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

by Tanya Kennedy

  He let his smile warm and was relieved to see her own bloom in response.

  “I am afraid. I have always known where I stood, what was expected of me.” Her hands swept around her, scattering droplets of blood along the sidewalk. “I feel lost.”

  “Change is intimidating. Are you going to let it beat you?”

  He was frozen in her gaze, sure at any moment she would shut down and flee. She blinked as the knife made another track across the back of her arm. “You won’t leave me?”

  “Never.” He held out his hand.

  Her fingers were warm and slick with blood as she slipped them into his grasp, eyes snapping to his face. “If you die on me I will desecrate your body.”

  He laughed. “I’m fond of you too, Ellie.”

  Her eyes narrowed as he pressed his homing device, flashing them to a darkened park.

  Trey rushed toward them, his face a mask of ire. “Where have you been? You scared us to death!”

  “Slight detour, no worries. Where is everyone?”

  Trey led them toward a small shack at the edge of the fenced park. “Cade was quite flustered when you two were gone. I think that little display back at the safe house might have made him nervous.” He glanced past Brendan to Eylsa. His eyes lingered on her bloody arm. “Looks like that was some detour.”

  Brendan gave a coy wink. “Quiet uneventful, actually.”

  Trey watched him suspiciously as he held aside an old tarp for them to pass. In the shelter of the small shack sat Darius and Cade. A wave of relief washed Cade’s face as his eyes fell on them. Brendan kept a tight grip on Eylsa’s hand as she laid the blade against her skin again. “Well, this is cozy.”

  “This is a transition.” Darius handed Eylsa a kerchief before continuing. “Our destination is a little farther on, but we didn’t want to move until you joined us.”

  The blade bit into Eylsa’s flesh again. “You never doubted we would return.”

  Darius reached out and took the blade from her hand. “I held out hope that you would.” Tearing a strip of cloth from his shirt, he pressed the torn rag to her shredded arm. She didn’t flinch as she met his eyes. “I am glad you did.”

  “I was using that.”

  “I can see that. You were using it as a crutch, but you don’t need it anymore.”

  “Give it back to me.” Her voice rose in anger.

  He inspected the damage done to her arm. “You don’t need it right now. Why don’t I hold on to it for you?”

  She stared at her arm as he dabbed some fresh blood before it dripped from her wrist. “Is this your plan? Just run?”

  He pulled a vial from a pocket in his shirt, scooped out some of the thick yellow cream from inside, and smoothed it onto the cuts across her arm. “That should clear those cuts up. Eylsa, with your help we should be able to come up with a workable plan in no time, but for now we are just trying to stay alive.”

  * * *

  The men around her chatted in hushed tones but Eylsa kept her silence. Staying alive when Gregor wanted you dead was a nearly impossible task. Not only had he himself been of the best assassins in his prime, he also had scores at his command.

  He had tried to warn her, had told her what would happen if she continued on this path. She should have listened. If she had stayed, it would have been only her life on the line. She could tell the lie the second she thought it.

  It would have never been just her life. Even if Gregor hadn’t been set on Brendan’s replacing her, he still would have demanded a child before her death. Her child. It had been his plan all along—to breed her and take her child, to take Brendan’s child. He would have used them all to weaken the Trinity then taken her back anyway. He had never wanted to help her.

  Something tiny inside of her snapped; she could almost hear the sound as it unraveled. A great chasm split open in her stomach and she stood precariously at the lip, teetering. Her heart leapt to flight and she sat frozen, alone.

  Her arm still burned enough to keep her mind calm as Darius led them from their small shelter. Brendan gripped her hand as he pulled her along behind him while his eyes swept the darkness around them. He was a danger to her; she should shun him, cut the weakness from her like a diseased limb. Why, then, did she cling to him? Even after she’d had a chance to flee, she hadn’t relinquished him. Was it some connection she felt for him due to their shared torture at Gregor’s hands? She knew that wasn’t the truth. She had returned because she couldn’t continue the way she was. She could have gone anywhere, disappeared into the night without a trace, but even then she couldn’t leave him. She had been obligated to obey and protect her masters, but something inside her told her there was a connection to this man that could never be broken. She knew, then, the truth. Gregor had never cared for her. Gregor had only used her to get what he wanted, but Brendan…Brendan was her friend.

