Administrative Control (Immortal Ops) by Mandy M. Roth Page B

said nutjobs even crossed the threshold of her establishments over the centuries, seeking the comforts her people provided. Funny how her kind was sought after in some respects and shunned in others. Over her lifetime she and her people held many names.
    Too many to count.
    They’d been labeled everything from harlots to whores. It didn’t matter what brand was placed upon them, what they did never changed.
    They gave others pleasure.
    They fulfilled sexual fantasies.
    They were supernaturals who required sex and sexual energy to live. Most had succubus or incubus blood in them. Some had Fae and others pixie. And others were hodgepodges of various lines of supernaturals who also needed sexual stimulation. All were willing participants and were screened before joining her team. They had to be mentally prepared for what the life would bring as well as physically ready. It would do no good if clients went home unhappy and unfulfilled.
    “Thank you for gathering this,” Jinx said. “When he asked for our help, I didn’t know it would open this can of worms.”
    Aneta offered a soft smile. “We did it because he asked, Jinx.”
    When Jinx had received a call from Asher, asking if she could keep her ear to the ground on any information regarding a second I-Ops team, she had thought it would be easy enough. That nothing much would cross their paths at her club, but that she would do as he asked because it was Asher and she owed him. Long ago he’d done something she knew he regretted but in the end he’d helped her get away, start anew and turn her life around. He made her independent.  
    When she’d said yes to helping him, she’d had no idea what they would uncover.
    “He trusted you enough to ask you to do this,” said Aneta. “And you know as well as I do that no matter what he asked, you’d make sure it was done.”
    Jinx blushed. She would. Asher had that sort of sway over her, though she’d never been sure why.
    Aneta had been with Jinx so long that Jinx was hard pressed to remember the exact number of years. They’d been through much together. A bond of complete trust lay between them.
    Aneta had gathered so much information that it was actually difficult to take it all in. This new material was a game changer. And Jinx wasn’t sure it was going to change anything for the best or not. She doubted it would help anything whatsoever.
    Only time would tell.
    Jinx just knew this intel was something others would kill for and kill to keep from coming out. She’d been around powerful people all her life and knew the lengths they’d go to in order to remain in control of their authority.
    While her scars were no longer visible on the outside, she bore plenty within. They told the tale of what those who were corrupt would do to those they thought a threat or weaker than them—to those they assumed they could own and command.
    It was also why she’d always leaned towards helping those who helped others.
    Good guys.
    Though they were few and far between.
    It was dangerous to possess the material, but that didn’t scare her enough to shred it. Aneta had put herself on the line to gather it and Jinx would make damn sure it found its way to the right hands.
    Aneta knew of Jinx’s past. Of the horrors she’d endured at the hands of Fabianus—a sick bastard who had his height of glory during the Roman Empire. Colonel Asher Brooks had played a hand in her coming to belong to Fabianus and in her ultimate release from his clutches. She suspected he had a lot to do with Fabianus’s downfall as well, though he’d never said as much. In truth, after the Fabianus incident Asher had said very little to her for nearly one hundred years. That had long since passed, thankfully.
    When Aneta learned Asher was in need of information, she’d artfully managed to get her client to spill the beans and provide her access to the intel Jinx now had.
    Jinx picked up her phone and considered dialing a man she knew would drop everything