Assassin's Mask

by Everly Frost

  I peer inside the bag. It’s not the usual mass-produced takeaway. Multiple clear containers are filled to the brim what look like specially-prepared meals.

  He gives me a surprisingly self-conscious smile. “I wasn’t sure what you like, so I asked my chef to make a variety of dishes. There’s some for William, too.”

  I suppress the urge to raise an eyebrow at him. “Your chef?”

  He shrugs his broad shoulders. He’s not quite as massive as Vlad and slightly leaner than Slade. He’s casually dressed in what I suspect are thousand-dollar designer pants and a long-sleeved shirt that fits his muscular physique perfectly.

  As soon as I take the first bite, I can’t help but moan. “Can I get a personal chef, please?”

  Cain gives me a smile that would kick-start my heart if I was any other woman. “I’ll bring you meals whenever you like, Hunter.”

  “Hah! Your girlfriend wouldn’t like that much.” When I bumped into Cain at the last charity event he hosted, the woman on his arm looked at me like I was gum under her shoe.

  He clears his throat, suddenly serious. “There’s a difference between the public persona I maintain and the life I actually lead.”

  I’m smart enough to know that I’ve hit a nerve. None of us can have a normal relationship. Especially not the Masters. I know better than anyone what it’s like to reveal only a tiny portion of my true self to someone while I keep the rest hidden.

  When he finishes his meal, he puts down his fork and says, “I’m not going to push you for details about what happened this morning. But I’m coming back tomorrow. You’re going to tell me everything then. In the meantime, I’ve had an infrared security system installed outside the shop as well as at the entrance to the street. Vlad can monitor it. I’m also leaving a security team here to help out until you’re back on your feet. Don’t worry, they’ll blend in. Nobody will notice them.”

  “Cain… you can’t…” I swallow and stop myself before we get into another discussion about ‘help.’ “I’ll pay for all of it. The repairs, the system—”

  “I’m not taking a cent from you.” He takes my plate and slides off the bed.

  I hurry to stop him. “Wait, it’s important. Nobody can know about this.” I point to my wounds. “I walked into the Realm and I walked out of it. As far as everyone knows, the wounds were superficial. It’s important they don’t find out.”

  “I understand. You need to be indestructible.” He rubs his jaw. “If anyone asks why you’re not out and about, I’ll tell them you’re doing research. You have targets, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  He says, “Then that’s your cover while you rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Once he’s gone, I slide under the blankets. I’ve never been physically vulnerable and I… really don’t like it.

  I close my eyes, telling myself I will rest for a moment and then I’ll get up.

  Before I know it, I’m asleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I wake to sunlight and a growling stomach. Also voices coming from the kitchen. I peel up the corner of a patch to check my wounds, disappointed to find that they aren’t completely healed, but they’re close. I check my power and my senses, seeking my wings inside my mind. They are strong again and ready to release if I need them. All in all, I might need one more day of rest and I’ll be okay.

  I dress and emerge into the kitchen. Three people are huddled around the table: William, Briar, and… Ridley.

  “Dad.”

  Ridley rises to his feet and crosses the distance, but stops before he hugs me. He says, “I’d wrap you up in hugs if you weren’t already wrapped in bandages. I don’t want to hurt you—”

  I throw my arms around him and drop my head to his shoulder. He relaxes into it, gently sliding an arm around my back, pressing lightly. “That’s the second time you’ve scared the life out of me, Hunter.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He sighs. “It won’t be the last. Don’t apologize for doing your job.” He pulls back to look at me. “Well… you’re standing up so that’s a good sign.”

  “I’m okay. Really. Much better today. I’m happy you’re here.”

  “I can’t stay long,” Ridley says. “I needed to see for myself that you’re okay. And I brought these.” He gestures to the two large trunks sitting at the side of the room. One of them I’ve never seen before but the other is my trunk from the safe house.

