The Laughing Assassin [Assassin's Diary] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Jennifer Willows

  But the proffered room was comfortable in appearance and sufficient for her needs, so she stripped the bed to use the sheets for a quickly constructed pallet on the floor.

  Jaden didn’t know which room was his, and she told herself that she didn’t want to know either. Yes, you do. Her imagination taunted her with the fantasy of what she could have if she was willing to compromise and go find him. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. The throbbing between her thighs kept her restlessness at nearly unbearable level. High enough that she punched the pillow several times during her nonexistent sleep then settled the pillow between her thighs to silence the ache.

  After all her usual pre-bed preparations, she slept fitfully and she pretended the ill rest was due to the fact that an unknown was so close-by, combined with the new setting.

  But the next day she had a luxurious view of the morning sky when she rolled over to rise from her usual pallet. She stood, and when she looked out beyond the shutters, she could see the dawn on the island was glorious. The purples and pinks fleeing across the sky called her name to come and see the beauty of nature.

  She freshened up with a shower before she donned her favorite pair of green yoga pants and a cream-colored baby tee as she quickly styled her hair. Although, Jaden was certain the effort would be wasted, as it was quite humid in the tropics, and she was sure that her do’ would be a hot mess before the day was out. But with any luck she could probably find an islander to braid it for her later.

  For now she was content to amble around the property a bit before she found Jonah and the skinny on why she was so necessary to the success of the mission.

  But when she made her way toward the main house she found that she only saw half of the property the night before. There was vegetation everywhere, clusters of flowers and bushes groomed to perfection. But when juxtaposed against the native wildness surrounding the untapped portion of the isle, the lawn was strangely… too perfect, as if the sculpted land was at war with its own nature.

  The yard ran in a large circle, the path around the main house, and back around to the carriage houses in back. She saw a large garage, built to hold ten cars at least. She didn’t peer inside to see what vehicles were inside, but she could hazard a guess. There was no way she could imagine anything more beautiful than the cluster of nature amid current technology and luxury at that.

  When she came to the backside of the property, she saw a sparring ring. The large lot was nothing more than packed earth and contained a few barren benches along the sidelines. There were a handful of racks filled with all types of weapons, most she was familiar with. In the center of the ring was Jonah. He couldn’t have seen her, as he was blindfolded.

  But he must have heard her as he stopped his graceful motions no sooner than she stepped fully into the cleared space. He ripped away the cloth unevenly bisecting his face and slowly blinked as if he attempted to adjust his eyes to the bright light.

  Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who appreciated the hours near dawn.

  “Good morning, Jaden.” Jonah was all smiles and easy humor, even with the early hour. Jaden on the other hand was far from an eager beaver in the morning. At this time of day, she didn’t even want to speak with another person. That was what made the bakery so great. She had the benefit of starting early, and other people were not a factor until the shop opened a couple of hours later. And her attitude was much better after she’d been awake for a bit.

  Jaden couldn’t resist the twinge of bite in her voice when she replied. “Back at ya, Jonah.”

  “Would you care for breakfast?” He came closer with each word, and when he reached her, he placed a folded scarf and a set of nunchucks on the rack next to her.

  Why not? She could always eat. That was an added benefit of her active lifestyle, as she could eat almost anything, though she rarely chose to. “Sure, why not.”

  He walked her through a path that was as well tended as the rest of the property and pointed out a few items of interest along the way. He showed her a grotto where the Jacuzzi tubs were hidden amid a copse of trees and low-lying bushes. There were numerous hammocks interspersed with woven wicker chaise lounges around the man-made body of water, and the ambiance created the perfect area to play hostess for a party.

  Jonah pointed out the tennis courts, which were perfectly pristine, as if freshly paved. Although he did tell her that none of them played the sport and that was why the courts were so clean.

