An Assassin's Redemption: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Romance Novel

by Tanya Kennedy

  Her eyes narrowed as she sat up to face him. “No, but I could hurt you.”

  “Could, but didn’t.”

  “I still could.”

  His laughter bounced off the walls. “You already said you couldn’t. I thought you wanted me to read to you?”

  A sweet, unassuming innocence flashed across her face. “Who is stopping you?”

  “You are trying to drive me crazy, aren’t you?”

  “I believe crazy seems to be conditional. You don’t seem to be too rational to me most days.”

  “Well, that’s comforting to me because your rational is crazy to me.”

  “Do you like kissing me?”

  His mouth fell open, forming words that wouldn’t come.

  She watched him. “I enjoy kissing you. Your lips are soft and gentle.”

  His cheeks flared as he dropped his eyes. “Do you have something against me being comfortable in a conversation?”

  “I make you uncomfortable?”

  “Ridiculously!”

  “It is not my intention to do so.” She rolled to her back. “I’m tired.” She slipped from the bed and padded across the room.

  * * *

  Eylsa’s eyes blinked open at the soft footsteps that approached her bed. “You made it.”

  “Did you doubt I would?” Gregor’s deep voice filled the room.

  “More that you would decide this all was too much hassle and leave.”

  “I will see you settled first. So we will stay here now?”

  “Seems like it.”

  “Ashlan is the one who found you.”

  She sat up and brushed her hair back from her face. “He was never as hapless as he pretended.”

  “I set a few things in motion while I was gone, should give you some peace.”

  “Thank you, Gregor.”

  He perched on the edge of the bed. “The boy is not sleeping well.”

  “He is worried about many things.”

  “Not the least of which is you.”

  “I do not mean to worry him.”

  His hands cradled her face. “You must try harder. Show him you can adapt to his world. You will need his guidance.” His lips curled. “Get some sleep, tomorrow we will work on more.” He slipped into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him as she curled back into her covers.

  He could still hear the fitful breathing from the room next door as he passed into the kitchen and pulled a glass from a cabinet. He laid his satchel on the table and sifted through its contents until he came up with an opalescent liquid in a small corked bottle. To the empty glass he added a couple drops of the liquid, diluting it with a sleeping draught from his pocket. His finger twirled above the glass, stirring its contents before following the troubled breathing into the darkened room.

  The sheets of the bed were a tangled mass as Brendan’s dreams abused his body. The man’s eyes flew open in a gasp as Gregor crept toward him. Hand to his forehead, he collapsed back to the mattress. “Gregor, you scared the life out of me! What are you doing?”

  “Your dreaming could wake a stone, boy. Here, I made you something to help you sleep.”

  Brendan eyed him as he held out the glass. “I’m afraid of anything you might think to put in that.”

  Gregor glanced at him. “If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be sitting here wasting my time.”

  Brendan took the glass. “That’s not how I meant that.” He took a deep pull on the draught. “Got anything to repel unwanted attention? Think we could both use that.”

  “Perhaps you do. Eylsa is sterner than that.”

  “Hope she’s stern enough for both of us.” He drained the glass and handed it back. “Thank you, Gregor.”

  “I do not do it for you. We are not friends, boy. She needs you to show her how to make these people accept her.”

  “And here I thought you were starting to warm to us.”

  “I have no fear of that ever happening.”

  Brendan shook his head as Gregor slipped back to the door. “Well, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” Brendan wobbled as Gregor’s draught kicked in and dropped him back to the mattress.

  * * *

  Brendan glared at the note in his hand as Gregor and Eylsa discussed poisons, weapons, and something called an elate that he was positive he had no wish to know about. The note, in Cade’s writing, had arrived with a folder full of questions and topics he was supposed to be asking the assassins across from him. His eyes drifted to Eylsa and she smiled so warmly that the contrast from her conversation made him laugh.

  Gregor’s eyebrow shot up. “There is nothing funny about potency loss. Many a mark has been lost to improperly maintained poisons.”

  Brendan’s fingers worked at his temples. “Forgive me; I don’t know what I could have been thinking.”

  Eylsa promptly snatched the note from his grip and twisted her hand until she could read it. “We’re getting closer. Closer to what?”

  He waved it off. “That’s for us to worry about. These”—he clapped his palms down onto the folders in front of him—“are for you.”

  Her back straightened as she handed the note back to him. “Let’s have at it, then. I’m curious to see how long you will last.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Every time we start talking about my life you guys get…weird.” Her face scrunched.

  Gregor stood and glided over to a heavily draped window. “It makes them uncomfortable to face the fact that the world does not fit into their neat little rules.”

  Brendan took her hand, head tilting toward the tall man. “He’s right. We don’t understand what you’ve been through any more than you understand us, but that doesn’t mean we are going to give up or change how we feel about you.” His thumb stroked the back of her hand. Was her skin always this soft? Self-consciously he pulled his hand back and forced his eyes from her gaze down to the files. A spasm rocked his body as the front door shut, jerking him to his feet. “What was that?”

  Eylsa shrugged. “Gregor left.”

  “Left? He can’t just leave!”

