I Dated an Evil Twin Read online

  Being an escort to a mysterious stranger was fine until her arch-enemy put a price on her beauty and destroyed it. Trapped in a skin marked by violence, she either has to give up or get up.

  Heraina worked in the Z-Corp marketing department. When the scientists had an idea, it was up to her team to package it and make it saleable... and irresistible. In her off hours she keeps busy by joining the ranks of the Blind Date Corporation.

  Her time at the corporation went well, and she had one patron in particular who seemed to enjoy her company. What she didn’t know was that others knew of his obsession and decided to make an example of her.

  Waking up in hospital with wounds that couldn’t heal, she fought for the recovery she could achieve. By the time treatment resumed, she had switched careers, changed her personal style, and nursed the rage inside her. Her patron found a very different woman, and he liked it. He understood rage.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  I Dated an Evil Twin

  Copyright © 2022 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-990635-20-5

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com and other e-book sellers.

  I Dated an Evil Twin

  Blind Date Corporation Book 11

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Heraina gathered the tablets from the meeting and watched Dr. Krizt and Arcady return to their lab. The tech on offer today had been the implants that Arcady was sporting. The bidding had been extensive, but the good doctor had been specific as to how sensitive the tech was to a good match. Heraina Tender had done her job and gone over pricing specifics, lead times approved by the doctor, and genetic prerequisites for optimal performance.

  She put the tablets in a sealed metal box and sent them to IT for scrubbing. It was amazing how many clients tried to slip listening devices into the offices.

  Hera locked up the boardroom and headed for the scrubber to make sure that none of the hands pinching and patting her had left a tracker behind.

  She jolted to a halt when Misker stepped out in front of her. Hera looked at the hero, and she felt ill. “Pardon me, Defender Misker.”

  He smiled. “Ah, Heraina. It is so good to see you. You always brighten my day.”

  She smiled. “I suppose that is nice. You are here to check on something?” She glanced over, and his guide was looking nervous.

  “Yes, but you seem to be doing well, so my curiosity is satisfied.” His golden good looks made him very popular with the public, but his smarmy obsession with her made her a little ill. “Do you have a date tonight?”

  She shook her head. “No, just an ordinary Thursday.”

  “Would you go to dinner with me?”

  She paused. “I don’t think that would be wise, Defender. I am not in a position to socially seek out our clients.”

  Fury flashed across his features and rapidly masked with his normally pleasant air. “I see. So, I have to wait until you are no longer employed by Z-Corp to have a date?”

  She looked at him warily. “That is a threat?”

  “No, Heraina. Just an observation.” His smile said it had been a threat.

  She nodded. “Please, excuse me. I need to head to my office.”

  “Let’s walk you there. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked the guide.

  The young woman looked helpless and simply nodded.

  They were a few dozen feet down the hall when Arcady rushed up and said, “Hera, can I borrow you for a minute? Krizt had a thought and needs a second opinion as to marketability.”

  Heraina knew a rescue when she saw one. “Sure. Um, Defender Misker, I am sure that you will be fine without me. Have a wonderful day.”

  He gripped her arm. “I hope to see you again soon, Heraina.”

  “Until our next meeting, Defender Misker.” She eased away from him, and Arcady grabbed her other arm, hauling her away.

  They rushed to the elevator and descended to the lab level. Arcady opened her mouth, and Hera shook her head. When they arrived at the lab level, Hera stuck herself in the scrubber and felt the pops of the trackers and listening devices all over her body as they exploded. The one on her arm wasn’t a surprise. He had done it before.

  When she had passed a few scans, she exhaled and walked up to Arcady. “Thanks for the save. He keeps finding excuses to seek me out.”

  “Was he threatening you?”

  “Uh, he was very particular to do it vaguely.”

  “Uh-huh. Zera has been blocking his acceptance as a patron. Well, Zera and me. He has way too many stalker vibes.”

  “Yeah, and he put a tracker on my arm. I really don’t want him to follow me home.” She shivered.

  “Do you have a date tonight?”

  Hera nodded. “I do. He’s going to be watching.” She swallowed. “I don’t know if I can leave the building.”

  Arcady frowned. “It’s that bad?”

  “Yeah. I have been seeing him at the grocery store, the gas station, and at the coffee shop down the street.” She swallowed.

  “And the peacekeepers won’t do anything against a defender that hasn’t actually acted out. And if he does, I have to survive it and lay charges actually to punish him for anything. Even then, I have to get folks to believe me.”

  Arcady murmured, “We believe you. When is your date?”

  “Two hours from now. At least I am getting dinner with him.”

  “Your regular?”

  “Yeah. I have been exclusive to him for two months. Three dates a week.”

  Arcady laughed. “How is your birth control?”

  “Firmly in place.” She grinned as they walked into the secured area and scanned for devices at each set of doors. It was amazing how a few minutes with Arcady lightened the spirit. She always knew what folks around her needed exactly.

