AgentRoseHQ

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AGENT: Unlike most novels, ANGEL IN BONDAGE © is also uniquely illustrated with digital paintings by me.  You can see some art beginning in this chapter, and find the rest on my Instagram/Twitter @AgentRoseHQ!  AiB will be published as a novel in the future, with an art book published separately.

[PRONUNCIATION GUIDE]

"Yiuna" = "yooh-nuh", rhymes with "luna" (think "Yuna" with an "i" after "Y")
"Li" = "力" meaning strength, pronounced as "Lee"

Italics are character thoughts in later chapters.

READY

"The Crown's agenda has only been expanding due to the increasing number of Boost vendors. She's more than needed for this operation and will be assisting in our Service."

Marianne's clean, soothing voice was her signature as the head of MI6's elite unit. Silver hair clipped back in a business twist, she ran her unit's affairs with executional grace and a refreshingly maternal hand. M eyed her glass monitor. With a swipe of her finger, she shared an agent's profile with the man in the lab's central workstation.

On par with the agent's rumors was the technological signature of HQ's lab, covertly integrated into Victorian walls and furnishings. Amidst the country's restless advances in technology, the room reflected the Kingdom's desire for the nostalgic majesty of a past era. Several glass-thin monitors eclipsed a large central desk, screens rising from their bases on the floor to project the latest surveillance and gear in the works. A tall, lean figure leaned lazily on the desk counter, the faint glow of the screens reflecting in deep-set hazel eyes.

"I could use some assistance myself." The man pushed the mess of his ash brown hair back to glaze over M's screenshare in apathy, unkempt strands falling in a disheveled charm. Each new mission meant more work for him.

His eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, followed closely by exasperation. He downplayed the heavy sigh that was threatening to surface as a few stray strands fell back over his face.

"You're killing me, teach."

The lab door clicked open to reveal the silhouette of the woman in question. Piercing silver eyes surveyed the room, chic yet mature. A worthy match for her body. Her rather cold presence was broken up only by soft, white-blonde waves that just teased her shoulders, feminine and dangerously beautiful.

"Yiuna Li. Hand her the case, Zero. And don't call me that," M said.

Zero's annoyance only grew stronger as the agent's heels clicked steadily towards him, overwhelming any trace of intimidation others may have felt around her.

"Heh. Sloppy as usual," she noted with a smirk. She found it amusing that he still managed to make business casual look too casual, even as lead.

"I prefer the term 'organized mess,'" he replied, deadpan.

"Organized piles of trash are still trash. I don't suppose you have gear beneath your rubbish to stop doing your father a disservice."

"I'll throw something in the works to stop your mouth from being a disservice." He had always known her mouth to be a detriment to her looks.

Not even a minute into their reunion and the blonde was already throwing him down, and perhaps for good reason. Spaced between the room's wondrous employment of code and machinery was cutting-edge disappointment. Zero's clutter clotted the lab, cheating on the cleanly virtue of the previous lead's arrangement. Circuitry and wires, tools and sheets of unidentified metals from who-knows-how-many projects ago were strewn haphazardly as he went about his work. The organized mess was paired elegantly with a nearby cabinet of wine and a nearly empty bottle on his desk.

Yiuna ran her fingers over a device on the counter, a handheld white cube with smooth corners and a glowing central light. Emblazoned on the side were the letters "ZEROTEK" in small, sharp font. Apparently Zero had become an undeservingly handsome narcissist since they first met a few years back. She looked back up at him in grimace, eyes narrowed in mild disgust. He sighed.

"I didn't name that device, my father did. Never asked to be called Zero, headquarters just wants nostalgia for his legacy since I took over his role."

The agent let out a terse laugh.

"How could you not have?" Yiuna picked up the wine bottle and angled his disgraceful habit towards himself.

"We have every intention of calling you 'nothing' and getting away with it. All credit to the previous lead and Zero to you."

"She's sharp, Zero." M replied, almost allowing her favor to show in a smile.

"Hey." He anticipated the return of Yiuna's provocation from the moment M shared her profile, but his mentor didn't have to chime in. "I've been holding down work well enough."

A satisfying pulse radiated on the desk's touchscreen surface as the white cube started recharging. It was this interconnectivity of devices and things that had helped create the previous lead's legacy. Zero's father found it fitting to name his team's line of technology "Zerotek" after the "double-0" agents. His work contrived a pronounced revolution in Her Intelligence Agency's operations. It was no wonder that HQ was at a loss when their lead suddenly disappeared. The critical changes instilled in its operations were carried on in his son, the apprentice.

Zero handed the agent a solid black case.

"The cruise is top-of-the-line. Nearly garish. It would be in bad taste to not send you off well-dressed. The tailors will have you at five sharp," M said. "Be ready."

 ✧ 

CHAPTER 2 PREVIEW: UNFORGIVABLE

A medic meets his fated messenger! With British intelligence at his doorstep, he can finally put his plan into action. Yiuna must save people from the launch of a new virus, but the medic is saving her? Is either person who they seem to be? Examine me. They see through each other's lies, yet keep pretending. An agent falls in love with the very man she is spying on. With this, an angel closes her heart off...

AgentRoseHQ

AGENT:

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Thank you for your Service.

Rose