The door swung open without a sound, and the figure in black eased into the room. On noiseless feet, it stole over the carpet, the long, straight knife glimmering in the shadows as it drew alongside the bed. The lump beneath the covers didn’t stir, as a slender gloved hand reached down to grasp the corner of the quilt. In one smooth motion, the shadow flung back the covers and plunged the knife into what lay beneath.

The pillow gave a muffled thump as the blade stabbed into it, but otherwise made no sound.

“Nice try.”

The assassin spun, raising her knife as I stepped out of the closet, my pistol already trained on her. She froze at the sight of the gun, and I gave a sad smile.

“Hello, Stealth,” I greeted softly, moving around the other side of bed, keeping a large obstacle between us. It would at least slow her down if she decided to lunge. She watched me with dark, impassive eyes, and a lump caught in my throat. “I knew Talon had to send someone eventually,” I said, my voice tight. “I wish it didn’t have to be you.”

The Viper continued to regard me without expression. I stayed where I was, every ounce of my attention focused on the other dragon. I could not let it waver, even for a millisecond. Because that was how long it would take the Viper to leap across the bed and put a knife in my throat.

Stealth blinked, seemingly unconcerned with the gun pointed in her direction. She was lithe and slender, and the black Viper suit looked like a spill of ink across her skin. Straight black hair had been pulled into a tail, and her pale, slightly rounded face seemed to float in the darkness of the room. “They were going to send Lilith,” she stated quietly, making my skin crawl at the name. “I convinced them that it should be me. It’s the least I could do…for old time’s sake.”

“Yeah.” I sighed, feeling an ache begin in my chest. “I could see how you would think that. You did save my life once. Only fitting that you should correct that mistake.”

Her eyes narrowed a bit, but that was all. “How did you know I was coming?”

I gave a small snort. “You know me better than that,” I said, grateful that, for all their lethality, Vipers did not have the same skill set I did. Or the paranoia that came with being a Basilisk. The hidden camera pointed down the hallway was synced to my phone, set to alert me whenever there was movement outside. It was annoying to be woken up by every drunk shambling down the hall at three in the morning, but a few hours’ sleep was a small price to pay when it came to this.