  The house Darius led them to was small, overgrown with ivy and weeds. With a wave of his hand, Darius set a mask of darkness on the windows and doors, blocked the glow from inside as they entered. “We will stay here tonight. I want you to get some rest.” He handed Brendan a small pouch before he turned to make a round of the house.

  Brendan kept his smile warm and open as he led Eylsa toward the center of the house. She dropped to the floor where he stopped flexing her hand as she inspected her sliced arm. Trey met his eyes as he opened the small pouch and pulled out several blankets and travel boxes that unrolled into mattresses. Cade unloaded his own pouch and set up a meal of bread, cheese, and a few dried meats. He handed Eylsa a plate of food, watching her as she laid it in her lap then ignored it, her attention focused instead on her mangled skin. Darius smiled as he accepted a plate and dropped cross-legged onto a mattress near the door.

  Her mind braced to run, to chase itself along a thousand questions, a thousand decisions she could have made differently, a thousand ways she would not be sitting here waiting for the death of these men. “I want my knife back.”

  Darius considered a piece of cheese but did not glance in her direction. “We’ll discuss it after you eat.”

  She held her arm up, healed cuts facing the older man. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I need my knife.”

  His eyes rolled to her face. “And what happens when that isn’t enough? What will you do then?”

  “That is not a worry for now.”

  He shook his head. “It will be easier to deal with before it becomes a habit. I will not return your knife until I am sure you will not use it on yourself.”

  She blinked. “If I have to take it back, I will use it on you.”

  Trey’s laugh filled the small room. “If you can get it back, you mean.”

  The plate hit the floor. “I will not be bullied by you, old man.”

  She moved to jump to her feet but Brendan grabbed her arm and jerked her down. “That’s enough. Darius is only trying to help you. Now eat; we’ll talk about your knife later.”

  Her thigh relaxed against his as she settled down beside him and pulled her plate back into her lap. The thoughts quieted under his warm caress. She had to keep him alive, had to find some way to keep him untainted by her world…Gregor’s world.

  * * *

  Darius returned his eyes to his own food but kept his attention on the girl. She already chewed on a piece of bread and her body had relaxed into a comfortable slouch. Something told Darius that it was only that hand and Brendan’s gentle words that had stopped her. Nothing he could have said would have stopped her from fighting for her knife, but it only took a comment from Brendan to restrain her. There had always been something between the two, a friendly competition, but after Gregor it was impossible to separate them. Did Brendan realize what he had become—her only anchor in a world that raged beyond her control? They finished their meal in silence as each of them stole quick glances toward Eylsa and Brendan. There was a strange peace that radiated from her and seemed almost alien to her normal persona.

  Cade gathered the plates as Darius a
ccepted a blanket from Trey. “I’ll take first watch; I have a book I want to finish anyway.”

  Trey laughed. “Always vigilant.”

  Brendan stretched out along a mattress and laid an arm over his head. Eylsa lay down on a second next to him, her hand coming to rest atop Brendan’s before her eyes closed.

  chapter 11

  Brendan’s hand clamped empty. Why was his hand empty? For a moment he couldn’t tell if he had opened his eyes or not but hazy objects around him crept into focus. He swept the room passing over each sleeping mound until his gaze rested on a form that stood at the doorway. His head reeled as he came to his feet but after a moment he was able to make his way toward the shadow.

  She didn’t turn as he approached her shoulder. “You should be sleeping.”

  “I woke up and you were gone. Made me nervous that you might have run again.” Arms crossed, he slid up behind her and leaned against the wall.

  “If I had left I would have taken you with me.”

