Chapter 1

It was ten o'clock in the morning. Tamsin entered the door of the Fae intelligence building. The morning rush hour had passed already, yet there was still a short line in front of the securities in the hall. Tamsin had no choice but standing behind them, waiting to go through the x-ray scanner and the metal detector.

That was exactly why she came at ten instead of eight in the morning. If she had come at eight she would have waited at least half an hour just to get through that stupid scanner. Being a secret agent of the Fae intelligence department for ten years, Tamsin was never patient when going through the securities in the hall. It was always slow, boring; and someone always, always, forgot to take out something that he or she should have, causing the waiting time longer...

Just when she was thinking about it, the siren of the metal detector door rang. The guy who just went through it looked confused. Guards had to give him a pat down and turned out it was few coins in his jacket pocket.

Tamsin rolled her eyes. Amateur, she thought. Actually she never got the idea of having such redundant system here. In no more than five seconds she could name twenty different kinds of faes who could get through it without being detected. But she had to stand there and wait.

Finally, it was her turn. She took off her jewelries first, then her jacket, then her belt. Her blades, darts and daggers were all sheathed in and attached on her belt. She walked through the door. The door did not make a sound.

While she was putting everything back on her, a guard with a big coke cup stopped sipping and stared at her weapons, then her.

Must be a new recruit. She thought. Otherwise he wouldn't stare, let alone having 'hey can I buy you a drink' written all over his face.

She smiled at him, yet that smile chilled him to the bones. The poor guy panicked and excused himself to the men's room.

Not looking at anyone there twice, Tamsin walked in the elevator.

She pressed the button to the 20th floor. Then she looked at herself in the mirror on the wall in the elevator. She saw herself there, a tall blonde girl, with tight jeans, knee high boots and a blue jacket. Weapons on her waist were hidden under her jacket. She ran her index finger on them, one after another. She saw the girl in the mirror did the same thing. She was attractive, yet intimidating.

She was alone.

The elevator stopped. Tamsin walked out and entered her superior's office. No one was there, yet.

Through the windows the morning sun shined on the pictures hanging on the walls. They were pictures of the elders of the five most powerful Fae families, and the Morrigan, and the Ash.

The Ash. She sneered. Back in the days when there was the great war between the dark and the light, they would have burnt anyone alive if they kept the pictures of the opposite leader. Yet there he was, side by side, with the Morrigan. Now that the dark and the light had been in peace for years, they agreed to disagree and formed alliance against anyone who was against them. And that was why the department of fae intelligence was formed.

Tamsin heard the sound of high heels tapping on the floor tiles. The sound got closer and closer, then a woman walked into the office.

She was tall and blonde too. But unlike Tamsin, she was in her early 50s. Her hair, her pearl white suit and her jewelries had made her look impeccable. She sat down behind the desk.

"You are late." She said. There was not even a hint of smile on her face.

"Great. Then we don't have time for small talks, do we?" Tamsin said.

"If I remember correctly, you should have come in an hour ago."

"Fire me." Tamsin smiled. It was the same smile she gave the poor new guard downstairs. But the woman behind the desk did not excuse herself out like he did. Instead she gave her a cold stare, and took out a file folder from the top drawer of the desk.

"Your new assignment. " She said.

"What? New assignment? What about the case I am working on right now?"

"You did your job and there was little left so I had someone else took it over. " The woman said. It seemed that she enjoyed watching Tamsin losing control. She paused for a while, then said, "This one is high priority and top secret."

"Yes sir."

The woman ignored Tamsin's sarcasm tone and said, "Go home, spend some time reading the files. Do not screw up."

She didn't say anything for a minute or two, so Tamsin thought it was her cue to leave. But as she started walking, the woman stopped her and said, "Stop running your index finger on your weapons when you are standing. That is a sign of weakness. "

"It was so very nice to see you too, mother." Tamsin said.

She walked out her office without saying good-bye.