1 PROLOGUE

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A DISCLAIMER

Before reading, keep in mind that this book was made with an adult audience in mind and will include topics such as the following:

-explicit content (violence, mild gore, and heavy sexual themes)

- use of alcohol, dealing with deeply drunken characters

-triggering topics such as anxiety, sexual/domestic abuse, family issues, description of blood and dead bodies, and self-harm

THIS BOOK WAS MADE FOR PEOPLE 18 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER.

READER DISCRETION IS HEAVILY ADVISED.

Thank you and enjoy the book! :)

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MAID OF HONOR

'MELANINDUMP 2022©

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"Pay close attention everyone, I want all eyes out on our target. Things need to go as smoothly as possible to get this order off our asses."

"Roger that," A'Lana Cane- preferably Lana- responded as she looked through the small glass on her shotgun, analyzing everything with a careful eye. She adjusted her position while watching the two fancy men shake hands as one placed his hand on the back of the other, gesturing him towards another entrance.

"Ahh, would you care for another cup of Brandy, governor?" Lana mimicked as she watched the two men have a conversation, obviously walking towards the bar. The blonde giggled to herself, "Yes Mr. Xavier, I would love for you to get me wasted while talking on and on about your glorious condom company-"

"Cane."

Lana cleared her throat, changing her tone, "Y-yes?"

"What's going on? Is the target still occupied?"

"N-nothing- I mean um...yes!" Lana looked back into the small looking glass on her sniper rifle, "They're headed towards the bar right now, I'm guessing to talk more about the election happening in a few months. So Governor Xander is very much occupied."

"Good. Keep your eyes peeled, the boys are almost done with the operation. I'll let you know if we need any assistance."

"Noted," Lana responded, as the connection ended. She sighed, adjusting the bulletproof vest to make her breasts feel much more comfortable. Alas, she wasn't very successful in loosening the vest, so she resorted to adjusting her breasts instead which felt much better. And it's not like anyone else was around to watch, she made sure of that the moment she jumped up here once the mission started.

Her job was just to stand and keep watch. And seeing as she was one of the best snipers in Cobra's mafia, it's not like she had much of a choice.

"Holy Christ, I forgot how fucking boring keeping watch is," She grumbled to herself, stepping away from the looking glass to stretch her back, "How are you gonna say, 'Oh Lana, you're an important aspect of the mafia, I need you!' but send me out to the most low-level missions or make me keep watch while your buyers transport your drugs? Sum bullshit I tell ya."

The blonde sighed to herself, "Relax Lana, this is the last duty you've gotta do and then you're home free," She continued to say, patting both her cheeks to get her head in the game.

But the woman stayed in her thoughts, trying to stay motivated and relaxed no matter how boring her current situation was. Especially since she was walking on a tight rope in her position, still thinking of the words that were said to her before she left the headquarters...

"Mess this up, and your mother and grandmother are done for."

She knew she had to do this, it was in her blood to be one of the greatest sharpshooters and stealthy snipers thanks to her father. A man who went from owning a bounty hunter business to joining his brother's mafia because of his sharp-shooting skills to becoming the ruler of that empire himself.

A man known as none other than Cobra, formerly known as Winter Cane, leader of the Cobra Empire.

And of course Lana didn't want to be a part of her father's darkened legacy, even tried multiple times to shake out of it and make a name for herself. Especially after her mother finally divorced the man and took Lana in hopes of running away, going to stay with her grandmother to live a normal, non-violent lifestyle.

But Cobra always found a way to reach out to the woman, no matter the circumstance. When Lana turned 16, Cobra came to her party and threatened to kill her friends if she didn't come with him. When the girl turned 18 and Cobra talked her into being his sniper to make some extra cash to pay off her college tuition. Shit, once Lana turned 21, Cobra kept calling Lana in back and forth in hopes of getting her to work for him full-time.

And what was even worse, Lana necessarily didn't have much of a choice.

She even tried putting her foot down this last time but doing so lead to her father targeting the lives of her mother and grandmother. Meaning Lana would have absolutely nowhere else to turn to but her father. Which was exactly what Cobra wanted, but this was his way of showing mercy and being patient with Lana.

Being fatherly.

Lana's ears twitched as she heard a bundle of laughter, looking down to see a young girl giggling with both of her parents. She smiled, watching them head to their vehicle as she heard the small joke the father spoke out, seeing both the mother and girl laugh in unison. Lana could only wish her family, her mother and father at least, were that functional that they could make a small joke and just live peacefully.

If only those Xerophyte drugs didn't start going around, her father wouldn't be as bloodthirsty as the other mafia rulers, and her family would still be what it was.

Lana furrowed her brows as she saw some hooded figure headed towards the family, leaning down towards her gun as she grew prepared to take out the strange person. The small family noticed as well as the hooded figure bumped into the father. But they stepped away, waving apologetically as the father forgave them, letting them proceed on their path.

"Phew," Lana let out, letting her guard down, "Just a small misunderstanding."