  Ridley explains, “That box contains your clothes from the Realm. The second is from Vlad. Apparently it’s yours.”

  The trunk from the safe house contains the last of my clothing and belongings, including Mom’s ledger. It feels right to have it back here in the bookshop.

  “Thank you.” I pause. “I’ll tell Vlad myself but… can you thank Slade for me?”

  “Of course.” Ridley nods and clears his throat. “Uh… that dojo at the end of Saber Lane… will you train there?”

  “As soon as I’m recovered. Why?”

  “Would you mind if I join you?” He shrugs self-consciously. “Next year’s intake of Novices isn’t for another five months. I need something to do with myself. And… it would be nice to spend time with you.”

  The last comes out in a rush. The breath in his chest stops as he holds it, waiting for my answer.

  “I’d like that.”

  “Good. See you in a few days, then.”

  He spins and strides down the stairs without another word. I guess that was as much emotion as he was prepared to share today. Ridley is used to expressing his feelings with his fists, his approval taking the form of a stern order to ‘get up and try again.’

  Briar’s gentle question interrupts my thoughts. She rounds the table to ask, “What do you need my help with right now, Milady?”

  I’ve been debating whether or not to ask for Briar’s help locating the Keres girl. I can’t do it alone and I’m not sure how much assistance Slade will give me.

  I exchange a cautious glance with William as I say, “I have an impossible task for you, Briar. I need you to locate a woman for me. She could be in Boston. She could be anywhere in the world actually, but I need to start small and then cast the net wider.”

  A smile breaks out on Briar’s face. She tugs her beanie over her ears. “I like challenges, Milady. Tell me what you know about her.”

  “Only two things: she’s twenty years old and she has violet flecks in her eyes.”

  Briar waits, expecting more. When I give her an apologetic smile, she asks, “Is she a target?”

  “No. The opposite. I need to protect her.”

  Wow, I never thought I would say that about any Keres. I don’t know if it’s actually true. The baby that Mom saved twenty years ago may have grown into my worst enemy.

  She says, “I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you, Briar.”

  Later, Cain arrives as promised, carrying another paper bag. As soon as he steps foot in the kitchen, I glare at him, freezing him in my sights. “Cain Carter, you didn’t ask my permission to enter Saber Lane yesterday. Or today.”

  He breaks into a charismatic smile, making it very difficult to remain mad at him as he raises his bare hand to show me that he isn’t wearing his assassin’s ring. “I wasn’t here as an assassin yesterday. Or today for that matter. I’m a customer.”

  I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously but he simply passes me the paper bag. “You look much better today.”

  I peer into it. My mouth is already watering. “I don’t know, Cain. I don’t feel so good. I think you should bring me lunch for another few days just to be sure.”

  He gives me a sly smile and dishes out the meal, but he levels his gaze with me when we begin to eat. “Tell me about the ambush yesterday. What happened?”

  I give him the details of the attack on the Guardian as well as what happened in the shop, although I omit any parts that involve my wings. I also give him brief details about what Lady Tirelli wants—the feather that I stole and the books.
He remembers the feather from the dinner with Gareth while I was still a Novice. I take the chance to tell him that the feather supposedly reveals a weapon, but I don’t tell him the long history of the Clave, about my mother’s death, or about the Keres girl. That information is too dangerous for anyone else to know.

  I say, “What worries me most is that Lady Tirelli was brazen enough to attack the Guardian in broad daylight. Coming here is one thing, but sending her thugs into a hotel? Slade is safe in the Realm, but you aren’t, Cain. You can’t assume she won’t come after you, too.”

  He tilts his head at me with a quizzical look, his green eyes filling with secrets. “Aside from all the security around my home… you don’t read the tabloids, do you?”

  I snort. “Not at all. Why?”

  Cain quietly clears up the plates and stacks them in the sink. Then he says, “Are you up for a stroll along the street? There’s something you’ve been missing.”

  “I think I can manage that.”

