The Anathema by Zachary Rawlins

toothbrush, the sting making her eyes water, though she had enough composure to make sure it didn’t show. She was decidedly less than happy with Renton when she turned around and made an interrogative noise, her mouth full of toothpaste.
    “Sorry,” Renton said, looking anything but. “But I’m curious. Timor I understand, he has done some personal security courses, and I think he will make a decent bodyguard, even if he is a bit inexperienced. But Katya was trained as an assassin, Ana.”
    Anastasia said something that apparently sounded enough like ‘And?’ that he understood.
    “I looked up her records,” Renton admitted with a guilty look. She knew from experience that it was entirely for show. Renton didn’t make mistakes, and he didn’t feel bad for anything he did. “She’s formidable in her own way. Six years worth of tradecraft and combat training, and her aptitudes are all solid. Nevertheless, her proficiency is all in wetwork. She is academically, diplomatically and socially unfit for the position; moreover, she does not know the first thing about protecting someone. Katya is nothing more than a killer, not to mention emotionally unstable. So, why her?”
    Anastasia closed the door in Renton’s face, ran water in the sink, and then finished brushing. She did not normally bother with mouthwash at night, but she did this time, delaying to make a point. When she finally opened the door again, he was still there, with the same false, friendly smile on his face.
    “Did you learn anything else interesting about Katya?” Anastasia demanded, trying to act as if she wasn’t talking to Renton in her nightdress, her hair down in preparation for bed.
    “Well, she does manage to look alright, even in the uniform…”
    “Do you have to say things like that, Renton? That has nothing to do with why she is here. Katya’s protocol, you fool. Do you think she could, say, kill Alex with it?”
    “I could kill Alex with a mean look,” Renton said smugly.
    “When he is at full power?” Anastasia asked, her voice dripping with contempt. “When he is using his Black Protocol? I am not so certain, Renton. I am not sure that you could get close enough to him to try. While you are poking around records that you are not supposed to be in, review the footage of what happened in the quarry, when Michael had him activate that protocol for the first time. It was quite frightening.”
    “If you say so, but…”
    “I assigned her to Alexander as a favor to someone worth doing a favor for, someone who wanted to take out a bit of protection, while hopefully providing him with an educational experience. Katya may be a terrible student, but she excelled in the Program.”
    “Oh,” Renton said, nodding. “Then it’s just a coincidence that’s she’s…”
    Anastasia glared at him, her best glower, and he trailed off and looked chastised. She was not at all sure he actually was.
    “Nothing I do is unintentional, Renton,” she snapped. “I hoped you would have realized that by now. Whatever happens with Katya, I assure you, it will be what I had in mind.”
    “That would be easier to accept if you weren’t wearing those,” Renton said, pointing down at her feet. They both paused to look at her plush brown slippers, and then Anastasia looked back up at him, twitching with fury.
    “These are Domo slippers,” she said menacingly. “Don’t you dare mock Domo.”
    “Of course,” Renton said, holding his hands up in faux surrender. “Whatever you say.”
    “Speaking of whatever I say, what are you doing here? What did I tell you about coming to my room? Or using telepathy to keep my dogs from eating you?”
    “Something encouraging, I hope.”
    Anastasia shook her head and then sighed.
    “Enough. Renton, I am about to get upset,” she said quietly, but with feeling. “Therefore, I suggest that you find somewhere else to be. Maybe you could find a girl who actually appreciates you showing up unannounced in her