It was supposed to be a one night stand. The last bit of freedom I’d get before being sold off. I hated the idea but Dad was the sickest he’d ever been and my step mother was out of options. So when some rich guy saw me dancing at the festival and came looking for me, she didn’t say no to his offer. Though she did promise to find me again once they had the money. But I had doubted I’d still be alive by then and had gone out looking for some fun.

That’s how I’d ended up in a stranger’s bed with one hell of a hangover. The man himself was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

“This was a mistake.”

Now that did wonders for my self esteem. But I bit off my rude remark in order to search for my clothes. “No worries, it’s just a one night stand. You’ll never have to see me ag...”

He lifted his head, revealing the tattoos snaking around his chest and up his neck. Well, shit. He was a reckoner. They calculated everything to the last moment in their lives. And in order to keep that consistent they mated for life. This kept bastard children from using their powers without permission. For a reckoner was the most powerful force that the government relied on for dealing with criminals.

I back tracked. “Look it was just one time. Surely that isn’t enough to get me pregnant.”

He sighed, “Look down.”

I did and grew cold. Dark tattoos were already weaving around my lower stomach. I looked at him. “Can’t you just take it back?”

“How stupid are you?”

“Well, you should’ve told me you were a reckoner.”

“Oh, and just break the first rule of keeping our identities secret?”

“This is why I hate reckoners. Always stuck to their rules.” And my cousin had paid for that.

“You’re no angel either.”

“Then why the hell did you bring me here?”

“I suppose the fates want me to suffer for some reason.”

The fates were always their crutch when they couldn’t explain their actions. Like how their lives weren’t their own and some other bull. I couldn’t believe my cousin had fallen for it. Got his heart broken to pieces. Well not me.

“I could care less what the fates want. I am not staying with the person I hate most in the world.”

I turned to leave not caring that I couldn’t find my clothes in the twisted sheets. The time was against me now. And the rich prick would arrive at my house soon.

But the reckoner yanked me back. I turned to yell but felt a streak of heat sear across my side. The tattoos reacted quickly covering the wound and healing it instantly.

“This is exactly why we don’t reveal our identities.” The reckoner said as he grappled with the Amazonian chick that had burst into the room.

I went for the gun she’d dropped, cursing her as I shot her in the head. He turned to me and I shrugged. “I fucking hate assassins.” It was an assassin that had killed my birth mom.

“Me too.”

We stared at each other for a moment before he spoke again.

“In my field I tend to go after a lot of them. It would be nice to have a partner I could trust.”

A chance to rid the world of such filth was too good to pass up. I looked down at my side. The tattoos had erased any evidence that a bullet had grazed me at all. Maybe...

“Can reckoners heal civilians?”

“Yeah, but you should keep that to yourself.”

Him and his damn rules. But I had finally spotted my dress under the bed. I grabbed it and pulled it over my head.

“Let’s go see my Dad real quick. Then you can bore me with all the dumb ass rules you want.”