"Cyra wanted me to request your presence this evening to find the man from photo," Natalia said, her tin-foil accent finally breaking what felt like hours of silence—though it had only been a few minutes.
Up until then, the only sound in the car was the faint hum of the engine as it switched gears.
"Doesn't this girl listen to music?" Clara thought but didn't ask aloud. Instead, she sat awkwardly, trying to think of something—anything—to talk about. She was genuinely surprised Natalia had spoken first. Clara hadn't expected her to bother with small talk at all.
"Oh, um… yeah, sure. I'll be at his place at sundown. You can count on me," Clara said, attempting politeness but coming off stiff and insincere. She was in her head too much about Natalia and about becoming partners with Cyra.
She hated that she cared what Natalia thought of her. She hated even more that she was trying so hard to impress someone she barely knew and didn't like her. Clara wasn't used to people disliking her, at least not without reason.
"Will you be at Cyra's too?" she asked, this time more casually.
"At my house?" Natalia replied with a small chuckle. "Yes, Clara, I will be at my house." She looked at Clara like she had two heads.
Clara frowned in confusion. "Your house? You… live with Cyra?" she asked, her voice catching slightly.
"Yes," Natalia answered easily. "I live in a guest house on his property. I stay there whenever he is hired for especially dangerous jobs that require me nearby. Or if he needs my talents. Or if I simply feel like it." She gave a small, shrug.
"I have six other flats in different countries," she added, almost offhandedly.
"Are you…" Clara started to ask.
"Am I in espionage? Is that what you were going to ask?" Natalia interrupted, her smile widening. "I get that often. Maybe I am. But if I told you, I'd have to kill you." Her grin was sharp.
Clara laughed nervously. She thought perhaps Natalia was joking but since Cyra had said the same thing earlier, she was starting to think maybe they weren't.
She did however appreciate that Natalia was being so open and chatty with her.
Clara laughed nervously.
"I'm an assassin," Natalia said bluntly. "And… hired muscle." She flexed her arm playfully, showing off lean strength.
"Actually," Clara admitted, "I was going to ask if you and Cyra… well… if you two ever… you know… are you…"
"Do we fuck?" Natalia finished Clara's sentence.
Clara's face turned scarlet. "I'm sorry! That's none of my business. Just forget I asked, okay?" She laughed awkwardly.
"Don't worry," Natalia said with a sly smile. "We don't fuck. I am strictly professional. Understand this— my job is to get close to men. To charm them into telling me secrets, trusting me. And, when the job is done…" She drug her index finger across her throat with a playful grin.
Clara stared emotionless but open.
"If I sleep with my boss, he might think I'm manipulating him like I do my targets. He might think I work for someone else. That is how you end up with a bullet in the head."
Clara blinked. "So… you're like a sexy black widow," she concluded.
Natalia let out a small laugh. "Sure."
"Is that why you're so cold with him?" Clara asked curiously.
"It's for the best," Natalia replied seriously.
Clara considered that. "That actually makes perfect sense. You're clever, you know."
She gave a small dismissive wave. "I was just curious anyway. Pfft, I don't care who Cyra sleeps with." She forced a laugh, avoiding Natalia's piercing gaze and fiddling with a loose string on her shirt.
"Oh, okay, I get it" Natalia said, amused. "Do the two of you have a…" She leaned in, putting a perfectly manicured hand on Clara's knee. "—an open relationship?"
Clara sucked in a breath. "We're not in any sort of relationship, actually," she said firmly, refusing to give Natalia the satisfaction of flustering her further.
"Not in a relationship?" Natalia interrogated. "Then why were you kissing when I pulled up?"
Clara froze, startled to see they were no longer driving. The car was now parked beneath a tree. "Why are we stoppe—"
Her words were cut off as Natalia's hand gripped her chin, turning her face towards her. The sharp red of her nails was striking against Clara's pale skin.
"We weren't… ki-kissing," Clara stammered. "We were… just talking."
"Talking?" Natalia arched an eyebrow.
In an instant, Natalia was out of her seat and straddling Clara in the passenger side. She yanked the lever on Clara's chair, reclining it in one smooth motion, her face now inches from Clara's.
