The entire lobby of the Nebula Hotel was drowned in a silence so heavy it felt alive.Conversations froze mid-sentence.Coffee cups trembled slightly in suspended hands. Every gaze in the marble hall fixed on the figure that had just appeared.The hotel manager.Everyone knew—and it was practically legend—that the manager of the Nebula Hotel never descended into the lobby. Business was always conducted in her office, tucked away on the upper floors.To see her here, walking into the lobby unannounced, was like spotting a queen mingling in the marketplace.But that wasn’t what shocked them most.No, the true thunderbolt was the words she had just spoken.It must have been a mishearing, they all told themselves. A collective hallucination, perhaps. Because what they thought they had heard was impossible, ridiculous, absurd.And yet, nothing could erase the echo of it.Oswald, still puffed with false bravado, hurried forward, trying to control the narrative.“Manager Green! I was just abo

“Psychic paper? What the hell is that?” Johnny murmured under his breath, squinting at the glowing notification that had just flashed in his mind.“Excuse me?” Sophie turned her head, brows lifting in polite confusion.Johnny snapped back, “Oh, nothing. Just mumbling to myself.” He waved it off with a lazy smile, his voice casual enough to pass.“Ah, okay.” She didn’t press further. She clasped her tablet to her chest, and gestured with her other hand. “This way, please, Johnny.”Johnny followed, but his mind was somewhere else entirely.Shoot… how was he supposed to talk to V.I.X.E.N without looking like a madman arguing with himself in public?[Vixen: Use your inside voice.]The solution came instantly, clear and sharp, almost as if Vixen had been waiting for him to ask. [Inside voice? Cute.] Johnny smirked. [Alright then—what the hell is a psychic paper?][V.I.X.E.N: Check your left pocket.]Johnny paused mid-step. “Huh?” he muttered before catching himself.He hesitated, then sli

Johnny released Oswald’s collar and raised his hands in the air, his blood-streaked knuckles catching the blue and red glow of the police lights.Then she stepped forward.Not from the cluster of uniforms. From the edge of the shadows — like she'd been watching before anyone else arrived.She had the kind of presence that filled a space before her heels even clicked against the pavement. From the tilt of her jaw to the sharp glint in her eyes, she wasn’t here to be admired, but she was impossible not to admire.Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail that only emphasized the clean lines of her face. And her figure—athletic, commanding—told Johnny she could probably hold her own in a fight.Her tight shirt hugged her toned waist and firm chest, the fabric pulling across her perky swells with each breath, while her pants clung to powerful thighs and a rounded backside that flexed as she moved.Johnny’s gaze lingered a second too long, not on one feature in particular, but on the a

“Vixen, this has to be a joke right?”Johnny paced his tiny living room, the cheap floorboard complaining under his weight. The system notification still hung in his skull like a neon sign he couldn’t shut off.…[Hot Assignment Alert]Task: Kiss the Mayor’s DaughterPenalty: Death of the Mayor’s daughterTime left: 23 Hours, 56 minutes.…[Certainly not, my love. This is your new Hot Assignment] V.I.X.E.N. replied, crisp and annoyingly smug. “No. No. No. No. No.” He said each word like it could push the command back into whatever black void spawned the system.“In case whatever—whoever is in charge of you hasn’t heard: the mayor’s daughter is missing, most likely kidnapped.” He spread his hands.[V.I.X.E.N: That would be an acute deduction] “Even if she wasn’t, I don’t know her. And she certainly doesn’t know me” Johnny continued.[V.I.X.E.N: Another acute deduction] “So you’re basically asking me to kiss a complete stranger in less than one day— not just any stranger, but the May

“Who are you, and what are you doing in my daughter’s room?”Johnny froze.Standing in the doorway was a woman who looked like steel wrapped in a thin, shimmering silk robe that clung to the heavy curves of her hips and the generous swell of her chest with every breath she took.Her gaze cut through him, no hesitation, no fear. She was a woman used to being obeyed. And Johnny, standing in her daughter’s room, looked every bit the intruder he was.Fuck. Johnny cursed under his breath.He had forgotten to lock the door behind him, and he no longer in stealth mode, because he was already breathing.Worst part was Johnny couldn't slip into stealth mode now because disappearing right in front of her would lead to more trouble than he could handle. He needed a way out. Fast.“You know what? I’m calling the cops.”“Wait!” Johnny blurted, his voice sharper than he meant.She froze, her hand hovering near her pocket. The movement caused her robe to shift, the hem riding up her toned, silky th