Red Light Specialists

by Mandy M. Roth

  Trinity tried to stand again and failed. “But…why…?”

  “Agent girl, they’ll take anyone into that program, won’t they? Good gods, the King of Vedieone offered one of his many sons to you and you rejected him. That, my dear, is the ultimate insult. The second the head sorcerer reported that you would end up here, marry Waylon and carry his child, the king’s fury bordered on out of control. That’s when he called me in. I get to kill your husband and drag your ass back to marry the son of your choice. Though, if you are with child, I’m guessing they’ll take care of that. Wouldn’t want to spoil the royal bloodline or anything.”

  “Get away from her!” Waylon shouted.

  “No!” Trinity didn’t want his help. The woman had already said she’d been ordered to execute him. Scared for Waylon’s life, Trinity mustered all her strength and swept the woman’s legs out from under her. Her weapon discharged and hit Trinity in the leg. Instantly, the effects of the poisonous phaser riddled through her system. Waylon cried out and the next thing she knew, he had her wrapped in his arms.

  “I don’t think so,” Rupert yelled from across the room.

  There was a bright flash of white-blue light and the assassin screamed out. Waylon looked down into her eyes and hugged her close to him. “I’m so sorry, honey. I was afraid of what I felt for you. I didn’t know love when it damn near slit my throat with its pumps. Please forgive me.”

  Trinity forced a smile and stroked Waylon’s cheek lightly. Seeing his face, she couldn’t help but say, “I love you, Waylon.”

  Waylon’s face scrunched up as if in pain. “I love you too, baby.”

  Rupert appeared next to her and grabbed hold of the sides of her head. Waylon nodded. A second before the darkness swallowed her, she thought she heard Simon’s voice.

  “Allow me to assist.”

  Waylon turned and found Simon Thornton standing in the entrance way with a tall blond man. He glanced at Rupert for his opinion but Rupert was heavy into the healing process with Trinity.

  Simon’s gaze darted to the floor to the assassin. “Ah, I take it you are Callida, universal gun for hire.”

  “How do you know who I am?” Callida’s round eyes glanced over them all like they were crazy.

  “Easy, Prince Makken from Vedieone arrived on Restigatio and informed me of his father’s plan.” Simon touched the man’s shoulder next to him. “He was strongly opposed to his father’s idea and immediately sought to warn Trinity. She of course was already here. It is bad enough that her own uncle turned against her but to have another blood relative do the same is unimaginable. Trinity has only been guilty of loving others too much and fighting to protect herself. That in no way makes her deserve this.”

  “Trinity?” the woman asked in disbelief. “Oh gods, she looked so familiar to me. No. It can’t be her. That’s impossible. The odds are…she can’t be. No, not my Trinity.”

  Waylon glared down at her. “She’s not your anything and mark my words, after Rupert heals her, I’m going to kill you.”

  Callida’s eyes filled with tears as she stared past him to Trinity. “I didn’t know. I haven’t seen her in almost twenty years.”

  “Let this be a lesson, Callida,” Simon murmured softly, “to learn more about your targets than their job title. Had you bothered to learn her name, you may have thought twice about poisoning your own sister. A sister who killed your uncle to avoid being given to his armies for their sexual satisfaction, a woman who spent years in a hard prison facility, fighting to stay alive in all the madness until I found her. A sister who was sent on this assignment to meet her husband, her mate, and to be reunited with her long-lost family. And a woman that I care deeply about. I will even venture far enough to say that I love her. She is my friend and I do not take kindly to her being harmed in any way.”

  The room was quiet as Rupert continued to work on Trinity.

  Chapter Eight

  “Simon, are you sure that our Trinity will be fine?” Abbi asked as he walked past her viewing screen.

  Simon glanced over to Rupert and bit back a smile as he saw the stunned look on the man’s face. “She looks identical to…”

  “Yes, I know. It’s my way of honoring her. Even in death, she’s remembered.”

