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“Roman Martin is my asset,” Paris told Nadine, whom she’d strung upside down in the back room of a warehouse off 19th Street.
Nadine had heard her the first time, but feigned as if she hadn’t, her eyes still clenched shut as she mentally focused on her Zero Ring, her thumb slowly pressing onto a groove on its bottom.
“I will tell you once more: we have plans for Roman, and this is your only warning. If you get in the way, not only will I see to it that you’re exposed, but I will personally make sure your family is well taken care of back in the East. And by taken care of, I mean I will kill them. Your father and your mother.”
Nadine’s throat quivered. She was acquainted with Paris Renara and had encountered the spy who doubled as a super (or super who doubled as a spy) several times before.
“Nod if you understand what I’m telling you,” said Paris. “Roman is ours.”
Nadine opened her eyes and settled them on the upside-down image of Paris—dark bangs framing her eyes, slim figure, bitchy look on her face. She squinted one eye and looked at Paris with the other.
“You’re really fucking stupid, aren’t you?” she asked.
Paris licked her lips, her elastic tongue falling out of her mouth as she sneered at Nadine.
“If you want to lick me, then lick me,” Nadine said. “And fuck your Type IV shit power anyway.”
That did it.
Paris’s tongue came flying out of her mouth and wrapped around Nadine’s throat. It started to squeeze, and just as Paris’s lips curved into the wicked grin of someone who had overpowered another, Nadine activated her ring.
Paris’s tongue loosened up, and Nadine grabbed onto the limp appendage as Paris stumbled backward.
A desperate look on her face, Paris tried desperately to use some of her abilities, any of her abilities, all to no avail. Nothing happened, and as panic came over her, Nadine pulled Paris closer.
And Nadine was strong.
That was something her physique betrayed; she’d purposely not muscled up just to keep her appearance. But while she wasn’t quite an exemplar, Nadine had the strength of two men, a gift passed down to her by her grandfather, an actual super, a famous one in the East.
It only took a few seconds for Nadine to yank Paris over to her, pull her fist back, and knock Paris the hell out, still holding the woman’s elastic tongue with her free hand.
Rocking back and forth, Nadine used her strong core to bring herself up to her feet, where she could work getting free.
She undid the knot and thrust her upper body forward as she fell. Rather than land on her head or the back of her neck, Nadine landed on her knees, her fall partially cushioned by Paris’s body.
Her right knee aching, Nadine got to her feet and blinked a few times to adjust to standing on solid ground again.
She felt sick to her stomach, but her training had prepared her for situations like this, especially the six-month-long proactive hostage training.
Taking a breath in and focusing on a single stationary object, in this case a pipe jutting out of the wall, Nadine regained her equilibrium.
The Eastern government had spent a lot on Nadine’s training, and their limited tax dollars were paying off as Nadine got her bearings and began contemplating how to deal with Paris. She could kill her, but there’d be paperwork for that and oddly enough, spies usually didn’t kill other spies if they could help it.
Her training had even gone over this code with her, a code in place namely because everyone was spying on the same authority—the Centralian Government.
But making Paris’s life difficult was definitely something Nadine could do, and she knew exactly how to do it.
“Let’s see how you like dealing with this when you recover,” she said as she spread Paris’s right leg wide, scoffing at the fact that the dumb bitch was still wearing a skirt.
Holding Paris’s heeled boot with her left hand, Nadine punched her right hand into the outside of her knee, the flesh responding and moving inward.
Paris let out a whimper as she opened her eyes, and Nadine stretched her leg well past its breaking point.
Paris tried to speak to her, making a series of grunting sounds due to air blockage from her tongue. Nadine simply lifted her other leg, pulled her fist back, and cracked it against the outside of her knee, bringing the elastic knee backwards so it matched the first leg.
Both legs splayed, Nadine used Paris’s arms to wrap around her ankles, Paris’s entire body giving way and showcasing her elastic capabilities. While Nadine knew she couldn’t actually break one of Paris’s bones, she could tie her up in a knot, making it difficult as hell for her to free herself.
She continued wrapping Paris’s arms around her legs until the Western Province spy resembled an oddly shaped pretzel. To make it even harder, she knotted the ends of her arms, tucking the woman’s wrists back into one of the folds on her shins.
Paris’s eyes were now bloodshot with rage, snot dripping out of her nose as she seethed at Nadine.
“See you next time.” Nadine turned to the exit and lifted a single middle finger over her shoulder as she slowly walked away.
