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Moments after I walked into the main residence to finish preparing for my briefing, Nemesis waved good morning, then tapped the screen of her cell phone.
“I’m glad you’re here. Magnolia has just arrived. I must admit I was curious about Magnet’s change of plans, but I’m sure the two of you decided that you and Rogue could handle the St. Moritz op, with Macht’s help, of course. Oh, here she is now.”
As Nem raced toward the door, I stood with my mouth open, trying to process everything she’d said.
“Rovena, come in. It’s so good to see you. Schön, come meet the newest member of the Albania task force. Rovena—or should I say Magnolia?—this is Schön.”
After taking one look atMagnolia, I understood why Magnet had decided not to go to St. Moritz as planned. No doubt, he saw this as the perfect opportunity to spend time with the woman who was everything I wasn’t. Poised, graceful, well-spoken, and ridiculously beautiful—all of which made her ooze self-confidence, something I possessed very little of. She was tall, much closer in height to him, with long dark hair and hazel eyes that looked green in the light.
“Good morning,” I said, holding out my hand to shake hers. I dropped it when she removed her gloves instead.
“Where is Magnet?” she said in an accent that sounded like a mixture of Polish, Portuguese, and French.
When Nemesis looked my way, I realized they were both waiting for me to respond.
“Oh! He wasn’t up yet when I left.” I knew my inference would make the women wonder if there was more to my relationship with him. I immediately regretted it, though, reminding myself I wanted tobefriendthe incoming female agents, not alienate them.
“I should finish preparing,” I said, turning to Nemesis.
“Right. Magnolia, Schön is holding a briefing for new coalition members at ten hundred hours.”
“I see. As I am not new, I will not need to attend. Where is my room?”
“Head up the stairs. Second door on the right. It’s your old room, is it not, Schön?”
“It is, ma’am.”
Magnolia was almost at the stairs when Nemesis called out to her. “Agent Basha, you’ll want to take your bag with you and freshen up. And the briefing at ten hundred is mandatory. Thanks!”
Nem walked into the situation room, and I followed.
“Good Lord. I have had my fill of prima donnas, haven’t you? I’ll sic Oleander on her. That ought to nip this in the bud.”
“Who am I taking down?”
I glanced over and saw Oleander sitting in a chair, looking at her laptop.
Nemesis sighed. “The new Albanian agent. Why can’t women behave more like men?—”
Both Oleander and I burst out laughing.
“What?” Nem asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“Have you never gone to the pub with them?” Oleander chuckled. “They fall all over themselves to prove who’s the best at darts or billiards.”
“Or they puff up their chests and try to make themselves look bigger,” I added.
“That may be, but I will absolutely not tolerate the haughty behavior I just witnessed.”
“Come on, Schön. You and I can take her,” Oleander said, standing and nudging me.
“Take her? Uh, you should find another wingman; I’m afraid my previous tactics won’t work that well.”
This time, Nemesis joined Oleander when she laughed. “I like her,” O said, throwing her arm around my shoulders. “When you get back from St. Moritz, Wren, Hanadarko, and I will toughen you up.”
“Oh Lord, what are you up to now, O?” said Wren, plopping herself in a chair. “I thought we trained Bexli to do the toughening up for us.”
Nemesis stepped beside me. “Something tells me our Schön can handle herself just fine.”