  They sat and had coffee in the inner office while Krizt was busy plotting the next alteration to Arcady’s body. Next to the Blind Date offices, it was the safest place in the building.

  It was what she needed exactly.

  Heraina went through the pre-date prep and dressed in an evening gown, makeup, and her mask with her hair up in the requested twist.

  Arcady had stayed with her and chatted during the entire prep.

  In a break from protocol, Heraina settled in her transport, two others were sent out ahead of her in two different directions, with her vehicle leaving after that, and another decoy from the BDC was behind her. She leaned back in her seat, and her blood chilled as she saw Misker walking away from the spot he had stalked out of and following one of the other vehicles, and he took flight to follow one of the vehicles. She didn’t exhale in a loud manner, just remained quiet and on her way to her hotel. Misker could hear loud, sudden sounds. He had once gone on full alert when someone dropped a coffee mug, eyes glowing, hands in fists, and energy crackling around him. He had looked unhinged, but he had fought himself back to normalcy. At that point, he touched her cheek and smiled. “No one will get near you, Heraina.”

  That was the point she knew that he was obsessed and fixated. She had gone to management, but no one could stop him from checking in on defender projects. They just watched him when he was in the facility. Zera was pissed, but she had to let him in. He was part of the development contract.

  When they neared the hotel, she licked her lips and concentrated on calming herself. Patron liked her to start calm. If she got worked up, that would be his to take credit for.

  The transport vehicle glided to a halt, and the door opened. She got out and glided across the sidewalk and to the main doors. They opened, and she read the hotel room number on her display.

  She moved to the elevator and headed up to the sixteenth floor. The display showed her the room, and she glided to the door. It swung open, and the familiar outline and heat pattern of her patron was waiting for her. “Welcome, Aksalla Nineteen.”

  She descended into a deep curtsy. “Thank you for the welcome, Patron.”

  She waited there until he lifted her to her feet. His kiss was sweet and dark, just the tiniest bit of ferocity, with his teeth threatening to bite her lip.

  He was built like a human. A tall human that worked out a lot. She pressed against him and ran her hands up his chest.

  He lifted his head. “There is fear on your body.”

  “Not for you, Patron. Never you. I saw something that frightened me on the way here. I can take a shower and prove it, Patron.”

  “No, I don’t want to waste time with that, but you will need to tell me what frightened you.”

  She smiled and cuddled up to him. She shook her head. “It is part of my other life.”

  “You are scared in your other life?” His tone was rough. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

  She slid a hand down to the front of his trousers, “I am not supposed to mention anything that could ease the connection between me, the date, and me, the other person.”

  He sighed and eased her hand away. “Nineteen, you know I don’t like to start with aggression.”

  “Yes, Patron, you like to ease
into things to maintain control.”

  “Today, I need the control more than ever.” He kissed her neck, and she shivered and leaned into him as his tongue swirled and he sucked at her skin.

  She trembled. “Extra penalties for hickeys.”

  He grinned and laughed. “Then I had better make it worth my while.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her high, carrying her into the bedroom. “I love this outfit on you.”

  She smiled as he set her on her feet and slid the tiny straps off her shoulders, exposing her torso to his gaze, and his body got hotter when her breasts were displayed. He thudded to his knees and pressed his head to the centre of her chest. She wrapped her arms around his head and hung on. He had her for the next four hours, and he was very good at making precise use of his time.

  Nineteen kissed her patron before she left. He was grinning at her with his arm tucked behind his head. “I will see you in a few days.”

  She chuckled at the aches and pains in her body. “Thank you for the break, Patron.”

  He laughed. “You know I take it easy on you, right?”

  “Yes, Patron. My active level isn’t really suited for your strength level, but you must have been fast-talking to get management to let you have me.”

  He stroked her thigh. “It took six weeks, but when I knew your stats, I knew you were the one. I didn’t give up.”

  She smiled. “Thank you for not giving up.”

  She leaned in and kissed him until her final alarm told her to leave. He caressed her neck and held her lightly. She pulled back and made a soft sound when he held her. “I have to go, Patron.”

  He sighed. “Until the next date.”

  She grinned and stood, walking away from the man on the bed. The best part of her day, week, even life. There is no way she would miss a date with him.

  She left the room a moment before the security bot would have crashed in, and it escorted her back to the transport it had called. Her body was happily glowing as she was taken back to the base to change back into her normal clothes.

  Heraina was smiling as she got into her vehicle and prepared to drive home.

  The cool shot of the injector made her squeak. She was paralyzed, and an oily whisper sounded in her ear. “I really wanted you to react fully to this, but I hear that your kind has sensors. So, if you don’t feel pain, you won’t trip an alarm. How delightful to do this all in silence.”

