Lilly's Torment [Beyond the Veil 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  “The bitch took my chocolate. No one touches my chocolate without losing a hand or getting a smack upside the head.”

  “God help the people of New York,” he muttered and passed her a card. “Here is a lovely chocolate shop. I suggest that you go there anytime you get some urges to hunt and kill. Get your chocolate fix and try to be good,” he said and then added, “Director Viator was a close friend of mine. He thought the world of you. He believed in you and that’s why you are getting the promotion as young as you are. Don’t fuck it up.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t,” Lilly said seriously. “Thank you. For giving me the chance.” She might be a kidder of epic proportions, but she was very, very good at her job and when needed, could be serious. “I will leave the keys to my place on your desk. Just text me and let me know when my stuff will be in NYC?”

  “You got it,” he said with a smile and walked out the door, whistling as he walked away.

  Lilly watched him and shook her head. Closing the door, she grinned. “Damn, looks like I’m moving.” She had lived in DC all her life. She didn’t have family but she had friends, hella good friends, too, but this was a career move of a lifetime, one that she would be a fool to turn down. You weren’t just asked to join the AEDA, it was an honor, and one she was totally stoked about, too.

  Heading up to her room, she packed a couple bags of clothes, tossed them into the trunk of her Porsche, and headed out, stopping by HQ to drop her keys and alarm codes for her home and trusting that it would be packed and moved quickly. Humming to herself, she drove out of town after seeing a few friends, and toward her new life.

  * * * *

  January 2, 2035

  “I will take it,” Lilly told the realtor with a grin. “It’s perfect,” she said as she looked out the large floor-to-ceiling glass walls and nodded. “Can we go to your office and do the paperwork?”

  “Of course.” The woman was taken aback. She hadn’t thought for a moment that this property would move, but here this woman stood, ready to take it. “There was a murder here, I have to tell you that.”

  Lilly shrugged. “It’s not the dead that I’m worried about,” she admitted. “I will still take it, and for the price, you can’t beat it with a stick.”

  “True.” The price had been dropped significantly because of the double homicide in the home, and the bank was just ready to move the property. “All right, we will go to the office and we can draw the paperwork up. There has been regular maintenance on the property, but we can still have an inspection.”

  “That would be nice,” she said and smiled. “Let’s do this. I need to report to work today. Maybe.” She shrugged. “I should. I mean, I’m due in today to meet with my contact there and all.”

  Grinning, the realtor shook her head. “That’s right, you are the new AEDA agent, aren’t you?”

  “Yep, I’m the new toymaker.” Today Lilly’s eyes were blue, due to her colored contacts, and they sparkled with amusement. “I can’t wait to get in there and see what I have to work with.”

  “Well, I’m sure that you will find a great deal,” the woman said with a nod. “All right, let’s get you all taken care of, and while the paperwork is processing you can head into work.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said with a grin. “I will follow you.” She looked out the windows once more and sighed. She felt as if she was finally home. This place was, well, perfect, and fit her to a tee.

  * * * *

  January 2, 2035 - later in the day

  Opening the door to the AEDA office, Lilly had a myriad of emotions running through her. She was nervous, excited, and worried. Worried that this would be some kind of crazy dream and she really wasn’t here, wasn’t in this new place and new job. First-day jitters, she tried to tell herself.

  Walking up to the security desk, she grinned. “Hi. Agent Lilly Webb. I’m honestly not sure who it is that I’m supposed to be meeting here? I’m the new weapons maker from DC,” she added with a smile.

  Chapter Two

  July 2015

  Gavriel looked up briefly before looking back to his friend. “You realize that if we get involved in this it will be all or nothing, right?”

  His friend gave a shrug. “Not like we have much of anything else to do. Why not get involved and show those humans, who think we should be enslaved, what we think of the idea? I mean, not all humans think that way, but those that do, that are trying to kill us, need to be shown we don’t lay down for anyone.”

  “My mother will have your head if anything happens to me,” he pointed out with a grin. Though Artaxias was as high-born as he was, his people, the Vhampire race, were mercenaries, soldiers, guns for hire, basically. Because of his own circumstances of birth, Artaxias was highly in demand. While older than Gavriel by more than a few years, he was Gavriel’s best friend. Not just his bodyguard.

  “She says she’ll have my head over anything I let you do. Even eating something from the marketplace is nearly a guarantee for my head to be on a platter. She can just suck it up and realize her son is like the man who gave him life. If she doesn’t like it, then she may actually give in to that threat of hers and disown you.”

  “You do like giving her reasons to threaten you, don’t you?” Gavriel asked softly with a grin.

  “Well she doesn’t exactly need reasons to threaten me. But they get old and boring, so I give her new reasons. Life is too boring otherwise,” Artaxias pointed out.

  Gavriel rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face. “Quit harassing her. It’s going to be hard enough to tell her I’m going to help in this fight without you poking at her.”

  “I don’t poke. She pokes, stabs, and tries to gut me every chance. I just poke back as a survival strategy,” he said with a lazy shrug.

  “Well, let’s go and poke the woman with this news.”

