring. There are records proving that he purchased his wife the day she turned eighteen. I feel awful for Will, and even worse for his mom. She deserves so much better than this.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the sex tapes he’s made with her and other women are repulsive. To be fair, it’s not that his kinks are so bad. The problem is that the women clearly are not into it, and he seems to enjoy forcing them way too much. After half a dozen videos, I stop myself from watching more. There are hundreds of videos, but no way to know, short of watching them all, if Jeffries is the star of all of them or not. Since I don’t have time for that, and I have enough proof now, I simply copy the files and send them to my encrypted account.

I still have to decide if I’m going to release everything to the press, or just the police. I don’t want to put Luke or Will through any more than I absolutely have to. I wish I could talk to them about this and see what they want to do. But that would mean outing myself as an assassin and taking the chance that they might turn me in. I can’t do that.

I search the internet for schematics of the house. When I find what I’m looking for, I inspect them carefully. I memorize the layout of the entire house, though calling this massive building a house is an understatement. It’s a mansion, bordering on a castle.

I can’t resist checking Jeffries’ bank accounts. The man has more money than I do. And that’s saying something, because I’ve skimmed off the top of everyone I’ve ever killed. I work my magic, moving some of his money around. As long as I do it just right, no one will ever know it wasn’t him.

Once I’ve redistributed his wealth, I feel pretty confident that I can take him out. With all the damning evidence I found, I don’t want to wait. I can’t give him a chance to be harder to find. I got Jeffries’ cell number from Will’s phone, so I can easily locate him in the giant house. It’s late enough that no one else should be here, except his wife. I should probably check the house for other cell phone signals, but I want this done.

Even if someone is here, I just need to corner him and finish my mission. That won’t be too hard. I follow the phone’s signal to the room Jeffries is in. I’m anxious to complete this job, and it’s making me sloppy. I have to refocus and do this right. This man cannot be the reason I get caught.

I climb out of the computer, looking around to make sure the room is empty. I decide it’s safer to remain in my digital form, so I can’t be seen by cameras or the security system. I have to work quickly so I can take Jeffries out and get home before anyone misses me.

I move through the house carefully. Even though I can’t be seen, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to be in the open. I know from experience how easy it is to kill someone accidentally when I’m in this form. I’m only after my target; no one else needs to get hurt here.

I find Jeffries alone in the kitchen. This will be easy enough. Pausing for a moment to listen, I can hear someone in the bathroom down the hall, but I think I have enough time to do this. Normally, I would debate exactly how I wanted to kill him. At this moment, I don’t have that luxury. I want the job done, so I have to improvise. I float up to him as he stirs his mug. From the smell, it seems to be some sort of tea blend.

Not wasting time on hesitations, I shove my hand into his chest. I watch as he realizes that something is wrong. Jeffries clutches his chest, his hand sliding through my arm. I wrap my fingers around his heart and squeeze. If I’m careful, this will look like a heart attack, and his murder won’t be connected to the others.

I open my hand, releasing his heart. The relief on his face ignites anger inside me. I grip his heart again, squeezing and twisting. I want to rip it from his chest. But I have to be smart about this. I take a deep breath and center myself. I can’t let my emotions get in the way.

I want this man dead for more than one reason. I know killing him is going to hurt Will on some level, and I hate that. At the same time, he deserves this for what he did to all those women, and for the way he treats his son. I don’t let go of his heart until he starts to fall forward. Standing over his lifeless body, a sense of pride comes over me.

I turn to leave and almost run into Jeremy. “Dave?” Jeremy rushes past me; I barely have time to move so he doesn’t go through me. I know he doesn’t see me, but he sniffs the air.

“Emily?” he asks, turning to face me. I’m so startled that I almost drop my shift. How does Jeremy know I’m here? I don’t have time to waste trying to figure it out.

He bends down and checks Jeffries for a pulse, then pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and dials it. I slip into the phone and disappear along the data lines that connect it to the internet.

Fuck, that was close. What was Jeremy doing there?

JEREMY

When I step into the kitchen and see Dave’s body on the floor, I’m shocked. His hand is gripping his chest, so he must have had a heart attack. When I dash over to him, I swear I smell Emily. How is that possible? She can’t be here. She doesn’t even know where Will’s dad lives.

I check him for a pulse, then call Will. “You need to get to your dad’s now. I’ll explain when you get here.” I don’t bother to wait for him to respond. I hang up and dial emergency services. Within minutes, Will arrives, then the ambulance.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, meeting me in the kitchen. His eyes go wide at the sight of his father on the floor. “What did you do to my dad?”

“It’s not like that, Will, and you know it. He called me because he knew he screwed up today when you went to see him. Dave asked me to come over so we could talk while your mom is out of town. He wanted me to talk to you. I went to the bathroom, and he was like this when I got back,” I explain. I pull him into my arms and hug him when his tears start to fall. I know they had a rocky relationship, but Dave was his dad, and Will loved him.

I want to tell him about the Emily thing, but I can’t explain it. Maybe her perfume is on my jacket and I caught a whiff of it.

It’s not like she was here. That’s not possible. If she had been, I would have seen her. Right? I shake the thought away.

I have to focus and answer the EMT’s questions. Since it looks like a heart attack, they’ll run some blood tests to check for poisons and examine his body before deciding on the cause of death.

I’d hoped that something could be done to save him, but he was gone before I walked into the room. I can’t get past the idea that Emily had been there. I can’t figure out how she could get into the house and back out again without being seen. Will reviews the security system videos, giving me an alibi, and even more so when the video clearly shows Dave was alone when he died.

“That looks pretty clear to us. We’ll still run some panels to be sure he wasn’t poisoned. But for now, we’ll call it natural causes,” one of the EMTs says as they strap Dave to the gurney and prepare to wheel him out.

