Colt Kymmer tried to ignore the knocking at his door. He knew exactly who it was and wanted nothing to do with her. His thoughts drifted back to Amneris. It had been a shock to remember what she looked like, but actually seeing her was something else. She looked slightly different to the last time he had seen her. The left side of her face had a black tattoo curling around her eye and trailing down her neck back then. He had seen it on her fingertips last night. He wondered just how far down it went. The right side of her face had a scar starting from just above her eyebrow, going straight over her eye, and ended in the centre of her cheek. He had no idea how she got it. It had not been there before. He had glimpsed the scar for a moment when he saw it under her hood. It could have been a trick of the light.

She still wore that ring - the one he gave her all those years ago. He could picture it perfectly: the metal had been carved with swirling patterns and covered with gold leaf. A single sapphire sat on the band while small lapis lazui stones had been placed around it. He swore that it had glowed the first time she put it on. He had one like it once. He wondered where it was now, if she kept it hidden or if it was forgotten to all but him. It could be in a museum, for all he knew.

Colt leaned back on his couch. She had not recognised him, though he figured that would happen. He did not look as he used to, stuck in the body that was never meant to be his. Perhaps if he could win her over once again, she would help him leave the DMS. It was either that or tell her who he really was. No, he told himself. It was too soon for both of them. He would find a way to tell her and rejoin her Court sooner or later. He had other problems right now, one of them being the woman knocking at his door. Unable to stop himself any longer, Colt got up and opened it.

Tara was standing on his porch, arms crossed. She ducked under his arm and let herself in. It was an effort to not strangle the woman in his living room. "The hell you want?" he demanded.

"Glad to see you, too," she smirked. "You're not dead."

"Again, the hell you want?" He could feel his self-control beginning to fail. The sooner this visit was over, the better.

"I thought our thief would have killed you." She circled him. "Or at least broken a few bones, but there's not even a scratch. Amazing, huh?"

Colt tapped his foot. "Must I ask again?"

Tara fell onto his couch. "Relax. I just wanted to see if you got the identity of our thief."

"Millennium Sorceress," he answered, remembering one of the said thief's old aliases. He hoped she still used it sometimes, otherwise his whole plan was a bust.

She let out a laugh. "You took on Tenjo and survived?" She bashed her fist on a pillow. "That's a laugh!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, pretending to be clueless.

"Millennium Sorceress is one of our favourite queen's other names. She has not used it for quite some time, but it comes up occasionally. Perhaps you won her over and that's why you're not bloody and beaten," Tara said, though he could hear the doubt in her voice. "Anyway, we have to stick to the plan."

"And the plan would be?"

"Find where Enliatu is being held, free him, and kill Tenjo. Not necessarily in that order," she added.

"Are you crazy?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Don't answer that. You are crazy, no, insane is a better word."

"If we want to kill Tenjo, we need someone who has done it before," she explained. "Besides, I am quite sure he is itching for revenge against her. Win-win."

"Win-win-lose," Colt corrected. "Sure, kill Amneris, Enliatu gets his revenge, but we also die in the process."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," Tara put simply. "The many would be Amneris dying, the few would be us dying." She shrugged. "Simple as that."

Colt rolled his eyes. "Then why don't you go get started on that. I'll hold down the fort here."

She shrugged again. "Your choice." She brushed her hand over his shoulder. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"You'd better," he called as she walked out the door. He went over to the table and picked up his phone. He tapped it on the palm of his hand before punching in numbers. "Hope she won't kill me."