Assassin's Mask

by Everly Frost

  I jolt to a stop and grab Lutz’s arm while the others stand clear of me. I haven’t told Vlad anything about Ridley being my father so he doesn’t know what this is about, but I appreciate that he knows it’s important enough to give me space.

  Before I left, nobody knew that Ridley was my dad. I’m guessing that’s changed. Ridley told Slade before we went on the Fury mission that if anything happened to me, he’d kill Slade despite the code.

  Lutz stares at the contact between my hand and his muscled forearm as if it’s startling that I would willingly touch him. His surprised eyes meet mine.

  I say, “Let Ridley out. Now.”

  “Only Slade can do that.”

  I growl, “Ridley doesn’t belong in a cell. Definitely not right beside Gareth. I’m certain he won’t cause any trouble when he knows I’m okay.”

  There was a time that Ridley didn’t want to know if I was his daughter because it meant he would have to watch out for me. I guess that must have changed. Dramatically.

  Lutz plucks my hand from his arm, making an annoyed sound deep in his throat, but he says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  He and Rowan push open the doors to the dining hall, but they don’t follow us inside. As I pass him, Lutz darts a look at the figures standing at the far end of the room and back at me. The tension around his eyes and mouth hits me hard. Lutz Logan isn’t the type to worry. Certainly not about me.

  This room is the place where I first saw the Clave; where I first heard Gareth talk about it. The gruesome tapestries still hang from the walls, depicting Valkyrie and Keres killing each other over the souls of dying humans. I had hoped Slade would take the tapestries down. Even the Guardian expressed a dislike of them.

  Three figures stand at the opposite end of the room, in front of the dais. Two of them wait at the side, separated from the third.

  The Guardian is as regal as always, her head held high, her intelligent gaze taking in everything from my appearance to the fact that I don’t carry any weapons, gliding over Vlad from his boots to his shaved head. She would have been present when he was declared Master. Despite her calm façade, tension is revealed in the tightness around her eyes, the stillness of her lips, and the way her hands clasp in front of her, turning white because she’s pressing them together so hard.

  Cain, on the other hand, isn’t trying to hide the fact that he’s on edge right now. It surprises me to see that he’s wearing his assassin’s ring today. He wouldn’t be able to do that without Slade’s permission. The thick gold band glints as he runs his hand through his almost-black hair. His focus flicks between me, Vlad, and… Slade.

  Slade paces like a caged lion in front of the dais. His gaze is piercing, his focus never straying from me despite his constant prowling back and forth. He is tall and powerful, muscles bunching beneath a short-sleeved shirt and supple black pants. Like me, he is not wearing a coat. Like me, he will run warmer than most humans now.

  My heart skips a beat when his blue eyes level with mine and pierce me like a blade.

  Within moments, he scrutinizes every inch of me from my eyes, to my lips, all the way down to my waist, and back up to my mouth. My entire body comes alive under his gaze as if he reached out and stroked a hand down my bare skin, as if his fingers curled around my hips, drawing me closer…

  A shiver runs the length of my spine as his power reaches out to me, sparking across the distance. Silver lights dance in the depths of his eyes, the same lights that shone when I bonded with him.

  The nature of his power is unmistakable.

  It is Valkyrie. And very, very dangerous.

  Everyone else will think it’s coming from Slade’s assassin’s ring. After all, the Guardian gave him one of the most powerful rings in existence. But this power is part of him.

  I’m part of him.

  He is harnessing raw Valkyrie power. He was lethal before. But now… he is deadly to everyone.

  No wonder Cain and the Guardian are keeping their distance.

  Fear rockets through me. My heart pounds harder in my chest; so hard I have to press my fist against it. Rowan warned us that we wouldn’t be safe once Slade sees us. I need to warn Vlad but we’re too close to Slade for even a whisper now.

  As we draw to a stop several paces from Slade’s position, I try to control my breathing, try to calm my pounding heart, but my power scatters across my torso like shivers, responding to the force pulsing off Slade in waves. Despite the danger, the pull toward him is like a magnet, dragging at me while I fight it as hard as I can.