  * * * *

  November 2029

  The war was over, and now the humans had to rebuild. Those past the former Veil hadn’t been hit nearly as hard, though the humans had tried. They’d held the lines and pushed the humans back. Many human cities would never be what they once were. Not a bad thing, really. The past was dead and over, and a future had to be found for all.

  There were many humans, the instigators, who were arrested, detained, and put into a specially designed prison. They were treated with more respect than any prisoner from the races had ever been. They were fed, kept healthy, and eventually stood trial for their acts against the races.

  Over time they were forgotten, dismissed by their fellow humans. But they were never released. Not just because of what they’d started, but because of what they represented. The humans didn’t want to be reminded of what their people could do when faced with the unknown. They’d called themselves enlightened, beyond pettiness, and yet in one grand showing, they’d proven how wrong they were.

  Then the changes began. The races stepped up and told the human race, as a whole, how things would be from there out. A new agency, the AEDA or the Alien Earth Defence Alliance, was created. A place that would police the worlds as a whole, both the humans and the races.

  A new central government was raised, one that had say worldwide. Representatives from each country, state, and province had a place, a say. But the laws that came into place, overriding everything previously, were from the races. They were sacred and unchallenged. The humans knew who was the greater power in the world, and it wasn’t them.

  * * * *

  December 2034

  “We’ve found a replacement for Don Gaber,” the captain told them. “But I’m going to need you to work with her and get her up to speed, Gavriel.”

  “Her?” He sat forward. “It’s a woman?”

  “That a problem, Agent?”

  “Uh, no.” He looked to Artaxias. “I’ve got no problem with a woman taking the spot. Just curious how we got lucky enough to get her.”

  “She was FBI and was injured on the job. She was taking a leave to finish her recovery
before her director died. The new director and I know one another, we got to talking and one thing led to another. She’s a fully trained field agent, but she’s got a sharp mind and knows her way around weapons of all sorts. So she’s ours. Took me a while, but I got her on our team. She’s going to be here in the first week of January. I’d prefer she was strictly in the armory, but she’s also a viable agent. That’s why I’m assigning her to you two.”

  “Just to clarify, is she allowed out of the armory if it’s needed?” Gavriel asked knowing his friend was thinking the same thing.

  “She is. She’s licensed and has more black belts than I even want to think about. She can hold her own, not against most of the races, but humans for sure. Though, I wouldn’t discount her around the races. She could likely do a lot of damage. She’s well versed in the races, as it was part of the FBI and other agencies’ courses when we all linked up. She likely knows just where to hit to hurt and give her the time to get away or end things.”

  “Good to know,” Gavriel muttered. Sighing, he stood up and took the file the captain handed them.

  “She’s one of the golden children among the agencies,” the captain warned them. “I’m not suggesting you tiptoe around her. Hell, she likely won’t with you. But go easy until you all figure one another out. After that just make sure I don’t hear of anything and we’ll all be good.”

  “Understood, Cap,” Gavriel said, lifting the file in a slight salute. They walked out of the man’s office and headed for their own. Once behind closed doors, he turned to look at his friend. “Well, what are your thoughts?”

  “We need to know more about her before she arrives,” Artaxias said as he sat in his chair.

  “So we pull her records, dig in her past. and find out just who Agent Webb is in the human world.” Gavriel shrugged.

  “Seems coincidental, though.”

  “How’s that. Ax?” He glanced up from the file he’d just opened.

  “She’s our mate. Rather coincidental that she’s now being assigned to our tender care.”

  Gavriel blinked and looked at her name, “Son of a bitch. How the hell did you see that?” he asked, glaring at the man reclining opposite him.

  “Better eyesight has its benefits.” The Vhampire grinned slowly, letting his longer-than-normal incisors flash slightly.

  “Asshole.” Gavriel shook his head as Artaxias, or “Ax” as he called him, chuckled deeply.

  Chapter Three

  “That would be me, Agent Webb,” a deep voice said from behind her. As she turned, the large male bowed his head slightly. “My name is Artaxias,” he said. She noted that when he spoke, it was in a very careful manner. “If you’ll follow me, Agent, we’ll get you situated in the office and then show you where the toys are at.”

  “Wow.” Lilly looked up, and up some more. “I think that I’m going to call you Ax instead. Do you mind?” She gave him her hand and smiled. “I’m Lilly Webb, the new pain in your ass.” She was nothing if not sometimes slightly joyful, even if it was only hiding the insecurities that she held so close to her at all times. “I think that it’s going to be something else, getting used to you guys being as massive as you are. Don’t worry though, I promise that I really can carry my own weight.”

  Taking her hand, he bowed over it slowly. “I’m very sure you can do anything you put your mind to, Agent Webb. And you may refer to me in whatever manner you wish as long as it’s nothing derogatory.” Straightening, he reached beyond her and, drawing his arm back, handed her an ID card. “Wear this at all times in the building, it has to be showing somewhere on your body. Unless you’re in uniform and then it’s not necessary. Now, we should get upstairs and introduce you to the other person in this partnership. Shall we?” He waved a hand toward the bank of elevators she noticed only after the gesture.

