Page 12 of The Echo of Forever

Luckily for him, today wasn’t the day I ended his life.

This encounter had been the last thing I thought would happen, though, but I was having fun and my head didn’t hurt as bad as before.

“Semantics.”

“What’s your name?”

His question threw me, but I played it cool and pushed off the hood, not responding until I had the open driver’s door in my hand.

“Now why would I tell you that?”

“If I gotta die by your hand, don’t you think I should know your name?”

I laughed.

“Nah. I do think you should be thankful it’s me who took this job. I’ve always liked to play with my food first. You’ve got plenty of time to say your proper goodbyes, Demetrius.”

Before I could dip into the car, he spoke, and it stopped me in my tracks.

“Echo. I’m Echo to you now.”

Something about the way he said it had me walking toward him. We were face to chest now, our shoes touching at the tips .

“What game are we about to play?”I asked, looking up.

He leaned forward, and I caught a whiff of fucking vanilla, just like in his office.

“The one where I convince you to join my side instead ofattemptingto take my life. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

I smiled.

“But you would if it came down to it.”

He didn’t reply, but it hadn’t been a question anyway.

“Think about it. We live good over here.”

Mmm.

“Where’s the logic in giving upgreatforgood?”

There was none, and he’d never be able to convince me otherwise. I backed away and slid into the car, driving it straight to the junk yard.

CHAPTER 4

ECHO

“I’m yours for the night,”the woman kneeling to the left of me said, reminding me she was there. “How may I service you?”

I kept my gaze forward, counting the number of private boxes occupied for today’s live auction.

We were in a mid-sized box at the Grand Palace Opera House. The auditorium seats below were empty, but not so much for the four levels of loges in the shape of a horseshoe.

Oliver and Solei occupied spaces to my left and right; we never sat together but were always close enough to get to one another if shit got a little crazy.

I pulled the silk hood covering my face down a little more before responding.

“Is kneeling what they teach you to do?” I asked, deepening my voice to mask it.