  His lips part. “Hunter.”

  The way he says my name is like… holy damn… It’s like tearing me apart and putting me back together at the same time. My heart splits and burns, shivers and breaks, kicking hard inside my chest.

  I never should have come back.

  Chapter Seven

  I should have stayed away from Slade.

  I should have found another way to release the verdan, something, anything other than standing in front of Slade while he’s angry and ferocious and… wants me to go to him, pulling me with his every breath.

  Then his gaze shifts upward to a spot above my shoulders, to the place where my wings would be if I let them out, and it’s like a bucket of ice poured over me.

  He’s remembering my wings.

  He holds my gaze for another moment, his intense scrutiny as hot as burning coals. I can’t begin to read his thoughts as his focus finally shifts away from me.

  He strides rapidly toward Vlad. “Alexei Mason, you have trespassed into my Legion without permission. That is a crime for which I am entitled to take your life.”

  I inhale sharply. Slade has been brushing up on all of the rules in the Assassin’s Code. It’s the seventh rule: a Master Assassin must not trespass on another Master’s territory. The consequence is death. Slade has the right to kill Vlad for what is effectively an invasion of the Legion by the Dominion.

  Vlad has taken a major risk coming here today. A risk I would have cautioned him against if I’d known that he wasn’t a member of the Legion. More so because of the change in Slade that I’m now witnessing.

  Slade demands, “Why are you here?”

  Vlad draws himself up to his full height, taller than Slade. Vlad is incredibly strong, and a ferocious fighter, but he has no idea what he’s facing if he tries to fight Slade.

  I prepare myself to get between them if I have to.

  Vlad remains poised, responding to Slade’s threat with an equally powerful stance. “I’m here to warn you.”

  Slade is like a fully primed weapon about to go off. “Warn me?”

  “Your life is in danger. Along with Cain Carter’s.”

  At the side of the room, Cain and the Guardian both startle, casting alarmed and questioning glances at me but I have no answers, no reassurance I can give them. Vlad didn’t tell me why he needed to speak with them.

  Slade’s eyes narrow to dangerous slits. He has no problem invading Vlad’s space. “The only danger I see right now is you.”

  “I am not a threat to you, Legion Master.”

  “Prove it.” Slade pauses. “Leave right now. I’ll give you one chance.”

  Vlad stands his ground. “You need to hear—”

  Slade’s open hand shoots out and closes around Vlad’s throat like a vice. Vlad doesn’t have time to draw breath before Slade wrenches him off the ground. Vlad gives a strangled shout as Slade elevates him above the ground with a single upstretched arm.

  At the side of the room, Cain lurches forward and the Guardian follows, a cry on her lips. But neither of them has authority here.

  I’m already moving. “Slade, stop!”

  Before I can get between them, mere seconds after Slade grabbed him, Vlad’s instincts kick in and he retaliates.

  It’s the worst thing he could do.

  I shout, but it’s too late. “Vlad, don’t!”

  Vlad’s giant fist meets Slade’s chest, a solid hit that would have forced any
one else to let go. It’s a defensive move, the same approach he used on the draugr. He follows it up with two more hits—another to Slade’s torso and one cracking blow to Slade’s temple.

  Slade absorbs the hits and barely flinches. He forces Vlad higher, thrusting him into the air and letting go. He follows Vlad’s descent to the ground with so many rapid blows that I can’t count them. Slade’s fists, both left and right, crack across Vlad’s torso, shoulder, neck, and finally smash into his face, the force and momentum spinning Vlad backward mid-air. I know what it feels like to experience the full force of Slade’s fist and mine was only one blow. Vlad took five.

  It’s fast, brutal, and over in seconds. Vlad lands with a crunch several feet away, bouncing before coming to rest on the floor. I’m amazed when he pushes up on his hands, still conscious. But the way his limbs shake tells me he’s partially concussed.

  Vlad told me he would make everything okay for me but it’s time for me to protect him.