  “I think we shall. Quick question, though.” Lilly looked up at him and bit her lower lip. “Is he as large as you are? If so, I think that I totally need to have a step stool to bring with me because otherwise I will never be able to look you in the eyes and that just won’t work for me, at all. I want to be able to look you in the eye so that I can measure just what you are telling me and see if I trust you or not,” she teased, her grin showing that she was doing just that, teasing.

  “He’s a little shorter than I am, a couple inches by your measurement system. I’m sure there is a step stool in the armory you could use,” he told her. Stepping into the elevator, he punched the floor button and then looked at her. “We don’t lie. That’s a penchant humans seem to fall back on. Those of us from the realms never saw the need to do so. While the truth may hurt and be unwanted, we always give it, as it’s easier to deal with truth than unraveling lies.”

  “Good. That is exactly what I want. I want and I need the full truth all the time.” Lilly fell silent once more. She leaned against the elevator wall and chewed her lower lip. She wondered just what he would think if she told him that she had been dreaming of him for the last ten years, give or take. It might not be a very good thing, especially if she told him that there was always another man in the dreams as well.

  When the elevator stopped he led her out into a reception area and then beyond. They moved through some desks toward an office. He pushed the door open and stood aside to let her in, “This is where we are when we need to do paperwork or make calls. This”—he indicated the other male standing up—“is Gavriel. Gav, this is Lilly Webb, our new armorer.”

  “Agent Webb, pleasure to meet you.” He nodded to her before looking to Artaxias. “You taken her down yet?” he asked.

  “No, figured we’d grab you so you could give her the tour.”

  “Fair enough.” Gavriel’s odd white eyes with the violet ring and stripes returned to meet hers. “Are you all right, Agent Webb?” he asked with a frown.

  “I just think that I’m going to totally need a massage after meeting you boys,” she said with a giggle. “You guys are like whoa huge. Super tall and I’m a short shit, so yeah.” She shook her head and giggled. “It’s okay though, I’m up for the challenge of getting used to how big you guys are, just don’t be upset with me if I grab one of you and force you down to my level so that I can talk to you and see your eyes and all that fun stuff.”

  “Uh, right.” He nodded slowly as if he understood, yet the look in his eyes said otherwise. “Well, let’s take you down to the armory. It will be where you’ll be working, primarily. I should apologize now, the last person we had in doing weapons was a male. While we’ve attempted to remove all evidence of his presence, you may end up finding some of his more-than-a-little-degrading views upon women.”

  “It’s all good. I promise. I know how to shove crap out of the way so that I can make room for what I want and what I need. Don’t worry, in a week or so it will be just exactly as I need it. I’m good like that.” She rubbed her hands and grinned. “And I can’t wait to get started making things. I have an idea for a new weapon, it fires frozen silver nitrate. Do you think that they would have a fit if I ordered large quantities of it, and liquid nitrogen?”

  “Depends on what your budget will allow you to purchase. You only have what remains of this fiscal year from your predecessor. The budget then rolls over on the first of April and you’ll have a full year to play with it,” Gavriel told her, hitting the elevator button and then swiping his key card. “Access to the armory is restricted to a very few people. Security is permitted up in cases of emergency, as are the fire and emergency departments. Other than that, you, me and Artaxias are three of the fourteen permitted on the floor with unrestricted access.”

  “Well, crap on a cracker,” she muttered. “About the budget, not about who can come up here. It’s good that there aren’t many allowed on this floor because I’m afraid if too many people came up here I would have to shoot someone. Especially if they took my cookies. Be warned, I like my cookies.” As one could tell. While Lilly was short, she was also very curvy, to the nth degree.

  “We
ll, you’re running the floor, so you get to set the rules,” Artaxias commented as they stepped out. Moving to the doors, he slid his card through the reader and then put his thumb on the scanner. The doors unlocked and he hauled one open. “Just be warned that the fire suppression system on this floor is set to twitchy. Thinking hot thoughts will likely set it off,” he commented, shooting her a look.

  “Well hell, you better get out your umbrella then, ’cause I’m totally thinking them now,” Lilly blurted before she could stop herself. “Shit, you so didn’t hear that. Promise me that you didn’t.” She was flame red, her skin matching her lipstick color nicely.

  “We both did.” Gavriel snickered. “And you really should watch that shit, too. Artaxias actually can read minds. Likely why he gave you the warning he did. He was picking up on your thoughts. Something else you need to think on.”

  “I can push into a mind, but it’s invasive, so normally all I catch are thoughts pushed out from those without filters.” Artaxias looked at her, “And you are pushing out a lot of thoughts. The one with the blindfold you were having in the lobby was interesting.”

  “Blindfold?” Gav shot him and then her a look. “Who had on a blindfold?” he asked, his lips curled way, way up in a shit-eating grin of epic proportions.

  She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “So not having this conversation,” she grumbled. “Dear god, are you for freaking real?” She began to rock back and forth on her heels and shook her head. “That was a low blow and I can’t help it. You would be freaking awesome in nothing but a blindfold, you know that right?” She shook her head and held up her hand. “Please, no more. Killing me here,” she teased him with a grin.