Chapter 8

“You always taught me to hide in every way I can. I thought that this might be the ultimate disguise,” she replied matter of factly. Thomas chuckled more as he leaned in to kiss Mary’s cheek.

“You were the greatest assassin I have ever seen or heard of. Your skills have no equal, at least none I have seen,” he stated proudly as he hugged her close. Mary didn’t want to tell him that while she and Jim had been training and sparring, she had a hard time staying ahead of him. He had pushed himself as hard, if not harder, than her; she was sure if it hadn’t been for the extra training she had received, she also wouldn’t have made it. Damn that Jim, now she owed him two fucking favors. Shit, if she didn’t quit thinking of it, there might be more, and she didn’t like to owe anything to anyone. Her guardian saw the perplexed look on her face and guessed what was the matter.

“So, how many favors do you owe him?” he stated as a shocked look appeared on her face. Damn, he is still as good at reading people as he used to be.

Sighing, she replied. “Two, but I don’t want to think on it more; there might be more, and I don’t want to have to owe him forever.”

Thomas just laughed as he thought back. He had been that way with the rat. The job with the girls was the last favor he had to pay back, and then he thought he was free. Then that idiot had gotten caught and executed, leaving him to care for the two girls he had left with him. He had to admit, at first, he didn’t think he could handle it. Hell, he was as horny as the next guy, but getting sex and having sex with two little girls around him a lot of the time had been a distraction. How much had his life changed after they entered his life?

“So when are you planning on telling him that you owe him these two favors?” He asked of Mary as she stretched into her morning exercises, and he moved into them with her. He might be older, but he knew that to get docile was to invite death.

“I’m not sure, but I know that he won’t collect on them unless he has to. He’s a lot like you, proud and stubborn. He likes to do everything he can alone until he needs help, and sometimes he even tries to keep going.” She said as she remembered Jim pushing himself as hard as she had to finish the tech they had worked on to try and perfect it so they weren’t killed.

“Hmm, sounds like you have a bit of fondness for him, maybe even some respect,” he blurted out as he got a worried look on his face. Jim was with the empire, and Thomas didn’t like that one bit at all.

Mary knew what he was afraid of and reassured him, “No, I am not in love with him, and yes, I do respect him to a point. I also know that he has a few issues with the empire. He worked like a beast to perfect our tech and ... ah shit, Thomas, you had to open your mouth, didn’t you? Now I owe him three favors,” as she swung and hit Thomas in the arm, him chuckling even more. He sighed, thinking that Mary was growing up and would be a woman soon. Well, actually, she was now as if she could kill with the best of them.

Later that day, Mary looked at her network. There were a few jobs here that she could do. Nothing big. She didn’t want to be off the planet this month as she knew that Thomas would be doing something for her birthday. Leaving with her bag, she headed to the first job. It involved scaring a minor noble into paying another what was owed to him. Mary had thought it over when she set up the job, and then she thought, why not just take what was owed and give it to the owed party? Contacting the noble, she asked if this would be suitable, he accepted but stated that he also wanted the other noble to be afraid to do it again.

Mary sighed when she told him it would be extra. He had complained. Then, when she mentioned the incident with the Duke, it shut him up rather quickly. As she moved to the address to check everything out, she noticed how paranoid this minor noble was. He had guards everywhere. It was the most secure place she had seen outside of the royal palace, and that place was almost impossible. She smiled as she remembered sneaking in there one night to look at the Emperor’s plans. Had Jim and her not perfected the cloak and the MTM, she would never have made it. Again, she looked over the manor, then smiled as she saw a serving girl exiting the manor by the servant’s door.