  Outside, I ask him, “Where are we going?”

  He smiles, maintaining a casual stride beside me. “To the grocery store. Or, more specifically…”

  As we reach it, Cain points at the wide newsstand positioned on the footpath at the front of Christopher James’s store. The stand rests directly beneath the window that is painted with the replica of my tattoo. Neat rows of bright magazines vie for attention, blaring one sensationalist headline after the next.

  The one Cain points to reads:

  Millionaire playboy acquires majority shareholding in mining company.

  The next one shouts: Cain Carter broke my heart! Beneath which is a picture of the woman he was with at the last charity event.

  I swing from one to the next. Cain’s image is on all of them. “You’re everywhere.”

  He lifts an overconfident eyebrow at me. “The spotlight has its advantages. It’s hard to kill someone who is always in the eye of the camera.”

  “So this keeps you safe?” I peer around the street, scrutinizing the random tourists walking up and down it. I’m suddenly wary of those taking photos. “What about now? Should I expect photographers to jump out and start rumors about you and me?”

  I run my hands across the air in an exaggerated gesture. “Who is the mysterious new woman in Cain Carter’s life?”

  He laughs. “Don’t worry, I gave the photographers the slip four streets over. Even without assassin’s magic.”

  I’m not surprised. With or without blurring, Cain has mastered the technique of disappearing into the background. “So your status as a social figure is the perfect disguise and defense.”

  I meet his serious eyes and amend my statement by saying, “Except that it’s all true, isn’t it? Mr. Millionaire. Buying shares in mining companies and breaking hearts.”

  I’m not sorry he ditched that woman, if he was ever really with her to begin with. As he said, his public image is very different to his reality.

  He grimaces. “My fortune has its advantages and disadvantages.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, taking a leaf out of Vlad’s blunt book when I ask, “Did you buy yourself into the Horde Master position?”

  He narrows his eyes at me, drawing himself upright, his true strength gleaming in his eyes and revealing itself in the stern cut of his jaw and the squaring of his shoulders. Whatever casual role he was playing, it’s gone in an instant.

  A slow smile breaks across my face. There you are, Cain Carter. The real assassin. I missed you.

  He growls, “Don’t forget who held the record for the most kills on a mission.”

  I grin at him, feigning surprise. “Oh, that was you? Five, was it?”

  We’re getting into dangerous territory now. Slade broke Cain’s record with seven kills. I don’t want to get onto the topic of Slade, so I quickly scan the article and change the subject. “I don’t see any mention of your family.”

  He is deadly serious. “My half-sister’s existence is not public knowledge and I plan to keep it that way. The world thinks I’m an only child. Heir to the Carter fortune—that’s on my mother’s side. I didn’t know about Parker until a year ago when our father died. I’m the only family Parker has left and I won’t let her get dragged into this. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep her existence a secret from Gareth, so I have to assume that Lady Tirelli also knows about her.”

  I sigh. “Which means she could become a target. Does she know you’re an assassin?”

  He runs his hand through his hair. “No. Which makes protecting her much harder. The safest place is the Horde’s Realm, but a Realm full of warriors will take a lot of explaining, let alone the magical nature of the Realm itself.”

  I suck in a sympathetic breath. “I can’t imagine what that conversation looks like.”

  He says, “I want you to know that I will stay in Boston for as long as I can. I won’t ditch you before the charity event. But if my sister is threatened, I’ll have to get her out of the city quickly, and I might not have time to get word to you. I don’t want you to think I’ve abandoned you.”

  The concern in his eyes is deeper than I expected it to be. I hurry to assure him. “Of course not. You have to protect your family. At all costs. Believe me I know how important that is.” I clear my throat before my emotions show, deflecting the conversation. “You said you’re here as a customer but you didn’t buy any books.”

  He remains serious as he says, “I’m here to see the Saber Lane Witch.”

  I’m surprised. “You came to see Tansy?”