  He showed her the pool, which was a combination of indoor and outdoor. If she was on one side of the water, she could swim into a tunnel and be on the other side in a matter of a few feet. There was also an infinity pool, but she had never been fond of those. It was too hard to gauge her distance, and she wasn’t that fond of making calculations based on time and stroke speed to figure it out.

  But when they reached the carriage house, he took her back inside and began cooking. She would have never guessed he was so proficient in the kitchen, but only twenty minutes passed before a stack of pancakes, omelets, and bacon were presented to her.

  “Dig in. I know you haven’t eaten in at least twelve hours, and you have to be hungry.”

  She did justice to the plate, even though she preferred smaller meals to break her fast. But she had to admit, the food was great and the fresh-squeezed juice was delightfully refreshing.

  The heaviness of the meal mingled with the humid warmth seduced her into lethargy. Jaden knew she had to work off some of the extra calories from the warmed syrup and light cakes that she’d just eaten lest she fall into unplanned slumber. If anything, that would be the worst scenario possible, as she would never fall asleep tonight after a nap during the day. There was no such thing as a cat nap for her. If she made the mistake of lying down now, she was bound to burn away half of the day in like a slugabed.

  But before she could mention her plan, Jonah piped up. “I’ll be back. I just need to take a shower.”

  After he sauntered away, she left and didn’t feel the need to tell him where she was headed. He could figure it out for himself where she would be. Jaden had already made the decision that she would just go back to the field and try her skills on some of the weapons she wasn’t a hundred percent familiar with yet.

  But when she arrived at the practice area she’d stumbled upon earlier, there were two other men already in the midst of mock battle. Both were large, thickly built. One was a sandy blond who hadn’t seen a haircut in several months, combined with the deep tan of a sun worshipper, and the entire package spelled European beach bum.

  The other male was redheaded. The long locks were shot through with gold highlights that most women paid an arm and leg for, yet still didn’t achieve after numerous chemicals and hours in a chair. She doubted the man used anything on his hair. That color was most likely au naturel. But the redhead looked as if he could only burn in the current weather conditions and would never truly acquire a bronze sheen, unlike his opponent.

  The two together were amazing, either were capable of firing libidos, but combined in combat? They could stop female traffic and some of the correctly inclined male variety also.

  They fought well together, and the ease of the pace even with the ferocity of the blows attempted spoke to the fact that they sparred frequently. Or at least enough to know the tells of their opponent and block them without conscious thought. The no-holds-barred aspect of their fight appealed to her, and she wished she could jump in.

  The pair noticed her when she sat down at one of the benches to watch, and they stopped as one unit.

  “Hello, you must be Jaden.” The sandy male said, speaking up. But Big Red never opened his mouth to acknowledge her.

  “Yes, I am. But you have me at a disadvantage.”

  “Well…we can’t have that. Now can we?” The blond was the only one of the two who had a mouth, apparently, as his partner never even parted his lips as if he wanted to speak. “I’m Toro, and this is Stein.”

  “All right then, nice to meet you b
oth.”

  “Likewise.” Yet again, Toro piped up for the pair.

  “I’ve heard a lot about your skills. Apparently, you come highly recommended.” Toro walked to the sidelines, where he picked up a dusty water bottle off the ground and took a swig of the most likely lukewarm fluid. He wiped his mouth at the corners with his knuckles. “You take crappy pictures, by the way.” He shrugged, as if the fact was of little consequence. As if it didn’t matter if she were uglier than a moose on Tuesdays or beautiful enough to be Ms. Universe. “But I can see why Jonah was so obsessed with you.”

  That was a shocker. Jonah obsessed with her? But the surprise must have been apparent in her mien as Toro replied to her thoughts.

  “Yes you, little lady. He spent more time searching for you than he has spent on anything else in the last eight years that I have known him. I’ve never seen him less than composed, but the months it took him to find you were definitely worth the wait. He never goes after an operative personally, but after the way he tore his hair out trying to discover your identity, he claimed that he earned the right to approach you himself. That’s what I would normally do. I’m the bagger. But this time he claimed he wanted to give this his personal touch.” He laughed, and the sound was out of place, hearty and loud in the early quiescence of morning as several birds scattered into flight above her.

