chapter eleven
In a flash, Tam was at Sung Lam’s throat. She looked positively lethal, glowing with deadly rage with a silver blade materializing into her fingers. She moved so quickly, it was as if she had teleported, behind Sung Lam and held the slim knife to the pale curve of his throat.
The dragon prince’s eyes flashed, red bleeding into the irises of his eyes. Lightning crackled around his non-metal arm, the bright red and back dragon tattoos on full display as he wore only a black t-shirt and jeans.
“You have three seconds to convince me you’re not a threat,” Tam hissed into his ear, stroking his cheek with her free hand and pressing the slim knife closer to his throat. Red blossomed where the cold metal kissed his throat, and he snarled, the sound low in his chest.
His eyes slitted, the beginning of fangs beginning to elongate beneath his lips. “You have three seconds to realize you’re a fucking moron and to remove that knife.”
“Okay! Wow, jeez, okay, we’re all friends here, no throat ripping necessary!” Au Co leapt from the bed waving her hands frantically. Nevermind that she was nearly stripped naked and Sung Lam, upon realizing this fact, choked.
She busied her way across the room and gently, gingerly, moved Tam’s hand from Sung Lam’s neck. The other woman looked downright murderous, but she let the pink-haired fairy guide her to the other side of the room, far away from the angry brooding dragon. Tam and Au Co perched themselves on the edge of the bed. Tam flicked her fingers and the blade vanished, blinking out of existence.
Idly, Au Co wondered if Tam could teach her that trick some day. Though that clearly was the least of their worries, with a very red-faced and abashed looking prince in their doorway. He took in their varying states of undress, the clothes strewn about the room, and if possible, he looked even more mortified.
“You- you-” he choked out, averting his eyes from the two women who were looking at him expectantly, “weren’t answering your com. We got worried, so-”
“Your best course of action was to bust the room down, guns blazing?” Au Co finished flatly. She crossed her arms over her chest, and Sung Lam pointedly looked away.
He looked kind of cute this way, crimson dusting his cheeks and his ears a bright red. The almighty, powerful crown prince of Viet Nam, unnerved by two beautiful undressed women.
“We thought something bad had happened to you,” he muttered, shuffling his feet.
“Well, as much as I appreciate the concern, as you can very well see, I am very much doing fine.” She flopped back on the bed, and rubbed her hand across her face. “Tam, meet Sung Lam, Crown Prince of Viet Nam and Lac Viet City. Sung Lam, meet Tam.”
Tam glared at Au Co. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Au Co cringed. “I owe you the truth and you’ll get it, I promise. But can we get some clothes first?”
….
Sung Lam tried to erase the image of Au Co shirtless from his mind. Preferably, forever. The tantalizing swell of her large breasts, the swaths of muscles on her shoulders and arms, her powerful thighs, and the generous flaring of her hips. And the black ink, obscured by her bra strap, on the left side of her ribcage. What was it, she had tattooed? And what would happened if he removed that flimsy scrap of cloth-
He wanted to drown himself in the Son Tay lake. Promptly. Which was unfortunately not an option. The best he could do was very pointedly not look at the pink haired tien across from him, who was nursing a glass of whisky and was thankfully oblivious to the scandalous nature of his thoughts.
“So,” Au Co grimaced. “I wasn't lying. Lumine is my teacher. And we need your help. And that I like you. Really like you,” she added emphatically, to which Tam sniffed imperiously. The slender woman drew a finger along the wood of the bar counter, looking rather offended.
“And what I would have further told you,” Au Co continued with a glare in Sung Lam’s direction, “is that I’m not alone. I’m working with the crown, officially, trying to catch Thuy Tinh.”
Tam stiffened at the name. “When you said that you were looking to stop a bad man, I didn’t realize you meant a guy that bad.”
“We know you know him.” Sung Lam didn’t have time for this lovers’ quarrel… though he certainly did not anticipate them becoming lovers. Which was a thought that made him want to throw himself back into the lake all over again.
Tam narrowed her eyes around him. “There’s a difference between doing business with someone who is so powerful, dealing with them is unavoidable, and then being friends with someone,” Tam said testily. “I have standards, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
Sung Lam eyed Tam warily, as if she was a powder keg about to explode. Which, given how she brazenly held a magic knife to his throat just thirty minutes before, he wouldn’t put it past her to try and gut him right then and there.
Tam picked at something on her nails. She leveled her gaze at Au Co, something softer and beseeching in her eyes. “Did it mean anything?”
Au Co placed her hand over the other woman’s. “For me it did. But for you, only if you want it to.”
The crease in Tam’s brow softened. Something flitted over her face, something Sung Lam couldn’t quite discern.
“Fine. What do you need to know? I’ll tell you everything I can. In guarantee of amnesty from the Crown for whatever business I find myself in doing for you. And… monetary compensation preferably.”
Sung Lam nodded. “What you wish for you will receive. The Crown is generous to those who pay it proper respect.”
Tam inspected her nails. “Thuy Tinh requested me for a job. I refused. He got mad, and tried to threaten me. Which, unfortunately for him, is a bad idea.”
“Do you know anything else about him? Where might he be these days? We know that he has lost contact from his ruling house. He seems to be dealing with the criminal underworld nowadays.” Au Co winced. “Don’t take that the wrong way, please.”
Tam looked bored. But too curatedly so. Something like pain flashed through her eyes, for the barest of seconds, before cold indifference frosted over her black eyes. Something about being reminded of her particular station in society and dealings seemed to bother her. Though, if what Hanh had reported on her was true, it was by no fault of her own.