  “No!” I race forward, harnessing my strength to reach Slade faster than the Guardian and Cain, wrenching his arm back before he can land another blow.

  I gasp as soon as my hand connects with his arm. In that awful moment, I realize I’ve made a terrible mistake.

  Instant agony shoots through me, fiery pain burning up my arm and into my chest. The shock forces my hand to clamp around Slade’s wrist like I’m being electrified.

  The power flowing through him…

  I know it because it’s my own.

  It is Valkyrie killing power. Not just strength. Not just speed. But death.

  I can’t let go. No matter how hard I try to force my fingers apart. My hand won’t open. But it’s my heart that is in the most pain.

  I knew he carried some of my power, that it would make him stronger and allow him to heal faster but I didn’t anticipate that he would become like me. There has never been a male Valkyrie. I didn’t think it was possible. Mom told me that Valkyrie sometimes gave their birth feathers to their mortal partner to extend their mortal life. But I gave Slade one of my permanent feathers.

  What have I done?

  “Hunter!” Slade shouts and jolts. Shock flashes across his face and his body instantly tenses. His focus shoots to my fist clenched around his arm. I sense his inhale like it’s my own, his skin like it’s part of me, his power as it sears my blood, awareness of his body rushing straight into my heart.

  He was about to unleash death on Vlad, to take Vlad’s life. He harnessed the Valkyrie power when I grabbed him and now I’m absorbing it instead.

  There’s a moment of calm as I take the darkness into my body, inhale into the sudden silence…

  Then I scream out the intense pain as it rips me apart.

  Agony scorches my insides, tearing and clawing at me. It feels like every part of me is being shredded and gouged.

  Slade pulls away from me, trying to break the connection, but it’s no use. He grabs my hand with his free one, muscles straining as he tries to pry my fingers apart. “Hunter, let go!”

  There’s nothing he can do. My fingers won’t unclench until the surge of power fades—until I’ve absorbed every bit of the death that he intended for Vlad.

  Tears stream down my cheeks. I sob in a breath and scream it out again.

  Valkyrie power can’t kill me. Only Keres power can. But it’s hurting me. Badly.

  Slade roars, “Let go, Hunter!”

  Sob-screams tear out of me. “I… can’t…”

  The Guardian screams, racing toward us. “Hunter! Stop touching him.”

  Vlad struggles to get up, wobbling and falling, crawling on his hands and knees to get to me. Cain reaches me first, green eyes blazing with assassin’s power, the angle of his body and his line of sight telling me he’s going to pull me away from Slade.

  Just in time, my free hand shoots up into the space between us. “Don’t touch me or you’ll die!”

  Cain skids to a halt, muscles bunched, fists clenching. He backs away with a frustrated shout, taking glances between me and Slade. He can’t help me and the look on his face tells me he hates it.

  Slade takes hold of my wrist, but stops before he tries to pull my hand away again. His voice lowers to a whisper. “Hunter, please…”

  I can barely hear him over the sound of my screams ripping through my throat, echoing around the room.

  The far door bursts open and Rowan, Lutz, and Brandon appear on the other side of it, but Slade lifts a hand and that’s all it takes for the door to slam shut again. This time he’s using his assassin’s ring, the same way he closed the training room one time so he could kiss me.

  My knees buckle, and Slade catches me with his free arm, sliding it around my back and drawing me closer, enclosing our connected hands between his chest and mine, his big hand soothing down my back. He closes his eyes, an expression of concentration falls over his harsh features, and the power shrieking through me reduces marginally. It’s enough that I don’t have to scream out the pain anymore.

  Whimpers and sobs pour out of me instead.

  Every sound makes Slade wince.

  I have no choice but to curl over the tangle of our hands between us and drop my forehead to his shoulder, crying softly as the pain finally begins to recede.

  Slade whispers into my hair. “I never wanted to hurt you again, Hunter. I wanted you to stay as far away from me as possible. Nothing good happens to you when you’re near me.”

  My mouth is dry. I can’t speak and my thoughts are jumbled. I want to tell him that’s not true. Lots of good things happened when we were together. I slept soundly. I had an ally. I felt… liked and not feared.