"Yes, thank god. I thought I was gonna have to go down there and stop doing my job."

"God, I know right."

Pause.

Lana's eyes widened as she turned sharply, noticing another person right beside her. They smiled brightly, showing their teeth and all as they dressed in a slick and smooth all-red superhero-like attire. Half of their face was covered with a mask, revealing their luscious red lips, and their suit was completed with a cute little red cape behind them.

"Um-" Lana furrowed her eyebrows, "Excuse me-"

"Oh! I'm sorry," The all-red figure replied, placing their hands on their hips, "I had nowhere else to go to make sure the governor wasn't being hunted tonight. Or better yet, mind-controlled! Or god....I honestly dunno. There's always strange new drugs going around with the mafias nowadays, it's hard keeping track."

"Hello! Who the hell are-"

"Cane! Agent Cane!"

Lana's eyes widened as she tried tapping into her earpiece communicator, "Vic? Vic hello? I'm here, what's going-"

"The place has b-..... there's set traps every-....CANE WE NEED-"

"Need what? What do you need?! VICTOR!" Lana tried, but after hearing another agonizing scream, the connection was lost. All the woman could do was panic, tapping her earpiece to reconnect to the man or anyone else for that matter.

But she remained unsuccessful.

"Oh shit," Lana spat to herself frantically, grabbing her weapons as she completely forgot about the strange person who was on top of the roof with her, "Oh shit oh shit oh shit- FUCK! What the hell happened?! Everything was perfectly fine minutes ago! Fuck, Cobra's going to kill me- but I didn't even do anything this time-"

"Omg wait," Lana's eyes widened as she heard the voice, remembering the strange woman was still on the rooftop with her. Her red lips curled in a smile as she pointed her index finger towards Lana, "You're Cobra's sniper! You're the one who almost shot the governor during his speech 2 years ago and almost got him!"

"Wh-what? I don't know what you're talking about-"

The woman's eyes darted towards Lana's sniper rifle, "Holy shit YES! It is you! Wow, you've got really good aim."

"Excuse me ma'am, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. And I honestly suggest you fucking stop while you're ahead-"

The red woman blew a raspberry, "Oh please, you can't fool me. I know a sharpshooter when I see one," She placed a hand on her hip, analyzing Lana carefully, specifically her hands, "Yep, you're definitely the one. You're one of Cobra's special snipers...I'm assuming! You're the one he uses for special missions that involve the governor."

Lana's eyes almost popped, "Wh-wHAT-"

"Gosh finally!" The woman held her hand out for Lana to shake, "It's honestly such an honor to meet you! I've gotta say, you've got excellent aim. You're the only sniper I've met who even had the slightest chance to kill me."

"HUH-"

"Not only that, you almost killed the governor! But honestly, if you were told to actually kill him and not threaten him during that one heist, you most definitely would've."

"H-HOW DO YOU-"

"Alas, you were only told to scare him. Gosh, I gotta give you your props Miss Cane, you must've had some of that xero powder because your eyesight? Mwah, chefs kiss-"

The woman stopped in her sentence, holding her hands up in defense as Lana pointed her rifle directly towards her face, "Listen bitch, I don't know who the fuck you are or how you know about me and that whole mission-"

"Oh, that's because I'm the one who stopped it from proceeding. Don't you remember?"

Lana furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think back on the exact moment the woman was referring to. She just kept her eyes on the woman looking at her with a nonchalant grin, unbothered and all. And the more she glanced at the woman closely, the moment Lana remembered exactly what happened during that whole mission and why Cobra was so heavy on her ass as he was now.

That was Cobra's last and final attempt at taking down the Governor, and Lana was set and ready to take the shot to his leg. Unfortunately for her, she missed by a landslide. And all because someone from afar shot her hand before she could even take the shot, giving the governor time to escape from Cobra's men as the police arrested them. The blonde couldn't even find the cause of the shot until she looked straightforward, squinting her eyes and seeing yet another rifle far away amongst all the snow.

A red velvet one with a name in cursive on the side. And the shooter was wearing a pretty and recognizable fluffy redcoat. And her mask...

"You..." Lana finally remembered, her glare darkening, "You were the one who shot me in the hand that day!"

"God, 'bout time you caught on-"

"You're the Velvet Vigilante!" Lana cuffed her rifle, pointing it even further in the face of the masked vigilante as she walked towards her, "You're the one that the other mafias have been warning Cobra about! You've been stopping missions and coming in between drug deals!"

"And I'm also in the news recently! The government's after me as well, y'all ain't that special-"

"You're the fucking reason Cobra's been so tight on my ass for fucking YEARS now! He's been sending me out on these missions back and forth, taking away my fucking freedom, forcing me to do this shit while threatening my mom and nana all because of you."

The vigilante widened her eyes, "Whew shit, okay I wouldn't say I'm the reason for all that-"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Lana husked, getting ready to shoot directly at the woman.