That didn’t mean Sung Lam would play nice, though. She still tried to kill him.
“It’s fine. It’s the truth, anyway,” Tam said bitterly. Au Co bit her lip, eyeing Tam with something like guilt in her eyes. But Tam continued anyway. “I know of a place he’s been seen hanging around with some goons. That’s it. I was contacted by him through my… benefactors.” She seethed at the word. “So I don’t know much about him other than what he asked of me and a location where he might be.”
She tapped the com on her wrist, and the holocom embedded in Sung Lam’s metal arm beeped. “There, I sent it to you.”
The blue light from his com lit up the sharp planes of Sung Lam’s face. Au Co pointedly tried not to stare at his features and how chiseled they looked under the artificial light.
Sung Lam raised his brows. “The Jade Empress?”
Tam nodded. “It’s a front, obviously. He said if I wanted to do the job for him, he’d be meeting some people there in a few nights. I couldn’t tell you who, but I know there’s a good chance he’d be there.”
“Good. It says in three days. At 24:00.” He looked up from his com, thoroughly nonplussed. “That’s the night of the gala.”
Au Co grimaced. “And you can’t get out of attending it.”
He nodded. “We’ll just have to leave early at some point. My grandfather will let us go, if he knows this is official business.”
Tam continued looking at her com. “I was told that I should tell the bouncers I’m here for the Rising Phoenix. It’s a codename, I think. For whoever at the club Thuy Tinh is supposed to be working with.”
“Okay, but how do we prove that we’re not suspicious? It’s one thing knowing who to ask for, but we’re probably going to have to prove ourselves too.”
Tam nodded slowly. “I’ll tell them I’ve reconsidered the deal. You’ll be part of my entourage.”
Sung Lam pulled up a map of the streets, his eyes tracing the streets from the palace to the Jade Empress. “We can at the palace gates and go together. I don’t want us to meet up here in the Crimson Lotus. It’s safer if we go in as a group.”
“I agree. Though,” Tam smirked, “would the palace guards appreciate having the infamous Tam appear at their front doors?”
Sung Lam stiffened. “I can guarantee your safety.”
“Good, because I can’t guarantee yours or your guards if they come at me.” She flicked something off her immaculate red dress, then proceeding to inspect her nails glibly.
Sung Lam bristled at that and opened his mouth, but Au Co hastily interjected, “Okay, I think we have our plans set. Sung Lam, it’s time for you to go back and report to My Nuong and Hanh. I’m going to stay here and see off Tam.”
He glared murderously at Au Co. It was a look that said, Stop interrupting me.
She glared back. Stop interrupting me when I’m having sex.
Seemingly mollified by being reminded of the circumstances he had intervened under and red crept up his neck. “I’ll just see myself out.”
…
Au Co walked Tam to the edge of the street, just where the Crimson Lotus began to bleed into propriety. Through the smoggy night air, Au Co could just barely make out a few stars twinkling dimly in the light.
She surveyed Tam’s face. They exited the bar in silence, though Au Co couldn’t tell if it was companionable or not. The buzzing streetlights flickered over the half-tien’s sharp features, and Au Co had half a mind to ask Tam out on a proper date right then and there.
That is, if she wasn’t apoplectically mad at the previous events. Au Co wouldn’t even blame her. It was wholly her fault for jumping the gun, or the other woman’s bones, per se, before explaining the full severity of their situation.
Tam paused at the edge of the sidewalk, tilting her head back and looking up at the swell of buildings above them, city lights glinting off their dirty windows. She looked contemplative. She seemed so relax, just at ease with herself, with her hands in the pockets of her trench coat and her heeled stride leisurely.
“Do you mean it? You’re sorry.”
Au Co nodded. “I really do. I’m sorry for acting so impulsively. I understand if you feel betrayed or anything. I should’ve told you everything before… you know. And I wasn’t using you for anything. I really do have feelings for you, I’m really sorry everything just happened the wrong way. And we do need your help. Even if you had said no, I’d still have asked you to be with me. I like you”
Tam snorted. “It’s a two way street, sweetheart. I’m a full grown woman. I consented just as much as you well knowing what mess we were getting ourselves into.”
Au Co bit her lip. “I’m not very good at making smart decisions.”
Tam threw her a wry smile. “I’m not either. But I live my life day by day, taking what little bits of happiness I can get.”
Her fingers brushed Au Co’s.
Au Co took Tam’s hand. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad we’re working together.”
“Me too,” the mercenary said softly. “But I don’t know how much I’ll be able to commit to anything. Things get messy when things get personal in this line of work.”
Au Co squeezed Tam’s hand. “I understand. Let’s try to just stay friends for right now, until we figure everything out.”
“I appreciate that. I really do.” Tam slipped her hand out of Au Co’s, fingers swiping something on the holocom screen on her wrist. “Here’s my number. Call me if you need anything. Ever.”
Au Co smiled. A real one too. Her com beeped on her wrist, and Tam’s name and number showed up on screen. She accepted the request, watching the data fizzle into her database of contacts.
“I guess now’s a good time to ask as any, but… what did Thuy Tinh want you do?”
Tam shrugged. “An abduction. I don’t traffick people, so I declined. He wanted me to abduct some politician’s daughter, what’s her name?”
Au Co stiffened. Her heart pounded in her ears, awaiting Tam’s next words.
“It was My Nuong, I think. He wanted me to kidnap the princess.”