  His eyes jumped to her but her darkened face revealed nothing. “Good to know, I guess.”

  “I have come to realize I do not want to be without you. I am not sure if I am able.”

  His heart pounded in his chest. “An effect of Gregor’s scheming?”

  “I do not believe so.”

  His lips curled into a brilliant smile. “I wouldn’t want to be without you either.”

  “We should go to the Rhennon.”

  His brow furrowed. Their visit to the Rhennon would likely be their deaths. “Wouldn’t that be about the worst place to go? We already know Gregor is hunting us. Do we really need to knock on his door to confirm it?”

  “He would never expect a frontal assault. He would expect you to run. It would never occur to him that you would take refuge in the Rhennon—no one does; it would be suicide.” She spun to face him, her eyes catching what little light there was to be had. He had the strange feeling that somehow she could see him despite the dark but shook the thought away.

  “Suicide is what it would be. Darius is pretty well known. How are we to hide him?”

  “You should go back to sleep; you need to rest.” She turned her back with such finality that it left no room for argument. She was right; he was being stubborn and she wasn’t about to hear any argument on it.

  With a kiss to her shoulder, he turned to pick his way back across the room but he was jerked back. Her hands flew to his hair and pulled him down to her mouth, her lips meeting his, warm and tender. He slid his fingers along her waist and moved to pull her to his chest but she jerked away and turned back to the window, leaving him trembling in the dark.

  He watched her silhouette before a smile crept across his face and he returned to his mattress. Hands on his stomach, fingers intertwined, he stared up at the dark ceiling and tried to imagine his way out of the ridiculous wreck they were in. She was right; they would have to go to the Rhennon eventually if they were to take on Gregor.

  The very thought of Gregor made his stomach burn, a rage that could never be quenched. He had been the only person Eylsa had trusted, but he had used that trust to try to breed her like a dog. Eyes pressed closed, he replayed every moment he had spent with her. Could what he feel really be just a spell placed on him?

  He paused on an image: Eylsa bloody, broken, desperately digging through a bag. Nobody could have anticipated her return to them that night. No. Gregor had used him because he had known there was already something there. Eylsa had returned to them because she already cared. What he felt was real and not some concoction of a madman.

  Lips curled in contentment, he rolled onto his side, drifting toward sleep.

  * * *

  “That is complete lunacy.” Trey made another lap around the shack, hand raking through his hair. Eylsa didn’t even glance up at him as she ate an apple leaning on a windowsill, feet crossed before her. Trey stopped in front of her and flailed his arms. “Seriously, did that man snap your mind completely?”

  She had spouted it out this morning: “Today we will go to the Rhennon.” Trey had been off ever since, his tirade occasionally interrupted by a comment from Darius or Cade. Eylsa remained silent the entire time. She had told them what was going to happen as a statement of fact; now she just waited for them to accept it so they could move on.

  Trey dropped to the ground, face cradled to his hand. “This is maddening!”

  Brendan cleared his throat. “We will need to go there eventually. Why wait until running has worn us down?”

  Darius’ sharp eyes bored into him. “You did not seem shocked by this.”

  He inspected a grape in his fingers. “She mentioned it last night.” He popped the grape into his mouth and let his gaze challenge Darius. “And she’s right.”

  Trey waved an arm at him. “See, Gregor snapped them both!”

  “No Trey, we cannot keep running, it puts him in charge. We have to go to him. If we are watching him he cannot sneak up on us.”

  “Good, I always prefer to watch my death approach! Revs up the anticipation!”

  Eylsa tossed her finished core out the window and moved to Brendan’s side. Trey sat up to face them. “Did it not occur to you that the Rhennon is precisely where he wants you to be?”

  She blinked, unconcerned in the face of his anger, content to let him rage.

  Brendan sighed. “She’s not going to answer you. I don’t think she intended this as an option; she’s just waiting for us to agree so we can leave.”

  Trey’s face fell. “Are you mad?”

