by Shana Vernon
I hated the features he shared with Cade, because no matter how wrong Cade’s views were, he wasn’t inherently evil. The same couldn’t be said about his uncle. There was nothing good or virtuous about Killian Abbott.
I picked up twin swords, which had pointed tips with an extra curved blade sticking out from each side. “These are called Chinese Hook Swords and were used by the Shaolin monks.” I joined them together to create one weapon and held it up. “The crescent guards can be used as shields when the swords are connected.” I separated them and whipped them around, jabbing at invisible opponents before returning them to their place.
Master Abbott said nothing.
Next, I lifted a dagger with two thin handles. “This is called a katar and was made in India. It has the nickname ‘claws of wolverine’ because of this.” I triggered the h-shaped handle and another two blades split off in a fan. “The added blades make this weapon more deadly than a regular dagger and can also give the user an advantage by startling their opponent.” I wielded the blade in expert movements and placed it back.
Again, I glanced at Master Abbott for a reaction, and got nothing more than his strange smirk. Steeling myself, I raised the final weapon. It looked like an average gun, except for the sideways magazine.
“This is called a Harmonica Gun and was made by Jonathan Browning. In order to fire this gun, you need to cock the hammer, unlock the slide to allow a new cartridge to come under the hammer, and pull the trigger.” I quickly demonstrated, pointing the gun at a target, taking aim, and firing. The bullet sank into the center.
“While the Harmonica Gun had a higher capacity than the revolvers of its time. The necessity of doing the process each time you fire takes away from your response time. It also poses a balance issue since you can’t holster this weapon without disassembling it first.”
I lowered the gun to the table to resumed my place in front of Master Abbott, waiting for his judgement. He smiled hugely, and my breath caught. My suspicions raised even higher. I didn’t know what his deal was, but I knew it couldn’t be something good. My mind raced with the possibilities. I tried to think if he could have found out about us saving the hybrids because of what happened with Ekon, but there was no way for me to know. My eyes flickered to Quinn, who was watching our exchange with a frown.
He took a step forward and clapped his hands with deliberate slowness. “Well done, Ms. Bishop. You may proceed to the final test.”
I didn’t know how to react, so I simply nodded and headed over to Master Locke.
Before I could stop her, she ran a blade over her hand, slicing through the first few layers of skin. “Please heal this,” she said, holding out her hand.
I kept in my shout of surprised, I accepted her arm and poured healing energy into her, dropping her hand once her skin knitted itself back together.
“Last thing, please manifest a light weapon of your choosing and make sure it’s corporeal.”
I smirked internally. Easy peasy.
I closed my eyes, imagining what I wanted, and opened them with a smile. I brandished my light whip with a loud crack. “How’s this?” I asked.
She grinned. “Perfect.”
Once the rest of the initiates were finished with their trials, Master Abbott stepped forward with a half-crazed expression. “Now that you have all successfully completed your training and evaluations, there is only one thing left to do.”
His maniacal grin focused on me as he continued, “We must deal with the traitor in our midst. The rogue assassin, going by the moniker The Flower of Death, has been identified and is in this room right now.”
The silence was broken by the gasps echoing throughout the room, Killian’s focus not diverting from my face. My breath caught in my chest as tendrils of light slipped out and swirled above me, mimicking my nerves.
He knew.
“Isn’t that right, Lenna Turgenov?”
Chapter 28
I was struck dumb. I hadn’t expected that at all. Had he only now figured it out, or had he known the entire time?
The smirk remained glued to his face with the knowledge that I’d been completely blindsided by him. This wasn’t the one-on-one fight I planned or had trained so tirelessly for. Even with all of my preparation, I knew it would be a close match. And that was when I thought we would be alone, not with multiple assassins backing him up.
Mouths gaped open around the training area, but my attention flew to Cade. His shock was genuine. I wondered if he was realizing I hadn’t been having issues with killing like he thought I had. I saw Quinn and Ryder out of the corner of my eye, inching closer to my side.
I wasn’t sure how to play it, so I said nothing, waiting for him to make his move.
“Uncle, I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Cade said, finally gathering his wits and moving closer to Killian. “Her name is Lenna Bishop.”
“Not only are you grossly incorrect, but your judgement is also skewed by your lust for this girl. Believe me, if you knew everything she’s done, you wouldn’t defend her,” Killian snapped.
I guess Killian didn’t know his nephew and I were no longer together. I really hoped Cade wouldn’t try to fight me when he learned the truth. I didn’t regret any of the deaths I caused, but I never wanted to hurt Cade.
Cade tried to meet my gaze. “Lenna, what’s going on?”
The initiates had formed a semi-circle and were whispering together, Quinn and Ryder no doubt explaining our side of the story. I didn’t even want to think about what they would tell Hailey. I didn’t want her to find out I was the one to kill her father, though whether the death came from me or Papa likely wouldn’t matter to her anyway.
Ignoring Cade’s question, I shifted my attention to his uncle and smiled. “I guess you got me.”
His grin faltered slightly. “This girl is the daughter of the traitor, Alexei Turgenov and was planted here as a spy!” He exclaimed, pointing in my direction.