  The killing force reduces again and finally… it disappears. But my insides burn. I won’t walk away from this unscathed. It will take time to heal.

  Time I don’t have right now because Slade continues to speak softly. “I can’t let Alexei walk out of here alive. It will send the wrong message to anyone who wants to attack us. It will make the Legion more vulnerable than it already is.”

  I grip his shoulder with my free hand, my clenched hand finally uncurling from his arm, the blood returning to my fingers in painful increments.

  My voice grates against my throat like I swallowed barbed steel. “I won’t let you do that, Slade.”

  I push away from him, my legs unstable and trembling.

  He reaches out to steady me but I push my hands into the space between us to stop him. I back up and around, wobbly steps, placing myself resolutely between him and Vlad.

  I had better heal fast because I’m not sure if I have the power to fight Slade right now.

  In fact, I don’t think I do.

  Slade shakes his head at me, an edge of ferocity entering his voice again. “Don’t do this. I don’t want to fight you.”

  I grit my teeth. “I won’t let you kill him.”

  Slade sucks in a deep breath, pausing, a muscle at the edge of his jaw ticking. He changes tactic so rapidly it shocks me.

  He says, “As your Master, I’m ordering you to step aside.”

  My eyes widen. He’s playing the Master role. I’m still a member of the Legion. Slade is the Legion Master. That means I have to do whatever he says and if I don’t… well… I don’t know what he’ll do, but it’s his choice to impose whatever punishment he wants. I could end up in a cell next to Ridley.

  I tilt my chin up, stubbornly refusing. “I will not.”

  His eyes narrow. He steps right up to me. The air between us is charged, the light in his eyes as bright as before, but my own power is dull now. There’s nothing left of it. I am empty except for my human emotions and that damn bond that won’t go away, that makes me want to close the final gap, kiss him, and tell him he’s being stubborn and needs to change his mind…

  I shake myself but Slade’s focus has shifted to my lips as if he followed my thoughts.

  He quietly asks, “Are you refusing to obey a direct order from your Master?”

  As he gazes at me, the fr
iction between us worsens, intensifying like a physical force. I can withstand a lot but I’m barely upright and the extra pressure on my nerves is beyond my endurance.

  I won’t win. The only way I can stop him killing Vlad is to spread my wings and let my deepest power loose. My true nature already cost me everything I wanted. If I show Cain, Vlad, and the Guardian what I am, I will lose everything else.

  Emotions race across Slade’s expression so fast I can’t catch them. There’s a war going on in his mind. He never once chose to fight me. In fact, he always refused. I was the one who stepped into the punch that knocked me out. I was the one who grabbed his hand just now to stop him killing Vlad.

  The way his lips press together in a line of concern tells me he knows I have no strength left. Damn him. I thought I could bluff my way through this.

  I clench my teeth, shut my eyes, and harness what little is left of my power.

  I can do this. Somehow. Even if I’m simply a human shield.

  Even if it means a cell next to Gareth.

  Vlad’s voice rumbles behind me. I tilt toward him, but not enough to make Slade think he has an opening. Vlad has recovered enough to draw up to his knees, a trickle of blood running from his left temple. He leaves it to run to his chin.

  He’s still dazed, but says, “There’s an easy solution, Hunter.”

  “Really?” I definitely don’t see one. “What is that, Vlad?”

  Vlad doesn’t try to get up. He’s smart enough to know he has to stay where he is if he doesn’t want to fall flat on his face and bust up his nose again. “You don’t have to obey the Legion Master if you’re not a member of the Legion.”

  I stare at him in confusion. Is Vlad asking me to defect? To join the Dominion? Is that his idea of helping me?

  He grins, his warm gray eyes like a storm over the sea. “Declare yourself Rogue.”

  I suck in a breath. My mother was Rogue.

  She broke all ties with the Legion and became her own Master. But if I do that, I won’t be able to step foot inside the Realm again without an invitation. I will break any official connection I have with Slade once and for all.