  Abbi tipped her head to the side, sending long black waves of hair over her shoulder. “Rupert’s DNA is closely related to yours, as is Waylon’s. Why is this?”

  “They are like me, Abbi, and now they are part of the mission. You may speak freely in front of either of them. Rupert will be staying with us to aid with the program and Waylon and Trinity are moving to the first of the outside settlements on the planet here to live and await the birth of their first child. Her sister will remain in solitary confinement until I deem it appropriate to begin her RLS training. Trinity wishes no harm to come to her, nor do I. Callida is punishing herself enough for a hundred men.”

  “So Trinity will be close enough to visit?”

  “Not only that, Abbi. She and Waylon have agreed to help with the RLS program as well. So she will be with us often, as a member of the team, not a prisoner so you may speak freely in front of her as well.”

  “My sensors are most pleased.”

  “Sensors are pleased?” Rupert asked, laughing slightly.

  Simon shot his longtime friend a look and he stopped laughing.

  “Simon,” Abbi said. “Agent Roberta is awaiting entrance.”

  “Send her in.”

  Simon watched as Bobbie entered. Today’s drab clothing was a large gray T-shirt and sweatpants. Her cap covered her eyes and her posture was anything but ladylike.

  “You wanted to see me, sir?” Bobbie didn’t bother to look around.

  “It’s Simon, Bobbie.” Simon sighed. “We’ve been over this before.”

  Rupert coughed, choking back another laugh. “Umm, Simon, you told me that this place was full of women. Are you sure you didn’t make some sort of mistake?”

  Simon bit his lip as Bobbie lifted her cap, revealing her emerald green eyes, and glared at Rupert. “Funny, as far as I knew this place was an asshole-free zone. Guess I was wrong.”

  Glancing at Rupert, Simon nearly fell over laughing when he found his friend’s mouth hanging open. It looked like he was shocked by Bobbie’s words, but Simon knew better.

  “Yes, Bobbie, I wanted to inform you that you’ll be aiding Rupert with self-defense and weapons training from here on out. Since Trinity is now expecting and has already had undo stress put on her and the child, I do not think it’s wise for her to continue on in that manner. Besides, her services are needed behind the scenes.”

  Bobbie’s eyes widened. “You can’t seriously expect a pretty boy like Mr. Saturday Night over there to know how to fight.” Bobbie glanced at the viewing screen and smiled. “I’m diggin’ those late-night lessons, Abbi.”

  “As am I, Roberta.”

  Rupert closed the distance between them fast and it was all Simon could do just to keep a straight face. “I’ll have you know, Ms. Tomboy, I am skilled enough when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, though if you asked Waylon he’d disagree. And I am an expert on weapons and technology. Though, by the looks of your outfit, you don’t really care to be with the times.”

  Bobbie spun around fast, tossed her leg in the air and kicked Rupert square in the chest. He staggered backward and almost fell onto the floor. Bobbie stared at Simon. “I’ll report to the holding cell and inform them I’ll be staying awhile this time. Teaching that arrogant snob a lesson was worth it though.”

  Simon hid his smile under his hand until it passed. “No, Bobbie, I’ll let this one slide. Please go and find Gillian. Britney tells me that she ran out during the “how to properly use a dildo” lesson again today and has not been seen since.”

  “No surprise there,” Bobbie bit out, spinning on her heels and leaving the room.

  “Sorry about Bobbie, Rupert, but she’s a stubborn one.”

  “Yeah, I noticed. Is she always that hi
gh-strung?” Rupert rubbed his chest where he was kicked, staring at the door.

  Simon smiled. He knew Rupert wasn’t really hurt. Bobbie could’ve kicked him a lot harder if she wanted to. Rupert, being what he was, could’ve taken it. No, the look on Rupert’s face was more shock that she actually did kick him more than anything. “You know what they say—Amour ōdit inertēs.”

