by Kelly Goode
A sound halted his progress. He pressed his back flat against the wall at the far end of the corridor as Ember’s door opened. He expected to see her red head cross the threshold so was surprised when a male silhouette stepped out.
What the hell?
Carter remained motionless, concealed by the shadows, watching as Harvey did his best to ensure the door closed quietly behind him, which indicated he’d left Ember sleeping and didn’t want to wake her. The arrogant demon was in his underwear, and it didn’t take a genius to work out what he’d been doing.
An irrational rage swirled inside the pit of Carter’s stomach at the thought of Harvey spending the night with Ember.
His Ember.
It had taken all of his self-control to undress her earlier and put her to bed without allowing his hands to wander across her flawless, smooth skin, and now this piece of shit had done just that… and more.
Carter felt his hand automatically settle at his hip, his fingers hovering over his gun. What he wouldn’t give to shoot the scumbag right here and now, but the practical part of his brain reminded him that Harvey was an unavoidable evil and an integral component of the planned mission.
Carter took comfort in the fact that he would be dead soon anyway. If he wasn’t killed fulfilling his end of the assignment, he wouldn’t last much longer after that. Creatures like Harvey eventually got into a situation they couldn’t talk their way out of.
Carter stepped forward, childishly revelling when Harvey literally jumped from the shock of seeing him emerge from the shadows.
‘Fucking hell, Carter, what are you doing skulking around out here?’
‘I could ask you the same question. Looking for your clothes maybe?’
Harvey smirked and rubbed his chin, seemingly contemplating the question, which only made Carter’s anger spike higher.
‘I know where I left my clothes,’ he said finally and with the hint of self-satisfaction.
‘Recruits aren’t permitted outside of their rooms at night. Didn’t you read the rules?’
‘Funnily enough, no, I didn’t read the rules. What are you going to do, report me?’
‘Maybe.’
Harvey’s black eyes narrowed.
‘I don’t think so, Agent Carter because then you’d have to explain what you were doing here in the first place. Something tells me Chief Andrews didn’t sanction an after-hours visit.’
Carter clenched his jaw.
‘I came to check on Ember,’ he said.
‘She’s fine.’
Harvey pressed his hand against the panel beside his door so it would open.
‘In fact, I’d say she’s more than fine,’ he continued with that suggestive tone to his voice that made Carter want to throttle him, shoot him, and then throttle him again.
‘I think I’d like to see for myself.’
Harvey shrugged. ‘Whatever. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when she chews you out for interrupting what little sleep she’s had tonight.’
Harvey walked into his room and closed the door, leaving Carter hovering outside Ember’s room like a teenager on a first date.
Did he knock?
Didn’t he knock?
Fuck – he ran his hands over his face in frustration before turning away and heading towards the exit.
Carter wasn’t in the right frame of mind now to see Ember yet he knew he was too wound up to sleep. The thought of Sasha invading his dreams made it almost impossible to relax, so he headed towards the shooting range to work off his anger.
After an hour he began to feel better as each target he hit dead centre, he imaged it was Harvey’s chest exploding.
35
I yawned as Chief Andrews handed us each a folder and proceeded to explain the contents in extreme detail. There was something about recovering an important artefact, a stone of some kind, which in the wrong hands could spell trouble for humankind. That part sounded interesting, but the rest was swallowed up within his dull drone.
I remembered Harvey saying that the chief enjoyed the sound of his own voice, and as I caught the demon’s glance across the table, it seemed as if he was thinking the same thing. He mimed putting a noose around his neck and pulling tightly until he slumped into his chair, feigning death.
I giggled but turned it into a cough when Chief Andrew’s disapproving stare landed on me.
Harvey grinned and waggled his finger at me as if I was a naughty schoolgirl before making a show of reading through his folder like the perfect student.
I’d thought it would be awkward seeing him after what happened last night but so far, he was being cool about it.
Maybe sex without emotion was the way forward for me.
‘So in conjunction with the information in your folder, you will also be assigned your individual mission that you must not share with the team. Only you and your handler will know your objective.’
‘And why is that?’ Sasha asked, twisting her blonde hair around her finger as she flicked through the pages of the folder. Chief Andrew seemed momentarily engrossed by her movements but quickly regained his stoic stance.
I kept sneakily checking what Carter was doing, but it seemed as if he was purposely ignoring me. He hadn’t even bothered to ask how my arm was this morning or explain why he’d undressed me and put me in that ugly nightdress.
‘We keep the solo tasks a secret, Sasha, in case anybody in the team is captured. If you knew the entire plan, then you could be persuaded to give up that information.’
The way he said persuaded made me shiver. He was talking about torture.
‘So what happens if we are captured?’ I asked, already knowing the answer but needing him to say it aloud.
Chief Andrews slid his hands into the pockets of his suit trousers.
‘There will be no rescue attempt, Ember. You’re on your own.’