"Because this is what you were doing when I saw you. Is this how you 'talk' to your friends?" Her tone was cold, dangerous."— I don't enjoy being lied to. You have one chance to tell me the truth, or I kill you right now. What is your business with my boss?"
"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!" Clara shrieked, shoving Natalia off of her and straightening her clothes, her heart pounding.
"You don't have to be so aggressive! Gosh. Now I know why Cyra hired you. You're very… efficient at getting information," she muttered, flustered. Natalia waited silently, one brow raised.
"You're right. We weren't just talking," Clara admitted, her voice low. "There… was a moment… But it was a mistake. A lapse in judgment." Clara started.
"Cyra… he's seductive. He has this way of getting me to let my guard down, and I've done stupid things because of it. I know he's trouble. I know he'd use me again if it suited him. But when I'm alone with him… it's like my brain fuzzes out. Like there's static. Maybe it's the Moon Gem's power pulling me toward him, or maybe he's just a master manipulator. Either way, I don't want to be a victim of his charm."
"Yes, Cyra can be very charming," Natalia said coolly. "But he is also loyal. He doesn't trust easily, but those he does trust have his loyalty forever. You should be sure you deserve that kind of loyalty." She relaxed a bit, satisfied with Clara's answer.
"—- Decide what you want and do not play games you cannot win. My job is to protect Cyra—even from his own bad choices. If I must, I will end you."
The menace in her voice sent a shiver down Clara's spine. Any hope of friendship with Natalia evaporated instantly.
The rest of the ride passed in heavy silence. Clara stared out the window, brooding over Natalia's words… and her accent.
"Stupid sexy accent. Why do they all have stupid sexy accents," she muttered under her breath.
When they finally pulled up to Clara's dorm, she stepped out without a word. She glanced back over her shoulder in time to see Natalia climb into the car Cyra had been trailing them in.
Both vehicles disappeared down the road. Clara only had a few hours of normalcy before she'd be dragged back into chaos again, fighting crime like something out of a cheesy superhero comic.
Inside, the dorm felt both familiar and strange, like it had been months since she'd been there. Clara kicked off her shoes and headed to her room, pulling out her phone. She quickly dialed Emily.
"Finally! Oh-em-gee, I thought you died!" Emily's voice was like a glass of cool water—refreshing and comforting.
Clara smiled as she headed for the kitchen, sweeping up shards of glass from the night before.
"I'm very much alive and well, thanks," Clara said.
"You must be more than well if you're only just getting home! Were you with your boy toy this whole time?"
"Cyra," Clara corrected, rolling her eyes. "His name is Cyra. And he's not my boy toy."
"Whatever," Emily teased. "So? Did you kiss him? Did you do… other things?!" She squealed so loud it hurt Clara's ear.
"No! Okay, look. I stayed the night, but I had a perfectly good reason," Clara explained, tossing the glass into the trash.
"I ripped my dress while we were… hanging out… and his place was closest. He lent me some clothes, we watched a movie, it got late, so I stayed. That's it."
"Mm-hmm, sure," Emily said, not buying it. "If you don't want to tell me about your crush, that's fine."
"It's not that," Clara said, flopping onto the couch. "There's just… not much to say. He's charismatic, sure, but I don't know him well. Sometimes he's sweet. Most times, I can't trust him."
"You never trust anyone, Clair," Emily said softly. "You deserve to be happy. Love is beautiful—don't blow it."
"You need to stop reading romance webnovels," Clara teased dryly.
"Well, you're seeing him again tonight, right? Wear that perfume I got you! And shave your legs! Oh, and breath mints—don't forget those! And sexy panties. Or better yet, no panties…"
"Oh my gosh, Emily, I'm hanging up."
Clara groaned. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She leaned back into the couch with a sigh. "Ugh, that's right. Tomorrow's a school day." It felt absurd, the thought of returning to normal classes after everything that had happened.
She headed into the bathroom, rifling through the cabinet. Her eyes landed on a headache medicine bottle—and right beside it, a pretty red perfume Emily had given her.
Clara sighed, grabbing both.