much for me to give him permission to do whatever he wanted as long as we both walked away happy with the results.
I needed to have a long talk with my mother about her contribution to my special brand of insanity.
“There is a serial killer who is targeting women of your age and description. He is also a probable rapist and a kidnapper among other things. It is believed, at current, that he kidnaps his victims, impregnates them, and takes the children before murdering them. As their reproductive organs are missing, it’s impossible to prove this theory. The government is concerned about the possibility of children, as it is unknown what he may have done to them. You were selected as he has not targeted a lycanthrope to date, and this would make the job safer for you to complete. It’s believed he forms relationships with his potential victims before he takes them. Unfortunately, as we aren’t certain if there are live children to account for, we need to be careful. As you match the physical general description of women he likes to target, you might be able to get close to him without becoming his next victim.”
My brows shot up at Sebastian’s little speech, given in the lobby where anyone might hear us. Then again, after a quick check, the only people who could hear us were the security guards.
“Brunettes of somewhat short stature with an overabundance of mammary material?” I regarded my breasts, which were a little larger than I preferred, although they rarely interfered with my work. If anything, given the right treatment, they helped with my work, especially when I needed to deal with a lycanthrope seeking a mate. “I usually hunt lycanthropes.”
“We don’t believe he’s infected with the virus. And while your status as a brunette of somewhat short stature plays a role in his chosen targets, all of the victims are scarred.”
What an asshole. Why did my job put me into contact with so many assholes? Oh, right. I hunted assholes for a living. Of the assholes I dealt with, killing Sumners was off the table, so I’d have to deal with him being a jerk with some grace. “Okay, it’s bad enough to have scars, but to hunt and kill us over it? Nasty.”
“After ridding you of your reproductive organs,” Sebastian added.
“That’s just wrong, Sumners. That’s so wrong I’d consider doing this one on the house, except I need that damned money for my scar treatments. Jack the Ripper copycats suck, and I will happily help you murder him. Without remorse.”
“You will have the option to choose between a cash payment or a full scar removal treatment courtesy of the CDC as payment for killing off the Jack the Ripper copycat.”
I sucked in a breath, and when the elevator opened, I froze, forcing the lion to haul me inside. While I wanted to bristle at being handled, my virus wanted more attention from him. I needed to put my virus into a corner until she had a chance to take a cold shower and remember Sumners was not suitable mate material. My virus recognized me for the big, fat liar I was, as he’d be the perfect mate, if I could convince him to pay me any positive attention. “Could you repeat that? I couldn’t have heard you right.”
“You will have the choice between a cash payment or a complete scar removal treatment. The CDC will send one of their top specialists to handle the scar removal upon completion of the job. You will need to find proof of wrongdoing, you will need to locate any children born, dead or alive, and you will need to bring his living or dead body in for trial. Frankly, we would appreciate if you brought him to us as a corpse. The trial would be very short and save the government a great deal of money. Should you bring him to us as a corpse, you will need to undergo angelic verification justifying lethal force and to confirm the evidence gathered.”
“The treatment to fix my face costs millions, Sumners.”
“Two and a half million if you go the cheaper route, almost seven million for a high-end specialist with experience handling scarred lycanthropes. The CDC would be providing the high-end specialist. Any reconstructive surgery to repair underlying issues would be included, and you would undergo imaging to identify what your face should naturally look like, if you had not undergone catastrophic injury as a child. Should the imaging