‘That’s hardly fair. You could at least try and help us.’
‘Fair or not, it’s in the terms of your agreement. If you’re captured or killed, you will be declared an escaped fugitive who ultimately died while evading S.P.T.F.’
‘But no one ever escapes the detainment unit,’ I replied. ‘Who would believe that?’
‘People believe whatever I tell them,’ Chief Andrews said, and the knowing look on his face didn’t alleviate the doubts I had about trusting him.
I wondered just how many deaths he’d actually covered up for the First and Only team. I opened my mouth to ask that very question, but he raised his hand to silence me.
‘No more questions,’ he said, looking at his watch. ‘I’ll leave you all to read your contracts and once they’re signed, you’ll be one step closer to freedom.’
36
‘Problem, Red?’ Harvey asked, moving from his seat across the table to the empty one beside me.
I tried my best not to react to his closeness, but it was as if my body wanted me to remember the pleasure I’d encountered beneath him a few hours ago and repeat the act.
‘I just want to make sure I’ve read the small print before signing anything,’ I said, hoping the wobble in my voice didn’t reveal how nervous I was.
‘You really don’t trust them, do you?’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t trust many people, Harvey.’
Harvey’s dark eyes connected with mine and I knew he was wondering whether he’d made it onto that very short list yet, as it was exactly what I was debating.
He’d certainly broken through some of my defences but just because I’d had sex with him, didn’t necessarily mean I trusted him.
‘After what we’ve been through physically and mentally, I wouldn’t put it past Chief Andrews to add a clause in the small print signing away our first born son,’ I said.
Harvey gasped theatrically.
‘I’d never give away little Red Jnr,’ he said, faking concern. ‘Though if last night was anything to go by, I’d certainly enjoy practicing his creation with you again.’
I laughed nervously.
‘That really does give a whole new meaning to the term demon child, don’t you think?’
Harvey shook his head.
‘I’m sure our boy would take after his mother. He’d be good-looking and fearless, but with a fiery temper. He wouldn’t let anyone boss him around. His father included.’
An image of me cuddling a little boy with familiar green eyes and thick black hair caused a part of me that I never even realised existed, to ache.
‘How do you know I don’t already have a child?’ I finally managed to say.
Harvey shrugged. ‘Because I think you would have mentioned it by now. Mother’s tend to talk about their offspring quite often.’
‘Do you have any children?’ I asked.
‘No.’
‘Do you want any?’
Harvey’s face softened for a second, before he caught himself and his expression became shuttered.
‘If we keep on with this conversation, Red, I’m going to think you’re propositioning me. Are we going back to your room or mine this time?’
I recognised a deflection when I heard one.
‘Answer the question, Harvey.’
‘Fine, I can’t have children.’
‘Why?’
‘Did you skip biology in school or have you forgotten the scientific explanation of how babies are made? You know, sperm meets egg and so on.’
‘Of course I know how babies are made.’
Though it didn’t escape my attention that we’d had sex without protection, which was irresponsible on my part.
‘Then just know that demons don’t have the ability to reproduce so you’re safe. I can’t get you pregnant.’
‘But how can you be sure?’
‘I just am.’
The finality in his tone signalled the end of that conversation so I tried a different subject.
‘How did you get that scar on your chest?’ I asked.
Harvey shook his head in disbelief. ‘Are you this nosey with all your friends?’
‘I don’t have any friends,’ I replied.
‘What, no boyfriend pining for you to come out of the detainment unit?’
He’d posed the question casually enough but the look in his eyes told me my answer would be important to him.
‘Do you really think I would have slept with you if I was already in a relationship?’
‘I honestly don’t know, Red. How can I say for sure what you would or wouldn’t do? We both had an itch that needing scratching….’
I realised he was shifting the attention away from him and back to me.
‘So let’s get back to talking about your scar. How did you get it?’
‘A story for another time.’
‘What time?’
‘A time when all this shit is over,’ he replied. ‘When we’re having coffee or dinner like normal people do. Then they’ll be plenty of time to swap stories about battle scars. What do you say?’
There was vulnerability in his dark eyes, even if he appeared nonchalant.
‘I say yes.’
Harvey smiled and I matched it. As we stared at each other, his eyes once again lifted from black to vivid blue.
‘Did you know that your eyes change colour sometimes?’
Harvey shook his head. ‘Don’t be silly, Red. They’re always the same colour.’
‘But…’
‘I need to go and sort some stuff out. Tomorrow marks the start of our redemption,’ he said, cutting me off as he signed his scrawl at the bottom of his contract. ‘Be careful.’
Harvey got up from his chair and handed his paper to his handler, Pete. Or at least I think that was what his name was.
I focused my attention on my own contract. Signing this piece of paper was the only way I was getting out of here.
I could do this.
I willed my hand to initial my name. The thought that I’d finally be able to start a campaign to free my mother was what finally got the ink flowing across the paper.