Or at least she would've...if-

"Aww...what's wrong?" The woman mocked, chuckling deeply as she relaxed her arms, "No bullets?"

"FUCK THIS!" Lana aggravatingly tossed her rifle as she swung her fists in the direction of the woman instead, hoping to get a direct hit. But as Lana's world went slow, her eyes widened as she watched how quickly the woman dodged her attack, almost as if it was nothing.

Lana furrowed her eyebrows, trying to punch the woman more times, getting more and more impatient as the woman continued to dodge every single swing with no trouble at all. And when Lana almost got close to her face, the woman ducked down, punching Lana directly in the stomach, harsh as fuck.

And this wasn't some normal harsh punch to the gut. No, it felt like a strong force flew right in the blonde's gut, causing everything in her world to crash and come to an immediate stop. And as Lana was slowly pushed away by the forceful punch, the vigilante kicked her, hard, as a gust of wind blew Lana to the other side of the roof.

Lana hit the concrete fence, breathing heavily as she felt her spine damn near crack after hitting the fence with such force. She just groaned, attempting to get up but her body was giving up on her minute by minute.

"Oh shit," She heard, but the voice was fuzzy. As was her vision as she looked up, seeing nothing but a fuzzy and blurry reflection of the vigilante who bent down to her level, "Holy shit, I didn't mean to hit that hard! You okay?"

Lana's glare only darkened more as she started to feel herself heal from within, leaning back just to headbutt the vigilante hard as hell. Both women groaned at the forceful pain, but Lana slowly rose while the vigilante held her forehead, giving Lana time to rush towards the masked intruder and aim a successful punch to the face. The woman stepped back further, seeing Lana was breathing heavily, but slowly but surely got into a fighting stance as she prepared herself for what was next.

And with that, the masked woman smiled, wiping away the speck of blood from the corner of her mouth, "I like you, Miss Cane."

The blonde huffed to herself as she ran towards the velvet crusader the moment she ran towards her, both of them jumping up in unison. However, the woman was a bit higher than Lana, spinning only to kick her down into the building they were standing on top of. Lana groaned at the pain in her stomach, feeling a much stronger force than before, but still managed to get up while looking around for the vigilante in the abandoned building.

It was silent for a second as she looked around, but Lana's eyes widened as she finally heard running. Fortunately, she stopped the vigilante's kick before it could hit her face, pushing her leg away as she punched the woman in the stomach this time. But before Lana could make another punch, the woman slide kicked her from below, causing Lana to trip. Lana only stayed down for a few seconds though, using that advantage to kick the vigilante with both her feet from below.

Lana got up slowly, seeing the woman was finally down, giving her time to take a breather. And the blonde would've turned away and left, had the vigilante not got up fast as hell, shooting a few punches towards her. Lana dodged a few of them until she saw the woman's leg rise up and upper kick her right in the face.

Lana breathed heavily, landing on her knees as she coughed up a bit of blood, "What the HELL!" She looked up, seeing the vigilante walk right towards her. She wasn't even struggling, breathing heavy- NOTHING! She was just standing there with her hands on her hips, watching Lana try her hardest to keep up.

"I've gotta say, you are one good ass fighter," The vigilante responded, crossing her arms, "You're really fast on your toes and all, but you just gotta work on your reflexes and you'll be set straight-"

"You fucking bitch!" Lana spat, spitting out a bit more blood, "Just what exactly are you?"

"Oh dollface," The woman snickered, walking towards the fallen blonde as she placed her hand on her shoulder. She brought her lips down to the woman's ear, whispering, "You're not exactly in the right position to be asking me anything."

Before Lana could even ask, the woman karate-chopped the back of her neck violently, putting the pissed blonde to sleep immediately. The woman sighed, lifting herself up as she looked down at Lana's selfless body, cocking her head to the side to get a good angle.

As she did, she felt a slight pain in her neck hit, causing her to groan, "Jesus fucking christ, you really did give me a fucking challenge."

"Mallory! Mal, are you there? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine Iris," The vigilante, or rather...Mallory, responded back while rubbing her neck, "I just got done fighting probably one of my biggest foes. She's almost as good of a fighter as Faith because my god, this girl was fighting me like I destroyed her whole life."

"Probably did. I bet she's another one of your forgotten treasures-"

"No, hell no," Mallory tsked, stretching her back, "Not my type and clearly not hers either. She's Cobra's sharpshooter though and she's really good at defense," The woman blew a raspberry, snickering to herself, "Or...was."

"Oh my fucking god, did you fucking kill another one?"

"I actually spared her life, thank you very much! She's actually really strong, we could use someone like her."

"There she goes again, doing what she does best."

"And what is that? Abduction?"

"Oh Mercedes, hush!" Mallory put Lana over her shoulders with ease, grabbing her rifle as well, "Mission's complete, I'm on my way back to the headquarters now with a special little package."

"Mallory, for fucksake-"

Mallory cut the connection, humming a sweet tune as she walked out of the building with Lana hanging from her shoulders.