Preview

As Tim walked through the hallway of his—their—new apartment, Prudence turned the corner of the doorway ahead of him and bumped into him. He automatically moved to steady himself by grabbing onto her, and he found himself cupping her ass with both hands. She was in a skirt and blouse, and the skirt was short enough that his hands went right up under it. Her panties were thin, barely there at all, and the muscles of her ass felt firm and responsive as the momentum of their collision bled away. A split-second later, Tim let go of Pru.

But she was staring at him. Ever since they’d all moved in together, they’d been unable to get used to the eroticism of being pressed together in a single space, all of them open and available to one another, sex a near constant whether it was Steph and Cass, Mei and Promise… him and Pru.

Prudence shivered with delight, as aroused as he was, unable to deny it when he’d seen just how sensual she could be. “Your bedroom. Five minutes. If you can stomach Steph’s cooking, you can stomach eating ass.”

Naturally, Tim went to his bedroom, went through the door, and felt two stiffened fingers jabbing his neck in a nerve strike. As he fell over, he was caught and hoisted, almost weightlessly, to the bed, where he was laid down on his back.

The woman who had done it remained on top of him, regarding his paralyzed form and his all-too-mobile facial expressions. Shiva wore dark, tight-fitting clothing, one leg of her pants and the back of her jacket inscribed with ornate depictions of the Hindu destroyer that gave her her name. More innate inscriptions swirled over her armguards, the only thing she held that was near a weapon. Her short haircut was almost chic these days, though Tim was sure all she cared about was keeping it out of her eyes, and as always, the beauty of her soft, curious face and sexuality of her trim, athletic body belied her extreme deadliness.

Now that he thought about it, he could see the family resemblance between Shiva and her daughter Cass. But whereas Cass’s openness and sweetness were come by naturally, the only thing that made Shiva look even slightly alike was the fact that she didn’t consider killing people to be wrong. Cass was truly innocent. Shiva was just a sociopath.

“Timothy,” Shiva said in greeting. “You have found my interest again.”

“I’m starting to get all those mother-in-law jokes,” Tim muttered.

“Please do not speak unless asked a question,” Shiva said. “Your body’s mobility was decided to be unnecessary for this conversation. Your tongue can also be decided against. Why is the girl Prudence still with you? She is formerly of the League of Assassins. You should not be of interest to her. Of the Daughters of Acheron, Miranda has ordered Promise to stay with you as a bodyguard. This is confusing. She was meant to take your seed and discard you, but they are not yet reporting a pregnancy. Nyssa and Talia have also strayed from the path their father decrees. Ra’s al Ghul has asked me to see to this.”

“I didn’t know you were Ra’s lapdog.”

Shiva stared at him balefully, and the muscles of her arms corded with restrained motion, but she did not move. “This needs clarification. I am amenable to the requests of Ra’s al Ghul, as the dictates of his will often bring me into conflict with persons of intrigue to me. He also knows how to show the proper respect to Shiva. This is rare and worth a return of respect. But I do not take orders from him. If it does not please me, I will not destroy the Batman. At the moment, I am more interested in the convolutions of what has happened than in enforcing his will. But it will most likely please me, after I have satisfied myself with your answers, to do as Ra’s al Ghul has requested and—“