Halis found his human legs awkward. They didn't bend at the correct angles and there were far too few of them. But as a disguise, it was flawless. He walked across the room to the closet where he picked amongst the clothes Silvia provided.

The sun glared through the window, penetrating the wooden blinds. His nose curled and he shielded his eyes. Another thing he despised about human culture— its instance on being awake during daylight hours.

"Silvia?" he called. No answer. She was probably in the gardens.

He opened the door and took the spiral staircase down to the lower floor. The glass doors of the patio provided a perfect view of Silvia. She lay in a hammock swing made of spider silk. Beside her lay Havoc. Halis paused to admire her. Even in her human form, Silvia pleased.

Through all their days, he'd never regretted his mother's choice. The day Silvia came to him as a bond mate was the luckiest day of his life. Halis was two at the time but he recalled perfectly as Silvia's thin mother, her face lovely even with malnourishment, set her daughter on the floor in front of him. He'd tried to bite Silvia, unsure of this girl child who smelled of mammal excrement. She seemed no different from the others and those his mother had fed to him.

Halis opened the door and strode over to Silvia. Long ago, Silvia's mammal smell burned away, faded into a scent like distant smoke and ripe berries. And the baby smelled as a spider baby should. Havoc looked like a weak human waste but he was as pure as Halis.

Halis' pride grew watching his family rest there. Soon, this world would be overrun with Drambish, but none would ever be as perfect as these two. Halis had already found a few girls adequate to birth companions for his son. The hive's voice was pleased but called for more. The women who carried them would not be worth keeping but the children... How lovely his queen would look surrounded in little spiders and the white bones of women picked clean.

No mistakes this time. The Drambish would thrive.

Silvia raised her gleaming black eyes. "Your latest girl, Lilah, made the papers."

Was she lecturing again? He located no accusation in her eyes.

"Maybe it's time to move on," she said. "With the brothel capturing Marim... who knows, she may have picked up some clue to our location. Between that and all the clues you have littered around..."

"Soon, my love, a girl worthy of investigation was also there the night I met Lilah."

"I don't think I've ever seen you look that way about a human. Shall I be jealous and tear out her heart?"

"Never." Halis gave her the soft smile he reserved only for her. "But maybe she can bear our son's one true companion."

"No. When it comes to choosing a companion for Havoc, I'll make the selection." Silvia's black painted nails slid over Havoc's cheek.

"Of course." That was only proper. It was a mother's choice but Halis would make sure the pale girl's child was among the possibilities. Just in case.

"Halis?"

"My Queen?"

"When you go into town, pick up food for Havoc. Human food. I still have a kitten or two."

This was a dismissal and Halis stopped himself from correcting her. There were still three kittens in the cage. The walk to town was a solid fifteen minutes and those minutes were his favorite part of freedom. Clear air, open sky, a godlike family behind him and a variety of human meat down the hill.

Halis whistled as he left the garden and started on the walk.

At the bottom of the hill was a small café. Calling it anything but a clap-trap was ambitious but the sign said café. The place served caffeine, sugar— in the form of frosted treats— and block-like sandwiches that tasted like something from a cross-universe transit vehicle. Whenever he went to town, Halis stopped in for disappointing pie and informative gossip.

They wouldn't let Silvia back in since she broke that kids arm. It was the child's fault, the little beast tried to touch Havoc. Silvia didn't seem to mind the banishment and occasionally, Halis brought her back a caffeinated beverage.

Today differed. He halted in front of the window. Buried inside, beyond metallic seats and a rotating counter stood the girl from the club. Silvia's caution that it was time to move on rung in his ears.

Halis chuckled and allowed himself to gaze at the pale woman, shining amid her dismal surroundings. The night before it had not occurred to him that this lovely creature wanted him to notice her. She was subtle. A practiced predator. What she wasn't was a waitress.

The door creaked as he entered. The new girl didn't look up but over the smells of grease, stale bread and coffee, her awareness wafted. No doubt about it, she was here for them. Nothing was visually off. She was perfect but the smell didn't match. Not only was she hyper aware of his presence but the perfume embedded in her hair had elements worth more than she'd make in this place in a month. The cheap toilet water she wore to mask it was a new purchase.

Halis approached his would-be assassin. Her name tag read Lilly. Which was a lie. Too bad she was here to hurt him and his family. Otherwise, she would be well worth converting. Her body remained completely relaxed, even showing slight signs of weariness. The vein in her neck pulsed. She would taste of honey suckle and cloves.

Lilly looked up, her eyes a color no eyes had the right to be. I should look into preserving those. So pretty. Maybe I could string them so Silvia could wear them like jewels.

"What can I do for you?" she said.

'I'd like to eat you' didn't feel like the correct opening line. What would the man she thought he was do? She would think he was smart and dangerous. She must think he was human or she would be approaching the whole thing differently. Which begged the question— were her employers lying to her or was the Brothel sending everyone out crippled?

"What kind of pies do you have today?" he said.

Lilly smiled and looked up through her lashes. "Only have sour-cherry today."

"I'll take it, Lilly."

"Aren't you... I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask."

"Aren't I who, Sweetheart?" He grinned.

"Aren't you the guy who lives on the hill with his sister?"

Halis noticed she didn't refer to Silvia as 'that crazy woman.' She wanted to be on his good side and clearly, she knew nothing about Silvia. Only marks and fools mistook Silvia for his sister. "That's me. You new to town?"

"I came to the colony a while back but I only left the city yesterday."

"Already had the job lined up?"

She chuckled. "Not all of us are so rich we can waltz in buy a mansion and then not work."

"How about, I buy you a drink after work and show you around?" Maybe he could learn something about this strange woman. Her sad eyes tugged at him. Was there a way not to kill her? These days Silvia was always seeking ways to leave people alive but until that moment, Halis never understood the drive.

"I'd love that."

***

Mr. Red closed his eyes, feigning boredom. There wasn't a soul that wouldn't have been fooled, but he was anything but bored. In time since Allison went on her mission, he'd spent painstaking days hiding his research in a plethora of everyday tasks. Nothing bold or the other owners would notice his interest in something they clearly wanted him out of the loop on.

He loathed being out of the loop.

With his eyes closed, he indulged in the luxury of picturing her. Allison. So pale, she seemed always just a step away from death. Even he suffered from the tug on seeing that delicate porcelain to protect her, to shield her. The job never came easier to any girl. She'd brought down nations with a bat of her lashes and a soft word whispered in the correct ear.

That was what bothered him in the beginning. Why would they ever send Allison on a simple kill mission? And why leave him out of the planning? The others rarely ever selected a girl without consulting him first. No one knew the girls better than their trainer. Something was off.

He opened his eyes. After scrolling through the information, pausing only once at a picture, he stood. A word blazed through his mind but he didn't know what it meant. Drambish. A thought lingered at the back of his mind, just out of conscious reach. He fumbled to pull the meaning forward and understand the word. When he did, a tightness settled on his chest. One thing was sure, they hadn't sent her out there to kill something. They sent her out to be killed.

One of my girls. No, my girl.

Not an iota of the rage inside him made it to his face. The Agency. His agency had betrayed him. Did they fool themselves into believing I wouldn't notice? I never touched her; never even looked at her a moment too long. I'm coming, Ally, I don't know how, but I won't let them do this.

* If you like the story, please go ahead and hit the fancy little star and let the world and me know you appreciate it :) Thank you all for reading. I'm getting a better response than I hoped! Constructive comments are always welcome or almost any other type of comment you wish to make. Your responses always make my day!