"Is his payment going to be worth your life?" I continued.

I'd almost made it to where I'd heard her dress. She must be close, watching with as much intensity as I listened.

Something whistled close to my head. I ducked. Strands of my hair breezed across my face, carrying the scent of sweet peonies directly from the right. Before another swing to my skull, I lunged sideways shoulder first. It buried into soft fabric and curvy flesh, straight into her chest from the ...