Jenna

JENNA

“ A re you ready?” Azul calls out for the fourth or fifth time.

“Looking this good takes patience,” I reply from the bedroom door.

I have plenty of clothing to choose from, but I decided the black column dress with the split to my thigh is the most suitable. Elegant and yet something I can run in.

Hopefully Azul’s plan is foolproof and running won’t be required. He seems to understand the criminal mindset, and I like to think I do to, even if most of my dealings have been with human criminals.

And humans in general.

Azul’s jaw is slack as he takes in my outfit. My left breast tingles where he bit me. Subconsciously, he palms the darkened area in his scales.

“You’re going to have to play it cooler than that, my prince.” I sashay over to him, putting my hand over his, feeling the bulge in his skin. “If you want to impress your mark.”

Azul finally blinks, as if blinking is not something he usually does.

“Mark?” he rasps.

“Rossz.” I elbow him in his abs and wish I hadn’t. Azul is hard .

“I have this for you.” He hands me over a small, slim pulsar pistol. “I’m not sure where you’re going to put it…”

“You leave those thoughts to me,” I reply, tucking the thing down into the corset which serves as a bra and a handy gun holder.

I think Azul’s eyes are about to pop out of his head.

“Shall we go?” I suggest.

He jumps as if I’ve shot him and then recovers his composure. I know he’s used to working on his own, so I’ll forgive his distraction. I can only hope he is able to focus once we’re close to the mark.

The ground transport takes us swiftly through the resort to a villa even larger than ours. I’ve seen what a prince can buy, but it seems a narcotics peddler can afford even better.

“You’re going to have to improve your game in the upgrade stakes,” I murmur to Azul as we disembark. “I’d have thought a prince would have gotten this sort of accommodation as standard.”

He growls under his breath something about jumped up little Helytelen, and I hide a snort of amusement. It’s fun to get under his skin.

The door is opened for us, and I’m hit with a wall of scent which is almost overwhelming. For a second, I stagger slightly, gripping Azul for support. He glances at me while trying to maintain an air of aloofness.

“It’s my venom,” he murmurs. “Your senses are enhancing. Just breathe and it’ll be fine.”

I had, up until this very second, been dismissing his earlier suggestion that the claiming bite, the one livid on my skin under this dress, would give me some of his attributes through his venom. But the way my sense of smell has gone haywire, maybe there’s something in it after all.

“Prince Azul, princess , please follow me.” A greetings bot slides in front of us. A serving bot glides up with two drinks.

Azul takes one, hands it to me, and then follows the greetings bot into the vast open living space, twice the size of ours.

“Don’t drink it,” he says, dipping his head so he can’t be overheard. “It’s likely to have ingredients designed to reduce our cognition.”

“It’s spiked?!” I hiss back.

But Azul is already straightening up again and scanning the room so he doesn’t respond. I pretend to take a sip of the amber liquid in my glass. The scent of alcohol and something else is almost overpowering, and it’s all I can do not to wrinkle my nose and toss the glass away.

Predictably, Rossz is sat in an enclave of fawning fans. He motions at the bot, who creates a path through the crowd (so much for a “small private party”) to allow us to join his band of devotees.

“Prince Azul.” Rossz tips his head as Azul approaches. His eyes rake over me. “Princess , I’m honored you joined me.” He waves his hands at the two pink-furred females who give us both interested looks but move quickly to make space.

“Your invitation came at the right time,” Azul says, coiling himself into a comfortable position and downing the drink he told me not to touch. “We were beginning to get bored.” He stifles a yawn.

Not for the first time, I’m impressed at Azul’s ability to make himself look, not like a warrior, but like a pathetic playboy. It’s as if he’s had a study for such a thing. But to see my powerful, clever Azul this way, I can only think he has.

I pretend to sip my drink again as well as taking hold of the huge jewel around my neck. I look off into the crowd and feign disinterest.

“My mate likes excitement,” Azul says in a loud whisper to Rossz, as if he’s trying to be heard over the noise in the room. “And I am struggling to provide it.” He sighs.

“Which is a shame, given how much is available here on Luxus,” the narcotics boss says, handing Azul another drink. “Perhaps you should just forget about excitement and relax.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him raise a finger, and the two females make a move towards me. To his credit, Azul doesn’t flicker as they surround me, praising my outfit and hair style.

“Would you like to come outside? We’ve set up a shooting gallery,” one of them says.

“A shooting gallery?”

“With live prey,” the second female adds, her lips lifting to show sharp white fangs.

This is no mere fluffy female—neither of them are. They are one hundred percent the assassins Azul said they were, even as they simper at me.

“So, how about it, princess ?” the second one, a darker shade of pink, asks.

I spot a set of claws, briefly visible, as she looks me up and down.

I want to look over at Azul, but I daren’t.

I’m a princess and I have to behave like one. I have to let him do his job too.

“I suppose.” I sigh. “Maybe it’ll be a distraction for a few minutes.”