  Brendan barked a laugh. “Maybe I am, but that doesn’t change the facts. We need to know what they are up to and the only place we can accomplish that is at the Rhennon.”

  Darius set his cup of tea in front of him and folded his hands in his lap. “Where would we stay, if we were to go to the Rhennon?”

  Eylsa blinked, her gaze shifting to Darius. “Leave that to me.”

  Darius sighed in resignation. “We did ask for your help.” He glanced at the two men beside him before he pulled his homing device from his pocket.

  Trey’s eyes widened. “You’re not seriously considering this?”

  The older man’s hand stretched out and dropped the homing device in Eylsa’s hand. “This is her world and we cannot run forever.”

  Cade watched his feet as Brendan added his own device to Darius’. “We barely made it out alive last time.”

  “None of us will survive if we don’t do something.” Brendan waited for Cade to meet his gaze before he smiled. “I’d rather take another run at the Rhennon than face Arna right now.”

  Cade held out his device. “Gregor will likely be gentler.” He hesitated, his hand above Eylsa’s as his eyes searched her face. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  Her eyes shifted toward Trey. For a moment their glares seemed to spark but Trey wasn’t about to back down now. “It was just yesterday that you told us we would die facing Gregor.”

  “You will.”

  “And now you want us to walk right up to him?”

  “We are already dead; why go out as easy prey?”

  He slammed his device in her hand, fingers wrapping around hers. “I want to do as much damage as possible on my way out.”

  Her lips curled. “An assassin’s motto.” She set the devices, tossing one to each man around her. “When we arrive you must stay inside, out of sight.”

  Brendan curled his fingers around his homing device. “And where will you be?”

  She answered by clapping her hand over his, pressing her thumb on his device.

  A dusty warehouse formed around them. “Do not worry Bren.” She smiled back over her shoulder. “I will return.”

  His jaw clenched as the other men materialized around him and she slipped out a heavy wooden door. His anger sparked in his eyes as he pulled air into his lungs. “We’re going to need a plan.” He patted his shirt and jacket. “Do we have paper? Pens?”

  Cade pulled several sheaves from his jacke
t and moved over to a crate against the wall. “What were you thinking?”

  “A map first. I don’t remember anything about the building we were held in.”

  Cade nodded. “Map it is.”

  * * *

  Eylsa scanned the crowd from her vantage in the corner. The smoky bar was crowded, as usual, with its normal variety of talent. Anders of Gorling kept his head down in the corner; Inglut of Lidendro had one eye to the door. Even Wooster of Sindar had a table toward the back with three hopeful women trying to catch his eye. This would do quite nicely.

  She made a purposeful swaggering strut to the bar, drawing every eye to her before she slapped a coin onto the polished wood. Her eyes glinted as they swept left to right before she stepped back. The buzz of conversation died as attention remained on the glinting gold. She heard a chair screech back behind her but didn’t turn even as a mountainous man added his coin to hers and joined her stance to the left.

  One by one the bar’s patrons followed until the bar was littered with coins and all stood with her. She met Wooster’s eye and he gave a grim nod.

  chapter 12

  Brendan rushed her the second she entered the warehouse. “Where have you been?”

  Her predatory smile sent him back a step. “Just planning a bit of fun. What have you been up to since I’ve been gone?”

  Cade pulled out the map he’d been working on. “We’ve been compiling our knowledge of the building Gregor held you in. Is there anything else you can add?”

  She glanced down at the paper with a proud nod. “Not bad.” She turned from him and trailed a finger along crates as she passed them. She held her hand out to Darius and snapped curtly. “Dagger.”

  With a curious glare, he slid the handle onto her waiting palm. The knife flipped through the air and she snatched it, ramming the blade beneath the crate’s top, wrenching it up. The ensuing creak bounced off the walls as she pried the lid back and let it clatter to the floor. The knife disappeared into her belt before she shifted aside some fabric packing, revealing a wide array of weapons and tools, each lovingly stored and carefully packed. “Home sweet home.”