Page 6 of Black Reign

Once I see the pattern, I'm done.

I need something else.

Someone who can move pieces I don't anticipate.

Someone capable of verbal chess.

Mental chess.

A woman who doesn't merely keep up but occasionally makes me wonder what the hell she's going to do next.

Someone who can surprise me without irritating me.

Challenge me without performing intelligence like a party trick.

And since I'm apparently shallow enough to require physical chemistry on top of all that, the search has become statistically absurd.

A brilliant mind inside a body I can't stop wanting.

Someone who simmers beside me instead of fading once the novelty burns away.

Tall order.

I've mostly accepted she probably doesn't exist.

Mostly.

My eyes drift toward the black screen sitting on the table beside the fire.

But Vesper—maybe she’s the flaw in the theory.

We met years ago in a corner of the dark web most people would never find and fewer would survive five minutes inside.

No real names.

No faces.

No ordinary biographies.

Just handles and encrypted conversation.

Ghost and Vesper.

At first I liked her because she was irritating.

Then because she was funny.

Then because she was fast.

Not typing speed.

Mind.

I could bait her with half an argument and she'd already be three conclusions ahead.

She could turn one sentence around on me before I realized I'd handed her the weapon.

I started logging into The Veil because I knew she might be there.