  That was more information than she bargained for, and Jaden took the ploy as a dig for information. A quid pro quo of sorts. Although, little did he know, she was not buying into it. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended.”

  “You should feel flattered for sure. Most things come too easy to him. He needs a challenge, and you seem like the perfect person to provide just that.” The redhead was still quiet, but the makings of a smile played at the corner of his lips, as if he couldn’t contain his mirth at her. She wondered what the man was thinking, and she bet his musings were worth more than a penny.

  Especially since he seems so disinclined to share.

  “Want to spar with us? You look like you would love to join in, and we will take it easy on you.” The shit-eating grin on Toro’s lips became enough reason for Jaden to go all in, although she doubted that would be necessary.

  “How could I say no to such an excellently phrased request?” Besides, she did want to fight an opponent she could give her all to. But she doubted that either of the men before her could provide the diversion she wanted.

  Her agreement was all that was needed for the pair to back away and take opposite sides on the hard earthen field. She grabbed a blunt-tipped spear from the weapons rack. It had been a while since she had used a spear as her primary weapon, and her time away from using the implement should even up the chances of the men in front of her. She sauntered halfway between them and bowed to each corner once before she stood still and waited.

  A wise man, i.e. her sensei and Master, once told her that a smart fighter let the battle come to them instead of instigating the confrontation, and the sage words always worked.

  Red was the first one to attack. Somehow that didn’t surprise her, as speech was unimportant to a man of action. He feinted as if testing her reactions, first swinging with his left then countering back with his right hand. Both hits were easily blocked with her palm, and the taciturn man smiled. The tiny lifting of lips must have been a cue as she felt the air displace behind her.

  She gave a swift kick back as she extended both arms forward and knocked Big Red to the ground. Toro was barely fazed by the kick since she could only put a fraction of her effort into it. But that was all right with her, as she planned to save her energy. They were attempting to work her endurance with the faster pace. But she could keep on this way for much longer than they could.

  Let them find out, she thought. I’ll soon see just how long the pair can keep up with me.

  Jaden was on guard when Toro came at her again. He was a quick bugger, and she could hear the rush of the land from beneath his feet. Based on the way the air around her displaced, she could feel his next rally before he had even fully sprang into action. She knew that the next attack was a sweeping kick along the ground based on the scraping sound, and she jumped up. Her landing was tiptoed onto Toro’s skirting foot as it dragged over the earth. His surprise at her balancing act was a distraction that she used when her staff’s end rose upward to rap him briskly in the sternum.

  She couldn’t bother to look, but she heard the blow, and the hollow thud of bone as it met wood let her know that her aim was true. He grunted and backed off as his partner came forward with his sword unsheathed. She bet anything Red planned on scaring her into backing away and into the irate Toro, but instead she dodged sideways to confuse him. She held the spear just above midway along the length and used the shaft to engage the light sword.

  She rotated her wrist into an elongated ellipse and used her wood shaft to control the blade until the spearhead scraped over his knuckles. Jaden backed her engagement with Stein off as she could sense Toro had gathered his breath. Before she could take on the joint assault, she had to disarm Big Red. She rotated her wrist again, plucked the sword from his loosening grip, and splayed the blade to the other side of the field with a flick of her staff.

  As a gift to Toro, she played a dirty move and let him grab her in a bear hug. The move was amateurish on his part for assuming he could subdue her with brute force alone. When he dragged her backward, she allowed him until she had enough range to kick solidly again. Her plan wasn’t to kick backward but to use Toro as leverage for a sleek KO.

  Her right leg cut forward, and she let her frame drop into dead weight as the staff dropped to the ground. Her toes struck just below Red’s chin, and the blow sent him backward several feet over the packed dirt and scattered grass. She clapped her balled fists up at the moment her foot made contact with Red’s jaw, and her knuckles clapped Toro on the temples.

