The Secrets of Their Souls Read Online Free PDF

from the shackles. Shackles I had fastened extra tight so that they rubbed his skin raw. The guard kicked him from behind and he fell to his knees, begging like a little boy. There was no mercy in this world and no forgiveness, but there were laws and there were punishments; it was a simple system that this idiot had thought he could beat. I looked at him and smiled. Stealing money from the Capital was a grave error and one that Sticky-Finger Peter would pay for at my hand.
    I walked to the center of the stage and ordered the guards to lay him on his back. A stone bench had been prepared for the performance. It was gray now but not for long. Queen Keres nodded her head and her eyes danced with joy.
    I pulled my knife from the halter strapped to my thigh. Even in his final moments, the pitiful man was tempted by a woman’s body, and his droopy eyes widened at the sight of my flesh. His flesh turned me on too but never in a way that this man could imagine. I placed the tip of the knife on his head and his scream roared through the crowd as I ran it down his forehead, slicing his face in two. Chills spread over my body like warm honey.
    I felt like a god.
    *
    The next few days passed in a flurry of work, the dreams always hovering over Zahra’s head like a leering phantom. Now sitting in her office, Zahra’s eyes were once again glued to her computer screen when she heard the harsh tone of her office phone. Looking up sharply, she saw the number flashing on the caller ID panel: 11057. She didn’t recognize the extension but the fact that it started with a one indicated the call was coming from the top floor.
    “Zahra Foster.”
    “Good morning, Zahra.”
    “Good morning, Jayce. How can I help you?” She inhaled silently and held her breath until he answered.
    “I would like to see you in my office. Now, please.” Another command so politely dressed up in disguise.
    “Of course. I will be along in a few minutes. Do I need to bring anything?”
    “No. Just yourself.”
    She wore a slight grin on her lips. If she were being honest, two days out of the office felt like much longer than that and her mind was splintering. Part of her wanted to know him, every intimate detail, and the other part, with no logical reasoning, told her any sort of feelings for her boss was a very bad idea.
    “Please go straight through, Miss Foster, he’s expecting you.” Jayce’s assistant, Olivia, had blond locks to rival Holly’s and a marshmallow complexion Asians dream of.
    Zahra’s eyes set upon him as she opened the heavy, black-paneled door. He was sitting at a large desk, his eyes attentively focused on the monitor to his right. He had taken off his jacket and his cuffs were rolled up, exposing his lean, muscular forearms.
    “Take a seat,” he said, motioning to the chair opposite him. She forced her gaze from his arms to his eyes as she pulled her shoulders back and walked to his desk. She sat down, deliberately looking past him now to the skyscraper backdrop, buying herself a few precious seconds to collect her thoughts. They shared the same view, she realized. Granted, he had the full panoramic version of her smaller corner window, but it was certainly the same view.
    “How were your few days off-site?”
    “They were productive.”
    His gaze followed her hands as she scooped her long locks to one side, collecting them over her shoulder—a nervous habit. Zahra quickly placed her hands back in her lap, forcing his eyes back to hers. “So, I have good news for you… I have decided to approve your insane expense account for Church Street.”
    Exhilaration bubbled up in Zahra’s chest like a soda stream ready to explode. She had asked for everything she could possibly have dreamed of, expecting to negotiate down, and instead he had just given her the near equivalent of unlimited funds for this project. She smiled in wonder.
    He nodded his head ever so slightly. “You should smile like that more often.”
    “Thank you, for