Irelyn paced the small confines of the hotel room. This was getting old and more than a little ridiculous. She had made her last handoff with the smoothness of a trained professional, but an amateur could have done the same thing with just as much success.

When Dark had told her she would be required to prove herself again, she’d expected anything from infiltrating corporations, to gaining top-secret information, to executing an actual termination contract. While she was pleased she hadn’t been asked to kill anyone, the banal assignments were wearing on her.

At first, the tasks had been entertaining and interesting. The clues uncovered had seemed like mysteries to solve, and evading her tails had been challenging. Those jobs were a thing of the past. Her latest assignments had been as boring as watching grass grow.

She knew better than to complain. Dark was testing her patience, playing a power game. He could just as easily say she wasn’t needed, and then all her work would amount to nothing. She had to get inside that house. To do that, she had to jump through every hoop, no matter how boring.

The traveling was getting old, too. Of course, one of the biggest reasons was because many of the destinations were places she and Grey had explored together. Few people knew that Grey Justice had a playful side, and when they went away together, he always found something delightfully entertaining to do. If there was a carnival in town, a play she wanted to see, or a street fair he thought she might like, they had always gone. No one knew her the way Grey did. And no one could ever take Grey’s place.

That was another, even bigger reason she needed to get inside Hill House. The identity of the man or woman who had put out a contract on Grey could be within those walls.

Hill Reed had been a stickler for paper-only records. Every ounce of intel would be in the third-floor records room. Not only would that include every contract Hill House had ever accepted, but the room also contained something even more extraordinary. Few people knew that Hill kept records on contracts not associated with Hill House. His web of intel went far and wide. He’d been in the killing game for years and had known the who and the why of all the major players. Almost nothing went on inside the assassin community that Reed hadn’t known about or kept a record of.

Sebastian Dark had worshipped Hill Reed, obsessively so. Changing a procedure that had been so much a part of Reed’s core belief went against her profile of Dark. He would want to retain as much of his mentor’s legacy as possible, and that included his most notable quirks. Whether Hill House or another assassin had taken the contract, the information on who wanted Grey dead could be in that room.

Problem was, the records room was behind secure, locked doors. It would take stealth and cunning to get in there. But first, she had to actually get inside the house.

The phone in front of her chimed with a new text message. Irelyn tensed. This was the usual delivery method for her assignments. She had completed her last one two days ago and had been hanging around Minneapolis, waiting for further instructions. Where was he sending her now? She clicked on the message and had to blink twice to make sure she’d read the words correctly. But they couldn’t be any clearer.

You’ve passed the tests. Time to come back home. See you Monday morning.

That was it? Was the probation period over, or would she be required to continue to prove herself? Either way, would she be allowed to stay at the house? Since that was her ultimate goal, she needed to do whatever was necessary to ensure that would happen. No matter what was asked of her, she had a plan and she needed to proceed.

Her luggage was already packed and ready to go. She could book a flight and be in Paris by tomorrow evening. There, she could regroup and recharge, ready herself for her meeting at Hill House on Monday.

Still, she hesitated. Even though she couldn’t risk seeing Grey, there was someone else she needed to see. Someone she had hurt without ever intending to do so.

Question was, would she slam the door in her face, as Irelyn deserved? There was only one way to find out. She’d have to fly under an alias and wear a disguise, but that was nothing new.

Refusing to contemplate further, she took a burner phone from her collection. Accessing an airline Irelyn Raine had never used, she booked the next flight to Dallas.