  But she pulled the blow so she didn’t kill him with an errant skull fracture. He reacted predictably when he crumpled low, and she knew his head had to hurt like hell. She had been privy to quite a few of those blows before. They were almost debilitating enough to make the most cast-iron belly nauseous. Jaden picked her staff up and walked back to the stand.

  Her attention was captured for a split second when she spied a flash of white amid the copse of trees and native flora, but she couldn’t see anything else.

  Maybe it was a tropical bird, Jaden thought, but she shrugged the sensation off no sooner than she walked away from the wooden, weather-beaten weapons stand.

  But before she cleared the bush secreting the field away from the rest of the compound, she left a few parting words behind. “By the way, it was nice meeting you two.”

  Their response was a collective groan, and she laughed. Now seemed like the perfect time to make use of the grounds and get the lay of the land with a quick run.

  Chapter Eight:

  What a Woman

  Jonah was stunned to say the least. He expected her to be a skilled fighter, but not of the caliber he’d just seen. She’d beat two of his best in three minutes, including the elegant bow bestowed at each of them, along with her replacement of the staff back into its home on the stand. He only left her for a minute or two to shower off, and he may have been gone five minutes total.

  When he came out of the room dressed in his preferred gym shorts and A-line tee, he had foolishly assumed she would be waiting for him. But true to form, she wasn’t. Jonah wandered back to the sparring field as a last-ditch effort in locating her. Somehow, he felt that she would be there. She was a woman of action as he knew well, but even then, he didn’t expect her to be trouble so soon. He would have given her until lunch at least.

  When she took Toro and popped him in the plexus with the staff, he was stunned at how well she controlled the unwieldy stalk. It moved fluidly, as if the weapon were a part of her and organic to her nature. Her attacks were beyond simple skill. She was a virtuoso with her grace and agility. She knew her own constra
ints, and her mind had to run faster than quicksilver with the way she evaded her opponents. But the fight was over too quickly to see the full picture and make a catalogue of her weaknesses. Although from what he witnessed, she didn’t have too many faults to exploit.

  Once she placed her spear back into the rack, he knew he had to go before she caught him spying on her. He turned and jogged back the way he came. It was time to go, put some distance between himself and her numerous enchantments. Half an hour later, he saw her come back and wondered what she had been up to. She was drenched with sweat, and her hair was plastered to her scalp. Now the locks were just long enough to tease her nape.

  She looked even more beautiful from her exertion, and he desperately wanted to kiss her again, then taste the sweat on her flesh with his fingers and tongue. The daggers her eyes threw at him were enough to keep him at arm’s length.

  Only for now. Soon enough, it’s game on, Ms. Bishop.

  There was no expression she could make that would keep him away for long.

  “Hello, Ms. Jaden. Would you care for a glass of water?” Although with as much sweat as she was covered in, he would drink straight from her and thirst no longer.

  “No thanks, Jonah. I think I would like a shower first.” The thought of her under the water was enough to make him playfully respond back.

  “Need any help washing your back?” He wished, but he wasn’t surprised when he heard her response back. “You wish.” She chuckled softly, the gentle laughter enough to make him forget her refusal, and he couldn’t help but to do the same.

  “Sure do.” He could tell she was miffed that he got the last word in, but he also noticed her reaction to it. Her back tensed, but she continued walking away as if he or his words meant nothing to her.

  But that was a lie she commanded her body to broadcast. She did desire him and maybe as much as he wanted her.

  She just won’t admit it.

  Once she came back downstairs, her hair was bound from view beneath a scarf she tied around her head in the African style. It made her a diminutive Nefertiti, and he loved the look on her for some odd reason. Her head was held high, and he had the odd urge to unwind the scarf to make her mad enough to jump for it. He shrugged the desire off as they had business to attend to. The few members of the team still on the island were ready to meet their latest coworker.