After they leave, Will and I lock up and head home. “Do you want to call your mom?” I ask as we walk to our cars.

He shakes his head. “No, I think I’ll let the coroner or whoever at the hospital take care of that. I don’t know what I would say to her.”

EMILY

I collapse onto my bed, my heart still racing from nearly being caught. Guilt swirls in my head as I check Jeremy’s phone. He called Will after I left, then an ambulance. Fuck. I don’t know if that means I’m safe or not.

I want to reach out and make sure Will is okay, but I can’t do that without revealing my secret. I decide to let the thought go for now. Waiting is hard, but giving my secret away could be devastating. I don’t want to go to jail. More than that, I don’t want to see the pain and hurt in my guys’ eyes when they realize that I’ve been lying to them.

That thought hurts me, even if the lying was to protect them. I can’t let anyone think they were involved. If Jeremy somehow knows I was there, and turns me in, I’ll take the full blame. I’ll probably turn myself in if he hints at it. I have to protect them, no matter what it costs me. I strip down and step into my shower, turning the water as hot as it will go. I’ll melt these feelings away if I have to.

With my fears taking hold of my imagination, I set up a trust that will go to the guys if I go to jail or if anything happens to me. The whole thing is anonymous, so none of the money can be traced to my unsavory activities.

I sit on the floor of my shower as scalding water washes over me. I’ve always been good at multi-tasking, but this seems to be taking things to extremes. After settling my finances and getting things squared away for the worst-case scenario, I lean back against the shower wall.

Water drips down my face, mingling with the tears I can’t stop. I feel as if I’m on the verge of losing everything. Panic grips my heart. Can I go on with my life if Luke, Will, and Jeremy aren’t in it? Probably. Do I want to? Not at all.

I scrub the tears from my face and turn the water off. Staring at myself in the mirror, I realize just how much blood is on my hands. I don’t feel guilty about the lives I’ve taken. I feel guilty that I put my guys in the middle of my work. If I’m honest with myself, I know that’s not true. Their fathers put them in my work. At least none of them are involved in the trafficking ring, so I don’t have to worry about them becoming a target.

I dry myself slowly, trying to process everything that’s happened today. I can’t keep this up. I need to either cut ties with the guys or come clean about my secrets. I’m not sure which is the better choice. And I know that after tonight, I won’t have time to consider those options for at least a few days.

As much as Luke wanted me around after his father’s death, I’m certain Will isn’t going to let me out of his sight once he gets to me. I throw on some comfy clothes and settle back on my bed to wait. I know I won’t get sleep for a while with everything racing through my brain.

I answer the phone on the first ring, certain it’s Will. “Sugarplum, I need you.” The sadness in his voice rips me apart. It takes me a minute to remember that I shouldn’t know what happened yet.

“What’s wrong, Will?” I don’t have to pretend to be concerned for him. But I do have to remember that I need to keep my secret if I can.

“My dad died tonight,” he says, his voice barely a whisper.

“Oh, no! What happened?”

“They said it looks like a heart attack. Blood work should confirm that or prove it was murder.” He pauses then continues, “Jeremy was with him. Apparently, it happened when he went to the bathroom. He found Dad when he came back but it was too late.”

I mute the phone and breathe a sigh of relief. It sounds like Jeremy didn’t say anything about sensing me. I still haven’t figured out how he knew I was there. No matter how much I want to know, I’m not about to ask him.

“Are you home? I’ll come up,” I offer.

“I just walked in the door. Jeremy went to get food.” Will pauses again, and I’m sure he’s crying.

“I’ll be right there,” I say, hanging up the phone and grabbing my shoes. I don’t bother to put them on but carry them with me as I race up the stairs. I’m tempted to shift so I can get there faster, but I don’t want anyone to see me materialize, and I can’t risk exposing myself to my guys like that.

The door opens before I can knock, and Will drags me into his arms. “Thank you.” Guilt surges again, and I’m uncomfortable with being the person to comfort him for something I did. I drop my shoes beside the door and return his hug.

“Don’t thank me. Being here for you is the least I can do,” I insist. In my heart, I know the truth of my words. I could have refused the job. I could have ended the relationship. Being here is the very least I can do for any of them right now. If only I was stronger, then I could walk away.

My heart jumps inside of me as he holds me tightly. I’m in way too deep now to leave. I’m going to have to tell them everything. It’s just a matter of timing now. Falling in love wasn’t in my plans, but here I am, head over heels and unable to fight it.

I place my hands on Will’s cheeks, forcing him to look at me. “I love you, Will.” I kiss him gently, tenderly, reverently. I want him to understand that I mean everything with those words. Because soon, he’ll have to decide if it’s enough.

“I love you, sugarplum,” he responds, pressing his lips to my forehead. I let my tears fall, mixing with his. There’s no reason to hold back my emotions now. I need to soak up every moment before I ruin it all.

After a long moment, we head into the living room, where Luke waits for us. Will sits next to him, and I take the empty spot beside Will. My heart swells again when Luke threads his fingers through Will’s and leans over to kiss my shapeshifter’s cheek. There’s nothing sexual about the contact, but it makes me wetter than I want to admit. I shouldn’t be thinking about sex right now; not after what I’ve done.

I am a monster. I get off on killing sick and twisted men, then get turned on by watching their relatives pick up the pieces. I’m suddenly disgusted with myself. What kind of person does this to people they claim to love? I don’t deserve to be here; I deserve to be locked up, or worse.

Luke and Will stare at me, and I wonder what kind of face I’m making. I relax my muscles, letting my expression go. “I’m so sorry. This sucks so bad. Both of you losing your dads like this. I wish I could fix it for you.”