  “I need my daggers spelled and I was told she was the best.”

  The best, huh? I’m reminded of the way Tansy woke up the other night, powerful magic screaming through her.

  I think I need to see this. “May I come with you?”

  He says, “Of course. You’re the reason I need my knives spelled, remember?”

  I ‘hmm’ at him. I had carried his dagger strapped between my breasts after an attempt was made to frame him with my murder. He had vowed to have his daggers spelled so it could never happen again.

  When we reach Tansy’s door, Cain takes the steps two at a time and knocks confidently. The door opens to reveal Tansy standing tall inside her home. She’s wearing black heels and a long, black dress that contrasts with the highlights in her blonde hair. “Hello, Cain Carter.”

  Cain replies smoothly, “Blessings on your home and your power.”

  Tansy inclines her head toward the inside, spinning on her heels. She didn’t tell me I couldn’t come in so I follow Cain through the hallway and into the large parlor immediately to the right. It’s light and airy, simply furnished with plush seats along the back wall and abstract blue paintings on the walls. It’s calm in a way I wasn’t expecting, but the crowning glory is the large book resting on the pedestal in the middle of the room.

  Vlad sits quietly on a chair in the far corner, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He doesn’t seem surprised to see me. I take the seat next to him while Cain acknowledges Vlad with a quiet nod. The truce between the Masters seems to be holding.

  Tansy wastes no time telling Cain to stand in front of the pedestal while she takes up position behind it.

  She whispers something under her breath and it’s only because I know she has to read spells that I can tell her focus is on the book instead of on Cain. She hides her limitations well. I have to respect that. I hide a lot, too.

  As soon as Tansy speaks, four daggers rise up from various places around Cain’s body—three from his pockets and one from his boot—sliding neatly out of their hiding places to hover, pointed safely downward, in the air above the book.

  Cain is as startled as I am that Tansy was able to locate and remove his weapons so easily. This is a side of Tansy I’ve never seen. The times I’ve encountered her, she’s been emotional, angry, and vulnerable around me. Inside this room, she is confident, her head held high, her power a glittering force. Cain won’t be able to see her aura without his assassin’s ring but Vlad
and I can. It’s enthralling, multi-colored, and luminescent, reminding me of brilliant diamonds. I lean forward, mesmerized as it grows in strength, building outward from her body like layers of color being painted in the air.

  She asks Cain, “Do you want me to bind these weapons to you, Cain Carter?”

  He replies, “I don’t want anyone else to be able to touch them.”

  Her golden hair cascades across one shoulder as she tilts her head with a questioning glance. “Are you sure? All magic has unexpected outcomes. If you go ahead with this, nobody else will be able to hold these four weapons. Ever.”

  A frown appears on his forehead. He considers her warning before he says, “I’m sure.”

  “Very well.”

  She murmurs under her breath and the knives begin rotating gently in the air. The glow in her eyes deepens and her aura changes color from a rainbow to deep, burnished gold, brightening with every word she speaks. She lifts her hands at her sides while a force grows around her and the knives spin faster. Her hair rises around her shoulders and the power lighting her eyes suddenly sparks like electricity. At the same time, the room darkens, making the light around her sharp and palpable.

  The power filling the room makes my skin tingle. It’s painful, like a trapped force that is screaming to be released.

  That’s when I realize… Tansy has stopped reading the spell. She’s lost herself in the magic and she doesn’t need the book anymore.

  As the darkness presses down on us, Vlad’s big hand brushes my knee. I side-eye him, trying to remain calm. It’s not like him to make physical contact without a reason. He indicates Tansy with a slow and careful tilt of his head. He won’t speak his thoughts, but the way he focuses on her tells me he wants me to see her. Really see her.

  I do.

  I finally do.

  She is far more powerful than she knows.

  Chapter Twenty

  The light dims. The knives settle to the surface of the spell book, lining up in a neat row.