With her head upside down, Jade spent the whole flight racking her brain for a possible solution to her unexpected dilemma.

Escaping wouldn’t solve her predicament. She needed to free herself and find a way to kill this mountain of a man, bare-handed. She couldn’t return to the Academy otherwise, and there was no place in the entire Fifth Moon System where she could hide in case she failed to eliminate her target. She would have to reach the Outer Belts—

“Why didn’t you try to take out Carellian?” the High Lord abruptly asked. “Even without your weapons, I’m sure you can still do some serious damage.”

They had been navigating the thermals for some time, and he had kept silent. His huge, very much naked body touched hers as she strained to shy away from contact, but his large hand inevitably pressed her back against him.

After a few seconds of internal debate, she decided to answer with the truth. “I don’t hurt animals.”

It was evident the draglet was loyal to the High Lord, and if she tried to fight him to gain the exit while the man was healing, the animal would have taken it upon himself to protect the position at all costs. Even if Jade had been victorious, which she doubted, she would have wounded the draglet, and she abhorred the idea.

The man’s large hands grabbed her, and without warning, she found herself sitting on his lap, her tied legs to the side, staring into eyes the color of the sky.

“You only kill men.” His breath was warm against her mouth.

Jade forced her lungs to breathe. “And women. I’m not sexist.”

“It’s good to know you draw the line at animals.”

“And at children.”

“So, what’s the bounty for a High Lord nowadays?” His voice was flippant, and there was an amused light dancing in his eyes, but his body was still and tight, like a coil ready to spring.

“I wouldn’t know.” She wouldn’t lower her gaze and show the High Lord how he unsettled her, but those ultramarine eyes shone like jewels and she had never seen such a beautiful shade.

His mouth curved into a cold smile. “That’s right. I forgot. Being an assassin is a higher vocation. Your lot doesn’t do it for money but for the glory of the Academy.”

She didn’t refuse his high-handed statement, but added, “I wouldn’t know that either.”

“Were you sold to the mercenaries?”

When she didn’t answer, his finger tipped her chin up, and she realized she had lowered her eyes.

“Were you one of those kids?” His voice was softer now, and those clear pools of light were looking at her with pity, and she couldn’t have that.

“And if I was, what do you care?” The words were out of her mouth before she thought better of it.

What was wrong with her? She was a Master Assassin, a highly-trained mercenary hired to do a simple job. Not only had she botched her mission, she was now chatting with a man she should have killed several hours ago.

On top of that, she couldn’t remember the last time she had a conversation with another human being. And that thought upset her more than sitting in his naked lap. Even more than being defenseless. Jade’s throat closed as she tried to swallow a big lump. Her eyes went to the white marks etched on her skin.

One large finger softly caressed the back of her hand, making her shiver.

Raising her gaze to his face, she said, “Don’t touch me.”

His hand rose but landed on her waist a moment later. “Turbulent winds ahead of us.”

As he said it, a fast draft engulfed Carellian’s wings, throwing them sideways. Only the High Lord’s hand protectively pressing her against his taut torso saved Jade from being hurled into the void below. For several minutes, draglet and rider fought the worsening weather.

Soon, a cold, crystal-blue rain pelted them, and the warmth of the man’s body proved to be useful to stave off the chill seeping through her bones.

Amid the natural upheaval, she couldn’t help but notice the rider’s flying skills. She, who had trained under the most expert aviators, could have never tamed a squall with the same ease the man did. And the High Lord was commanding his draglet one-handed, because, even in the middle of the storm, he never removed his hand from her waist. Instead, his fingers traced circles against her skin where her midriff was exposed.

His actions confused her. She was his prisoner, and yet the man showed her mercy.

When he woke the first time and shifted back into his human form in a state of evident arousal, he could have used her. It didn’t matter that he still thought she was a man then, and he didn’t hurt her when he found her boot lodged against his manhood. She wouldn’t have been as magnanimous in his place.

Plans change. Assassins adapt, she reminded herself. I must kill this man.