"What did you say to me?" Cocky demanded, grabbing the front of Max's T-shirt. His feet slipped from beneath him and he spun on the rope, squeezing his eyes tight against the disorienting twirling of the room. Cocky laughed. "Not so tough now, are you?"

Twitchy laughed with him, but nervously. He had a right to be. Before Max left this place he was going to fuck them up.

"Get out of here."

The quiet command caught the attention of all three vampires, and Max craned his neck on his next turn to see who had issued it.

Anne ambled slowly through the arched double doors. She'd gotten rid of the feathery coat, but her hair looked the same, a thick fall of springy coils scraped back so tight her skin looked like it might pop off. Max stretched his legs, toes grasping at the slick marble. He managed to stop his spinning, but the effort was hell on his calves.

"Don't you look comfy?" Anne observed as she circled him, the buckles on her knee-high combat boots rattling with each step. She regarded him for a moment with an unreadable look, then smiled the same girlish smile she'd always given him when he'd visited Movement headquarters. "Max."

"Care Bear." He tried to nod, but the effect was ruined by his arms stretching above his head. "So, what's the plan here? Truss me up and let these morons spin me until I vomit to death?"

She laughed, the unrestrained, mindless laughter of an eternal teenager. "You always were funny."

"Apparently not enough to save my ass." He pulled himself up, the muscles in his arms screaming. "Any chance of letting me down a little? I'm tall enough."

"You're going to be as tall as a pile of ashes when I'm done. The Oracle's gonna let me kill you." Her tone implied he should be greatly impressed, or happy for her.

"Well, why don't you pull that rope and get it over with?" It was a risk, but he was ninety-nine percent sure she wouldn't do it. Not yet. "I'm not one for pointless small talk."

"Cha, right. Like that's going to work on me." She gave a long-suffering sigh. "Not that I'm not used to people underestimating me."

Cry me a river, bitch. "Well, that's kind of why you were such a good assassin. No one saw it coming. Shit, I didn't think you'd lie to my face and stab me in the back."

"I know, right?" Her face lit up in appreciation of his recognition. "People never got it! They think just because I look young, I don't have the experience or the smarts to pull stuff like this off. Not that sucking up to me is going to get you off the hook or anything, but thanks for, like, getting it."