I shrugged. “No need to be so dramatic, Killian. It was my idea to infiltrate the Guild, Papa had nothing to do with it.” I addressed the other Masters. “I didn’t come here as a spy for my father, I came to rescue him. If any of you had ever met my father, you would know how ethical he was. He wouldn’t lift a finger against another person unless he was sure of their guilt. A year ago, he didn’t return from a mission and I came here, posing as an initiate to find out what happened to him.”
“Lies!” Killian cut in, advancing from across the room. “Don’t listen to her false claims. Her father was a sorry excuse for an assassin and got caught killing contracts off the book.”
“As if,” I scoffed.
Quinn had a phone held to his ear, Ryder blocking him from view of Killian and the other Masters. I hope he was calling Max or Luka. There was no way I was naive enough to believe I could make it out of here alive without outside help.
“Alexei was many things, but he most definitely wasn’t a sorry excuse for an assassin, as you so ineloquently stated,” Master Wilson said, getting a nod of agreement from Master Doku. He turned to me. “I always wondered what really happened with him since it was outrageously out of character. How did he keep you a secret for so long?”
Hoped surged in my chest. If I could get the other masters on my side, I just might make it out of here alive. Evelyn was being surprisingly quiet while this happened, and I wondered why. She was my aunt. Surely there was supposed to be loyalty in blood. Why was she not showing her support?
“My father kept me locked inside for most of my life, worried that you guys would find out and kill me,” I said, glaring at Killian for depriving me of a normal childhood free from danger.
I received sympathetic looks from the combat and poisons Masters.
“With good reason!” Killian shouted. “We can’t have abominations like you running around wreaking havoc on society.”
I ignored him and continued, “Then whenever he was home, he trained me in every way he knew.” I grinned. “I actually came here alr
eady knowing how to fight.”
Master Wilson rubbed his chest as if remembering the kick I’d given him earlier.
I finally turned to Killian. “Please, tell me what havoc I wreaked on society from the comfort of my bedroom? I never hurt anyone.”
“Just a moment,” Master Doku said. “You were born with gifts?”
I nodded. “I was, and I started out with better control over my gifts than people who manifest them from Donum Vitae.”
“I still don’t understand what happened with Alexei,” Master Wilson added, taking a step forward, his hand positioned over the sheath on his thigh.
“He was a traitor and a liar!” Killian yelled, moving forward himself.
Master Wilson stepped between us. “Prove it.”
“I don’t need to prove shit to you, Thomas. I’m the Master of this compound.”
“And I’m the investigator into his death. Now answer the question.”
I decided to step in. “I don’t know what evidence he has, but he’s been killing innocents by using a fake elite unit to do it.” I turned to Cade. “That burner phone you have that sends out contracts? Those aren’t officially sanctioned.”
“What burner phones?” Master Wilson asked as Cade’s mouth dropped open.
Quinn pulled a phone out of his pocket and handed it over. “What she says is the truth. I was brought into this elite unit and sent out on contracts against people who aren’t guilty. For the last few months, Lenna and I have been saving these people.”
He left out Ryder’s involvement, likely hoping to keep him out of the line of fire.
Master Wilson looked through the phone. “Is this true, Killian?”
“The elite unit does exist, but they aren’t killing anyone who doesn’t deserve it —”
“Children! You had them killing pregnant women and children!” I shouted, unable to keep silent.
Master Doku gasped and asked, “What is she talking about?”
“Enough!” Killian said, unsheathing a sword from his side. “I don’t need to justify myself to you. This girl was guilty the moment she took her first breath and will die today!”
“The only thing I’m guilty of is getting rid of those members who were killing innocents. Honestly, I don’t know what kind of elite unit you put together because it was laughably easy.” It was my turn to taunt. “You were just jealous that my father was a better assassin than you, so you brought him in and planted faked evidence,” If I had any hope of surviving his attack, he needed to be blinded by his anger.
“You think I was responsible for your father’s capture?” He asked with a laugh.
“I know you were,” I replied with conviction.
He shook his head and smirked. “It was Cade.” He waited, watching as I processed that information. “How awkward that must be for you, what with the nature of your relationship.”
I saw the truth in Cade’s eyes the moment mine landed on his, and my heart sunk. “Y.. you.” I stammered, trying to find the words. “Why?”
Cade looked between his uncle and me, his usual confidence gone. “I found him in my uncle’s office, holding photos of mutilated bodies.”
“And you just assumed he was guilty?” I yelled. “He was in your uncle’s office! Why didn’t you suspect him?”
“He’s my uncle. He wouldn’t do that.” He said softly as he shuffled his feet, his tone betraying his words.
I couldn’t believe it. Cade was the reason Papa was captured. He was the reason they were able to get away with torturing and killing my father. The world had never been crueler to have someone I cared for intimately be the person to bring about Papa’s downfall.
My rage roared in my veins, my energy demanding action. “He was innocent!” I screamed “He was protecting the people your uncle was having murdered!”
“Lenna,” he said, his voice soft. “I didn’t know. I still don’t know what’s going on.”