  She drew him back down to his chair with a hand. “He’ll be fine. He doesn’t want to be around during the questioning. Says you guys see him as another source of information and he wants to keep a distinction.”

  He ran a hand down his face. “You two are going to drive me batty.”

  Her fingertips caressed his chin as she turned him back to face her. “He is only here for me.”

  A resigned smile curved his lips as he slipped her hand from his face and kissed the palm. “Of course. We should get started.” His finger caught the edge of a file and flipped it open. He barely caught the sigh that tried to flee his chest. “Well, Keena’s council has made us quite a nice list.” He shuffled through a handful of pages and held them out over the table, watching as they curled at the edges, flames consuming them. “Those we can just ignore.”

  Eylsa’s eyes widened in shock. “That doesn’t seem like something your world would accept.”

  He shrugged as he dusted the blackened remains from his fingertips. “There is nothing wrong with accidents.” He breathed a contented sigh as he slipped a sheet of paper from the file. “Here we go, we’ll start here.” Her excited jump drew a smile across his face. “How about you tell me about your teachers.”

  “Teachers?”

  “At your school, who taught your classes?”

  “Our classes were run by mentors.”

  He scribbled on the paper. “Like Gregor?”

  “He was one, yes.”

  “And the others?”

  “I was only given two. Gregor and Alondium.”

  “Well, as I have already had the pleasure of getting to know our charming Gregor, why don’t you tell me about Alondium.”

  She jerked back, head shaking. “You wouldn’t like him.”

  “I don’t have to like him, just tell me what you know about him. What was he like?”

  Her ey
es flashed wide glistening with a childlike sheen. “Alondium was the leader of a hive of twenty when he was in the game. Before he retired, he killed all of them.”

  His expression became flat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to meet him.”

  “It is standard really. Happens with every hive. It ensures that only the strongest are allowed to pass on their knowledge.”

  “Was Gregor part of a hive?”

  “He was a loner like me. I believe he was hired out.”

  “Are hives hired out?”

  “Exclusively so; there are not many people who can afford an entire hive.”

  “Okay, back to Alondium.”

  She pulled her hands up to her chin fingers flicking as her eyes turned up. “He had us for the morning session, coached us on our runs. He was a good motivator; anyone who fell behind was lashed across the balls of their feet then sent out to start again. He’d set us up for weapons by pairing us with others with similar abilities then he would pit the winners against each other until there was only one of us left. The winner would get a blanket for the night.”

  “And if you didn’t win?”

  “Then you slept without.” She searched his eyes when he looked up at her. “How did you earn your bed sheets?”

  “We were just given sheets.”

  She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a crash from the front door. Cade rushed into the room, a picture crumbled in his fist. “They hit your house, Brendan. It’s gone!” He tossed the picture onto the table as he paced the room, his entire body animated. “Trey and I have already been rushed in for questioning. The Tribunal keeps demanding to know what you have on the Trinity.”

  Eylsa pointed at him in triumph. “See, they did know you!”

  He waved her off. “No one was hurt, were they?”

  “No one was there.”

  “You and Trey better make yourselves scarce. From Darius to me, you will be next.”

  Cade jerked a flask from his pocket and pulled a deep draw before answering. “You think I don’t know that? Trey, Darius, and I are all holing up at the Tribunal for the time being. Did Gregor make it here okay? Insisted he didn’t need a babysitter!”

  “Gregor is fine, Cade; are you?”

  He drew a deep breath. “I’m okay.” He splayed his hands out low. “Hope we get enough to nail these fools.”

  “You know they are bad, what more do you need?”

  Brendan coughed a laugh. “Evidence.”

  “Evidence?”

  “Proof. We need proof before we can move against them.”

  Her face scrunched up. “Why?”

  “It is our law.”

  Her eyes gave a dramatic roll. “Do you all enjoy handcuffing each other with these ridiculous rules or is it just coincidence?”

  Brendan’s smile flashed. “Well, I’m sorry we don’t live by your standards, princess, but this works for us.”

  Cade leveled a hand at him. “Try to keep that in mind when you see your house.”

  Hands slapped to his face, Brendan moaned. “Obnoxious, spoiled little rich boy!”

  “How are things going here?”

  “Better than expected.”

  “Where’s Gregor?”

  “Distancing himself. We don’t seem to have the same affect on him as we do on our dear Eylsa.”

  Cade waved his hand. “We’ll work on him.”

  “It won’t matter.” Eylsa pulled a sheet from the file and turned it so she could read it. “Why would I know what happened to my parents?”

  Brendan took the sheet back. “Let’s handle this one at a time, huh?”

  Cade shook his head. “I’d better get moving, is there anything I can bring you?”

  “Books.”

  Eylsa rolled her eyes. “More books?”

  “Yes, more books! Let’s do some on potions, healing, maybe crystals.”

  Cade was nodding. “I think I follow you.”

  Eylsa tapped the stack of papers before her. “Let’s get on with this! I’d like not to waste the entire day on it!”

  Brendan held up his hands. “Easy! I won’t bore you too much!”

  Cade laughed as he turned to leave. “I’ll see what I can find you.”