  “What the hell does cupid hating the lazy have to do with this?” Rupert finally pried his eyes away from the door and frowned.

  Simon tipped his head and looked away. “You’ll see soon enough, old friend. Now, what do you say we go talk to Prince Makken before he departs? After, you can tour the RLS facility. Hmm, maybe Bobbie could show you around.”

  Tossing his hands in the air, Rupert stalked out of the door mumbling about how he only signed up because he was promised beautiful women agents but was only finding rude ones. Simon turned and looked at Abbi. Even she looked amused.

  “We did good, Abbi. All three agents found their mates and all three are with child.”

  “It’s begun.”

  “Yes, it has begun.”

  “Simon?”

  “Yes, Abbi, what is it?”

  Abbi worried her lip. “Since Trinity’s husband is immortal, what will happen to them since she’s mortal?”

  Simon shook his head slightly. Abbi really was getting more and more perceptive and even more curious. He wasn’t sure if it was a bad thing or not. Regardless, he wouldn’t change it.

  “She’s not mortal anymore, Abbi. When they mated, Waylon gave part of himself to her and now she and her baby will be like the rest of us. In fact all of the women will become like their husbands in time. It’s a natural side-effect of the mating process.”

  “That is just so romantic.” Abbi grinned, dabbing at her teary eyes. “I want to have a baby too, Simon.”

  Simon cleared his throat and ignored Abbi’s declaration. “Prepare the A-mac for additional agent transfers. I don’t think we should wait any longer than we need to.”

  “Yes, Simon. I will begin preparations immediately. Who will we be sending out?”

  Simon smiled. “Gillian, Dahlia and Bobbie.”

  “Simon, I thought that Bobbie’s mate was…”

  He put his hand up, silencing Abbi. “Just do as I ask please.”

  “Yes, Simon.”

  The End

  Readers, we hope you enjoyed this short free story. Please consider leaving a review and be sure to check out our other titles at www.mandyroth.com and www.michellepillow.com

  About the Author, Mandy M. Roth

  Mandy M. Roth grew up fascinated by creatures that go bump in the night. From the very beginning, she showed signs of creativity—writing, painting, telling scary stories that left her little brother afraid to come out from under his bed. Combining her creativity with her passion for the paranormal has left her banging on the keyboard into the wee hours of the night.

  She’s a self-proclaimed Goonie, loves 80s music and movies and wishes leg warmers would come back into fashion. She also thinks the movie The Breakfast Club should be mandatory viewing for...okay, everyone. When she's not dancing around her office to the sounds of the 80s or writing books, she can be found designing book covers for New York publishers, small presses, and indie authors.

  Mandy writes for The Raven Books, Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Harlequin Spice, Pocket Books and Random House/Virgin/Black Lace. Mandy also writes under the pen names Reagan Hawk, Mandy Balde, Rory Michaels and Kennedy Kovit.

  To learn more about Mandy, please visit http://www.mandyroth.com or send an email to mandy@mandyroth.com.

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  About the Author, Michelle M. Pillow

  Michelle M. Pillow, Author of All Things Romance™, is a multi-published, award winning author writing in many romance fiction genres including futuristic, paranormal, historical, contemporary, fantasy and dark paranormal. Ever since she can remember, Michelle has had a strange fascination with anything supernatural and sci-fi. After discovering historical romance novels, it was only natural that the supernatural and love/romance elements should someday meet in her wonderland of a brain. She's glad they did for their children have been pouring onto the computer screen ever since.

  Michelle loves to travel and try new things, whether it's a paranormal investigation of an old Vaudeville Theatre or climbing Mayan temples in Belize. She's addicted to movies and used to drive her mother crazy while quoting random scenes with her brother. Though it has yet to happen, her dream is to be in a horror movie as 1. A zombie or 2. The expendable screaming chick who gets it in the beginning credits. But for the most part she can be found writing in her office with a cup of coffee in pajama pants.

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