I refused to listen to his ridiculous excuse, seeing red. My body began glowing, the light armor I’d previously failed to create forming without a second thought.
I leapt to Cade, slamming a fist into the side of his face.
He staggered backward, clutching his ear. “Lenna, don’t do this. Please.” He begged.
But I didn’t care. His pleading was met by deaf ears. Nothing mattered outside of my vengeance for Papa. Cade might not have pulled the trigger, but he was undoubtedly the reason he was dead.
My light shined brighter, and I ran forward, only to be stopped when a wall of fire surrounding his body shot up. “Coward!” I shouted, trying to see through the flames.
“Lenna, calm down and let’s talk. You’re better than this,” he said, keeping his fire erect.
I laughed. “I’m really not and neither are you! You kill any opportunity you get, even when you’re told your marks are innocent!”
The fire dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you remember when you killed the vampire named Lukalian Night?”
He nodded. “That vampire wasn’t innocent, Lenna. He killed an entire family.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t! I tried to tell you that night. I came and stopped you, but you wouldn’t listen. You tried to kill him anyway, so I had him alter your memories.”
He jerked back. “You did what?”
“Don’t act like I’m the bad guy here, Cade. You hate vampires almost as much as him!” I pointed to his uncle, who remained silent on the sidelines.
“That’s because they are all evil! Humans are nothing to them but a source of food. Why can’t you see that?”
I was done. Leaving my armor intact, I formed my light whip and slashed across his chest, leaving behind a gash of charred skin.
He screamed and fell to the floor. Evelyn finally making a move by running to his side and pushing healing waves into his body.
Cade looked up at me while Evelyn worked on his injury.
I narrowed my eyes. “You ever go after another innocent again, and I’ll kill you,” I said my voice perfectly steady.
He said nothing, but his eyes looked pained, and not from the gash in his chest that was almost healed.
I didn’t care, choosing instead to make my way to Quinn and Ryder, who were standing off to the side.
“You’re forgetting something,” Killian said, clapping his hands together. “Didn’t you wonder how I figured out who you were and what you were up to?”
Chapter 29
I stopped in my tracks, whipping back around to face one of my father’s murderers. He was so happy with whatever he was about to tell me, which meant it was likely true, and something I would be upset about. I looked at the faces around at the courtyard. One of them had betrayed me.
“Who?” I asked.
“It was me,” a quiet voice said from my left.
I turned to face Evelyn, not willing to believe her words. My own aunt? All of her words of encouragement and advice were given for the purpose of retracting information from me. Information she would then deliver to my biggest enemy. Pain stabbed into my heart, tearing open the wounds that had only recently begun to heal.
“Why? I told you what he did to Papa. He had him tortured and murdered!” I said, my voice raising as I spoke.
“I know you are angry and feel like I’m against you, but you couldn’t be more wrong. I did it for you,” she said, moving closer to me.
I took a step back. “How is giving up my secrets to my father’s murderer supposed to help me?”
She was supposed to be family. Family was supposed to take care of each other. Protect. That’s what Papa always said. What Evelyn did was not protection. She threw me to the wolves, simply because she thought she knew best. She might be my blood, but she was no longer my family.
She sighed, pinching her brows. “Lenna. Your mother was a gifted assassin and would have done so much for the world if she hadn’t gotten knocked up.”
“What does my birth have to do with anything?” I as
ked.
“I’m not talking about you, niece. Eleanor got pregnant by a vampire and ran off with him the first chance she got.”
My eyes widened, shocked at how I seemed to be the last to know about what happened to Eleanor.
“When she confided in me, she refused to listen when I told her the fetus must be terminated. Humans are vampires should not mix. That a hybrid baby would be a disgrace. I never saw her again after that conversation.”
My stomach turned at her words. I didn't know how I never saw how twisted she was before now.
“Why is it such a big deal that she had a baby with a vampire and what does that have to do with me?”
“We know she created a safe haven for hybrids. A hidden city where they can run away to. It’s made our work here harder. Once I realized who you were, I knew I could use you to find them. She will give them up to save her child.”
I scoffed. “I can personally guaranty that will not work. She abandoned me at birth. She couldn’t care less about me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the truth at all. I think she just wanted to leave a part of her with Alexei.”
Whatever her reason for leaving was, she still left. From what Zander told me, she was a fierce leader. She definitely wouldn’t give them all up for someone she doesn’t even know.
Quinn and Ryder stepped up to either side of me.
“I don’t care what you want to use Lenna for, but it’s not happening,” Quinn said and turned to me. “Come on love, let’s get out of here.”
“You aren’t going anywhere!” Killian said, brandishing his sword. “We will send you back to your mother piece by piece, until she gives up their location.”
The doors banged open and a flood of members stormed in.
“Please take Masters Doku and Wilson to the cells, I’ll need to have a little chat with them about their employ performance later on,” Killian said to the newcomers.
“You can’t do this, Killian,” Master Doku said, backing away from the advancing members. “Halt!” She said, but that didn’t deter them. She slipped on a pair of gloves and grabbed a handful of poisons off her table.