The waistcoat dug against her skin. She clicked her tongue, picking at the tight collar squeezing the breath out of her throat. Damn Laien and them thinking this was a proper way of greeting her former boss.

Her blue and purple hair looked out of place in this golden hall filled with black. Mika, dressed in a tight vest underneath the snug black coat, looked as if he owned the place. She wouldn't put it past him to attempt to figure out how to swipe the building under their noses. Let him try. Stormack Enterprises wasn't established yesterday, just like the ZENITH and whoever its owner was.

That's why they're here.

"I still don't see the reason why you have to be here," she glanced at the crew's leader who had gelled most of his hair away from his forehead. If she's attracted to men, she would have fallen for him in an instant. But as it was, she only saw him as a puny friend she could pulverize when given the blade Stormack Enterprises fancied. "I can handle this on my own."

Mika bobbed his head at a couple of burly guards hiding behind the mystery and ferocity afforded to them by those UV shades. "I had to see Stormack for myself," he answered in a tone so quiet he could have been talking from thin air like a god. "Who knows when would The Conquest turn her eyes in this direction?"

The Conquest. Using Ida Widdman's less well-known moniker outside her cadres was a smart move. But it also put them into danger, since now the walls realized they're here not of their accord, but representing someone else's.

"If you insist on being a nuisance, the least you can do is to keep quiet," Camreen said after they took the familiar corridors leading to their target's office. The amount of guards dressed in black suits increased with each step. "I'll do the talking. Don't you dare open your mouth to spout nonsense. Verne Stormack isn't someone you can fool around with."

Of course, Mika was no stranger to egotistic men with way too many ideals compensating for something they never had as a child. After all, he was one.

She didn't wait for Mika to acknowledge her conditions. The corridor stopped in front of two ornate doors, flanked by two more guards. If they have to fight their way out, they wouldn't be able to get back to HQ in one piece. Well, she might live, but she's prepared to leave Mika's ass if he dared get shot down. He also knew that, judging from the frantic glances he kept throwing at the walls, the guards, their weapons, and the twists and turns she took him into. He's looking for his own escape route. Cute.

The guards snapped into attention at the sight of her. Despite all the attempts she made to make sure she never was the same woman who Stormack played with, just by adding the golden brooch to the vest, they recognized her all the same.

The Scarlet Shadow. Stormack's ruthless assassin and most successful spy.

She gritted her teeth, watching with narrowed eyes as the guards pushed the doors inside, revealing the familiar desk. The smell of freshly-burned incense and stale coffee hit her senses at full blast. From the way Mika's nose scrunched, he didn't find it appealing either. Together, they strode inside, gazes resting on the man seated behind the ornate desk.

"My darling, how time passes," Verne Stormack said, resting his chin on twined fingers. His elbows dug against the desk's surface. His dark green eyes flashed with malice as they roamed from Camreen's head to the tips of her boots. "What did I tell you? One of these days you'll come crawling back to me, and as always, I will help you."

Cam forced herself to breathe fine. In and out. Her fists relaxed from their balled state by her sides. This was simply one of their sweet correspondences. She needed to play his game to get what she wanted before, she'd do it again now.

"For a price, yes," she answered. From her periphery, she watched Mika edge closer to the shelves lining Stormack's office. She didn't take him for a reader—the both of them, in fact. "I know how well you work, Stormack."

A look of mock hurt flashed across Stormack's face. "No more 'my Verny'?" he massaged a spot on his chest, loosening his tie in the process. "What the dickins did you do to your hair too. I loved it raw and...well, fragrant."

Memories of those nights when he'd demand she wear the skimpiest outfits according to his whims and tastes crawled from the back of her mind. Despite the frigid blast of the conditioning units tucked between the walls and the ceiling, the trails left by groping hands burned all over her skin. She wanted to scratch them off, to drown them in scalding or an ice-cold bath—anything to get those horrifying images out of her mind.

The woman she saw in her mind—the one getting pushed against the same desk Stormack cowered behind now, the one whose body laid on his bed for his perusal, the one who spilled blood of his enemies and those who got in the way of his goals—couldn't be her. Not anymore. She made sure of that.

So why did she feel she was slowly becoming that woman again, that...whore again?

"I came here for one thing," Camreen said, knowing he read the missive he sent through secure lines as soon as he saw her sigil—the one only she could use without repercussions. "It's best if you deliver. You still owe me."

Said debt was incurred when Stormack broke an oath he shouldn't have. He shouldn't have touched her sister. And now, Camreen stood without family before the man who ordered Dara's death with the woman who killed her own sister.

But Stormack was a man of his word—he would never go back on his promises, especially to the one whom he cherished greatly. He stood to lose his plaything, and Camreen had to play her last card—her sister's life in exchange for hers. With him breaking his oath, he would have to let her go and cut all ties with her. Camreen achieved freedom with her sister's blood to pay for it.

It's a two-way deal, but what of Stormack's debt?