  Heraina froze when the clawed hand appeared in front of her face and began a slow stroke from forehead to jaw. Heraina smelled blood, but her body was numb and only breathing in reflex. The cutting continued, and the scent of blood grew heavier.

  * * * *

  The guard did his rounds near three in the morning. There was a vehicle in the staff parking that shouldn’t be there.

  He circled it and flared his light by the driver’s door. The slow drip of blood was definitely bad.

  He looked in the window with his light and saw the pale skin streaked with blood. He stepped back and called an ambulance, and then he called management.

  He got a back board from the emergency station and hauled it over to the car. He opened the car door, and the victim was buckled in, but the belt had been shredded. He took scans and cut her free, dropping her to the backboard, and then the ambulance rolled up. The woman was unresponsive, and her entire body had been carved up.

  Most of her blood was in the car, and her body was cold. When her fingers started twitching, the guard was horrified. She wasn’t dead. “She’s not dead. And if she isn’t dead, she’s feeling this. Goddamnit!”

  The ambulance crew got an IV into a vein, a bag went up, and the injection went into the port.

  The EMTs asked him, “Do you know her name?”

  He reached into the car and got her purse. Her company identification was clipped. “Heraina Tender. Arguably the most beautiful woman in Aksalla. Management has sent a message. Spare no expense. Pass that on to the hospital, but some of our researchers are on their way.”

  She started to cry softly, and they got her into the ambulance, and if she was lucky, treatment had arrived in time.

  The guard called the peacekeepers, and they arrived to sniff around the crime scene. He forwarded the images he had taken during the extraction, and one of the sniffers noticed something. “She was paralyzed. It’s in her blood. It is fucking strong.”

  He kept looking around and raised his head. “This is familiar. It is really familiar.”

  Another sniffer came by. “Corienthe. That bastard hasn’t been back to the city in years.”

  They looked at each other and then at the guard. “Do you have security footage?”

  “Always. Come with me.”

  With the crime scene investigators swarming around the vehicle for clues, the guard took the officers down to the monitor area, and they got copies of the different angles until one finally showed the killer coming in while talking on the com to someone.

  The guard forwarded all of the information to management. They were going to need their own investigation. Ms. Tender was beautiful, sweet, and excellent at her job. An attack on premises wasn’t something that would just be ignored.

  The guard got all the information that had been gathered and forwarded it to the defenders, the peacekeepers, and the agents. All of the different branches needed to know what was going on. If a serial killer was back in Aksalla, everyone needed to know.

  Chapter Two

  Hera woke up covered in bandages, and tiny staples held her skin closed. That wasn’t good. Her mouth felt heavy and stiff. That wasn’t good.

  Her hospital room was sterile and empty of all traces of visitors. Of course. None of her family could visit.

  The door opened, and a familiar face was inside the pressurized contamination suit. She swallowed and slowly said, “Hiya, Arcady.”

  Arcady stared. “You are awake?”

  “Yup.”

  “You shouldn’t be awake yet.”

  “I was awake when this was happening, so why not be awake now?” It took effort to form the words. She remembered her lips being traced with the blade.

  “We dumped half of Khytten’s daily efforts into you, and it just slowed the bleeding.”

  “I know. Nanites, right? They are attaching to anything organic.”

  “How did you know?”

  “No flowers. You and Zera send flowers for everything. It was an easy guess that something must attach to organic material, like me.”

  “Krizt is working on it around the clock.”

  “Around... how long have I been here?”

  “We are on day five.”

  She blinked and then swallowed. “Can you tell my patron I am sorry?”

  “It was done on day one. He was notified that Nineteen had an accident.

  Hera nodded her head slowly. “Right. Of course. So, the nanites are holding my skin open?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Staples, not stitches, and Khytten’s milk can’t heal me. That means tech versus biology, and the tech is more aggressive.”

  “So, you know what we have to do.”

  “Disable the tech, flush it, and then the healing is possible. To do that, you are going to need the source.”

  Arcady’s eyes welled with tears. “I am so sorry this happened to you.”

  “Oh, it didn’t just happen. The bastard told me he had been paid to do it; he had just done it early by one day. He really wanted to play in the city, and the original plan had not been for him to get away. I was going to be rescued, but he didn’t like that idea, so he came for me early.”

  Arcady staggered backward. “How can we prove that?”

  “Get a reader in here fast to make a copy of what I remember because something is smoothing out the sharp edges.”

  Arcady nodded. “As soon as I get out of here.”

  “And is there a reason you can’t fry out the nanites in my system?”

  “They are in vital systems. We need to kill them off in slow, careful waves, like chemo.”

  “Can I get paper and a pen or pencil? I hate not having anything to do, and I know that no tech can come in here.”

  “No problem. Anything else?”

  “I will make a list with the paper and pencil.”

  Arcady smiled. “Got it. I will be back in a few hours. Nap if you can.”

  Hera nodded. “I’ll be here.”