That, and the fact I was sure I’d just agreed to go on a date with a demon.
Part Three - Assignment
37
I tried to smile at the two burly bouncers who were minding the entrance, but I was so nervous that all I could manage was a grimace. Sasha had no such trouble. She bounded up the steps and pecked both of them on the cheek.
‘Hi, Ted. Hi, Fred.’
Their bald-heads reminded me of two boiled eggs, as they stood wrapped in their leather jackets, their icy breath swirling upwards into the bitterly cold night sky. They nodded and exchanged hellos before opening the door.
Sasha grabbed my hand and practically pulled me inside. The December temperatures continued to plummet and my legs felt tender inside my tight jeans.
‘Hey, Iris. This is my friend, Ember. She’s covering the bar tonight.’
The old woman sitting inside the payment booth gave me the once over. The neon sign above her head cast an eerie purple glow on her wrinkled features. It seemed as if she was waiting for me to add something to the conversation and I wracked my brain for something to say not related to the mission.
‘Have you been busy tonight?’ I finally asked.
Iris laughed, revealing a set of gleaming white dentures that did not match the age of her face.
‘As busy as a nun in a whorehouse,’ she said.
Sasha rolled her eyes at the woman’s crude words.
‘Don’t mind Iris, she says that every night, and it’s always heaving upstairs,’ she said, pressing her hand against the protective glass as she made her way past the booth.
‘The club is on the top floor,’ Sasha whispered to me as we stepped inside a huge glass elevator.
The journey seemed to be deliberately slow so that the customers could enjoy the panoramic views of the illuminated Soho streets below and the wider London skyline, but with each passing second, the anxiety in my stomach increased.
If Sasha was nervous, she didn’t let it show.
‘What’s it been like working here?’ I asked her.
Sasha had been undercover for a week already. Doctor Alvis had insisted I rest my arm and wouldn’t allow me out of the unit until the stitches had dissolved. The last seven days had been an agonisingly drawn-out cycle of sleeping, eating, training with Carter and meeting with Marilyn, without socialising with any of the other recruits.
Thankfully, due to the doctor’s neat stitching, the knife wound was healing with only a thin scar remaining. I didn’t know what happened to Gerrard after they sedated him. Part of me hoped they’d returned him to the detainment unit even if the attack hadn’t been entirely his fault.
Someone had given him that knife.
‘It is, what it is,’ Sasha said, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to the moment. ‘I dance, I take my clothes off and then report back to my handler on the men coming and going from the private room at the back of the club.’
‘You don’t mind the…dancing?’
‘I don’t mind at all. It’s energising for me, having all those men frantic at my feet. I feed off their adoration and sexual tension, and if I’m lucky, engage in a little bump and grind once they fall asleep.’
I didn’t want to think about Sasha’s need to alleviate men of their souls during sex. In fact, I didn’t want to think about Sasha and sex at all, as it only made me angry that she’d invaded Carter’s dreams although I was sure she’d moved onto one of the other handlers, as he no longer looked so tired in the mornings.
We exited the lift and paused outside a door marked “female employees only”.
‘Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open,’ she warned me, pushing open the door.
The first thing that hit me was a wall of cheap perfume and then the musky smell of female body odour. I watched Sasha nod at a few girls that were getting into costume, their scantily clad bodies leaving nothing to the imagination.
‘Do I have to wear something like that?’ I whispered and this made her laugh though
I noted it was malicious and not courteous.
‘No, the bar staff have a uniform.’
Sasha opened a locker and passed me a bright pink top that was slit at the front, almost down to the waist. I begrudgingly peeled off my chunky jumper and slithered into the top that barely covered my insignificant assets.
‘Good job I’m not bigger up top or else I’d fall out,’ I said, trying to adjust my bra straps.
‘That’s the general idea,’ Sasha said, her expression telling me she thought I was stupid. ‘I guess you’ve never been to a strip club before.’
I shook my head.
‘It doesn’t matter. Just pour the drinks and listen out for any mention of a delivery. The other members of staff are under as much scrutiny as the owner.’
‘Ok.’
Sasha removed her clothes without a care if I was watching or not. She put on a butt-skimming denim skirt, red checked shirt and cowboy hat.
‘You like?’ she asked.
‘You look, err…’
I couldn’t think of the right word.
‘Fuckable?’ she offered.
‘I guess so.’
She fluffed her hair around her shoulders.
‘Wait until Harvey gets a look at me in this outfit,’ she said. ‘He’s going to freak out. I know he wants me. I can see it in those sexy black eyes of his. We’ve been getting closer over the last few days…’
‘Harvey’s here?’
My stomach tightened at the thought of seeing him again. He’d started his part of the mission too and after almost a week apart, I missed his smart remarks and mischievous smile.
‘Yeah, he’s working a different angle so don’t blow his cover.’