In exchange for letting him run free as he did until now, Camreen coerced him into holding onto a promise where he would fulfill whatever she would ask of him next. When they ran into a roadblock with their plan because of their need of gadgets to get them past the ZENITH's defenses, Camreen couldn't have thought of a better time than to play this card.

Stormack bobbed his head, his blond hair flopping against his wide forehead. "I promised you I'd give you whatever you want when we next see each other," he jerked his chin at the nearest guard. She didn't even notice him standing in the shadows. Even Mika gave a small yelp when a bald guy with the characteristic shades slammed a briefcase between Stormack's elbows propped on the desk.

"Open it," ordered the man.

Camreen dared stepping forward and unlocking the briefcase. Stormack didn't lunge and grip her wrists. He didn't start muttering sweet words that have gone like honey down her ears before. Now? It would taste as sour as vinegar. She raised the case's lid, and the silver glare of the one-pass blinked back at her. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips, though.

Stormack chuckled and laid a hand at the top of the briefcase. With a gentle push, he drove it to shut again and showed Camreen the rest of his ravenous face. "I know what you're thinking, my dear viper," he said. "I didn't include the second thing you asked for because that has a price."

Camreen recoiled, but strong grips clamped around her wrists. This geezer never really steered away from the playbook, both in his ways in bed and in business. "If you wish to ensure your friends won't die in that cursed tower, you will agree to my terms. I think you already know what that means."

She hated it—how her heart thumped harder against her chest at the sight of him licking his lips and his grin turning more rabid, how her skin crawled and burned and screamed at this man to leave her alone. She ought to control her emotions, but in situations like this, every sliver of command she had on her body flew into oblivion. That's how Stormack got to her every time. The devil with the skin of an angel. It's the same thing, through and through.

Mika stepped towards the desk, and Camreen threw him an urgent look. Stay out of this, she wanted to say with her voice, but for some reason, she couldn't speak. She couldn't deny what Stormack was insinuating, which brought more shame into her system. After all these years, look who was still under the devil's thumb. Even if she worked for Ida now, she's still Stormack's pawn.

What kind of freedom did she afford herself? It's only baring its fangs to bite her back now.

"One last mission," Camreen answered, giving way to the itch to hold a weapon and plunge it into Stormack's neck. With her guns confiscated before entering the mansion, she was as powerful as a paper doll. "In exchange for our gear and every tool this mission will need, I will do one last mission under your name. After that, I will be clear of your stench."

"And then what? Be Ida Widdman's dog?" Stormack said.

"A dog is better than being your whore," Camreen answered. Of course, he already knew where she went and who sent her. "See to it that our requests are to be answered within the day and our traces won't be tracked back to us or our Boss. If one thread in this plan fails, I'll be coming for you. And this time, no amount of begging will save you."

If Stormack was afraid, he didn't show it. He even gave her a toothy grin. "I'm a man of my word, my Cammie," he said. "Consider it done."

Camreen closed her eyes and eyed the guard who never left the side of Stormack's desk. "First—I demand safe passage out of the estate."

"Attagirl. You have learned well," Stormack said. She hated how his praises still messed her in the head. She shouldn't be proud of being praised by a demon, but here she was, struggling with the giddy fluff rising from her stomach. "Very well. All personnel will not touch you as long as the ZENITH mission is in place. I hope you know what will happen as soon as you get your creds."

How could she forget? It was only her body.

With that, she turned on her heels and marched out of the office. The estate blurred in the veil of the tears she kept blinking away. What would her sister say about her decision? To keep sleeping with the man who killed her, did Camreen still deserve to be happy, to live as carefree as she had done for the past few years?

The park in front of the Stormack estate's gates descended on her, and she looked up from the ground to find Mika pausing his walk and looking at her with fake concern. Or maybe it was just Camreen's cynical side talking. Perhaps, the leader was really worried about her. But...why would he? All men were the same—always looking for a way to get in between a woman's legs.

"I won't pry if you won't tell me," Mika said, resuming his walk at such a slow pace they wouldn't get anywhere even if they walk for an hour. "But are you sure about that decision? That Stormack guy...he's a real piece of shit."

At that, a loud snort flitted out of her lips. Then, she was laughing, hugging herself with her arms to quell the sound and the wave of amusement bubbling in her throat. "He wasn't a piece. He's a buttload of shit," she said.

"And for the record, I don't like you that way," Mika added. "I won't turn into Stormack, so you're welcome to work with me once you're done with that prick."

See, even if Mika could be an asshole and had every tendency to turn into a tyrant, he knew how to take care of his people. "Is there a reason for that?" She inclined her head to one side. With her hair out of their usual pigtails, she felt so...not herself.

Mika rolled his shoulders. "I'm not interested in women," was all he said before stalking forward with a faster pace Camreen had to jog to catch up.

"About my decision...I won't regret it," Camreen said. It's just one job. She had stomached it for years. She could do it this one last time. Then, she'd go back on her own word and end Stormack when he least expected it. "Don't worry about me. Focus on the mission."

She didn't let Mika have the last word. She quickened her pace, running off into the setting sun.