  * * *

  Darius shifted the charred contents of the box making sure he hadn’t missed anything salvageable before discarding it. Between his and Brendan’s houses, he barely had enough to fill a small trunk. Ashlan was certainly flexing his muscles.

  He had been dodging questions all week about what he was into. The Trinity had never before made such an open move against the Tribunal. His cover was a version of the truth: They had gotten too close to the perpetrator of the murders. It satisfied most but did nothing to soothe the savage Arna. Her teeth were out for Brendan but with him safely tucked away she had decided to bide her time snapping at Trey. Trey took it in stride and ignored her for the most part but eventually he would break. Keena just kept pushing for progress. No matter how fast Brendan returned her answers, she wanted them faster. She had an inherent dislike and distrust for Eylsa and did not hesitate to act on it. Her interest in Brendan didn’t help matters any.

  He set the box aside as he cast around for anything else that might have survived the destruction. He had to be quick. There was a knot of tension building between his shoulder blades that smacked of being watched. Arna had been sure to extend the Tribunal’s full support for the Lithian’s search for the missing princess and the move had put many eyes uncomfortably close. It was a dangerous game they played and he was beginning to believe there was no way not to get burned.

  He stood from the rubble, turned to try another room, and caught the faintest flicker. Hopefully his age would make them believe him weak. Being underestimated always had its advantages. He dusted some soot from his pants and slumped down to appear feebler.

  “Is there something I can do for you?”

  The silence held as he stood there and allowed his body to tremble with the chill morning air.

  “Is there anyone there?”

  A pile of debris gave way toppling in a cloud of ash to the ground but nothing else moved. Apparently they just wanted to follow him. He continued on his way with a pronounced limp through the ruined house. Brendan’s carefully selected collection of books had been torn from their shelves before the fire had started. Pages had been torn from bindings in their haste to find some clue as to where Eylsa was hidden. They were nothing more than a charred heap now.

  He came up short as a slim man stepped from behind the remains of a wall. His eyes were sharp though his face remained stoic. “Strange place for an evening stroll, Grandfather.”

  Darius let out a sigh and favored his hip. “Just helping a friend. Who might you be?”

  The man’s lips slipped sideways as something shifted behind Darius’ shoulder. “I might be a friend, if you play this right.”

  Darius knotted his hands in his shirt trying hard to look harmless. “And what would I have to do for you to be a friend?”

  The man took a graceful step forward. “Nothing too terrible. I’m sure you’ll find it quite reasonable, once you think about it.”

  Darius could hear more shuffling behind him but he kept his attention on the man in front of him. “And if I am unable to give you what you want?”

  The man ran his finger along the top of a table and inspected the ash it collected. “It’s a shame things like this have to happen. It’s so easy for a mistake to be made.” His eyes shifted back to Darius. “I do hope no one was hurt.”

  “Your concern is touching, but I think a diversion from what you truly want.”

  He took a step forward and Darius could hear his partner mirror him. The man’s eyes dropped to the floor as he leaned forward, his voice dangerously soft. “We know you have her.” His eyes shot up to Darius’. “No one needs to die here. Just tell us where she is.”

  Darius stood his ground gaze never faltering. “I’m sure I don’t know what you are talkin
g about.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and tightened his fingers around the smooth stone hidden there.

  A smile ghosted across his face. “There is no reason for this game. She will not be harmed. We just want our princess back.”

  Darius sidestepped the man and brought his partner into view. “I am sorry for your loss, but there is no help I can give you.” He squeezed the stone in his pocket and a loud whizzing hiss erupted behind the first man’s shoulder, erupting in a ball of flame. The two men ducked as Darius pressed his homing device and flashed back to the Tribunal.

  His office solidified around him as he drew a calming breath. The bagged collection of items dropped onto his desk; he turned from the room and rushed down the hallway. Heads turned to follow him as he slipped into the elevator. The basement hallway was deserted when he rushed out through the still opening doors and slammed open the third door on the right.

  Trey’s eyes were heated when they met him over Arna’s head. The woman turned to glare at the intruder. “I would hope there was an important reason for you to be rushing around like a flippant schoolboy, Darius.”

  Darius’ lips curled as he drew a steadying breath. “Forgive me Arna, but I am in desperate need of Trey’s expertise. If you could spare him for a moment, I would greatly appreciate it.”

  Trey was already standing when Arna exploded in anger. “I have been as lenient with you as I intend to be! You tell me Brendan is in danger and I let you hide him away. I have no contact from him, no knowledge of what he is into, but I do not complain! But this is a deliberate usurpation of my position! Trey is in my department, Darius, not yours! Someone has to stand up to you. I will not tolerate one more breach in protocol!”

  Darius met Trey’s burning gaze as the younger man lowered to his chair before addressing Arna. “Forgive me Arna, you are quite right. Would it be possible if I could have a word with Trey when you are finished—”

  “That will not be possible, with Brendan off playing spy I will need Trey all day. You will have to wait until after hours.” She snapped back to face Trey, satisfied with the weight she had thrown around.

  Trey’s eyes were livid as he kept his hands flat on the desk before him. “Sorry, Darius. I’ll see you tonight.”