Assassin (Starlight Book 1)

by D. N. Hoxa

  I was facing the Elders once again.

  They all looked the same as the first time. My eyes stopped at Grandmother. I owed her an apology. I also owed one of those to Azazel, too. I owed an apology to all of them. Too bad I sucked at apologies, and I would just have to make it up to them by fighting by their side.

  “Welcome back, Star.” Grandmother smiled. “We heard the good news. We are all very glad you decided to join us.”

  “It’s the right thing to do. I wouldn’t want to leave you without fulfilling the promise I made you.”

  Grandmother raised her brows. “But you did. You killed McGraw and destroyed his laboratory.”

  “I did?” She only nodded. “No one will tell me anything about what happened that night. I remember certain things but others only vaguely.” I said as a series of images passed in front of my eyes from the night in Lyndor.

  “You did keep your promise, Star,” Grandmother said, “but unfortunately the Council learned from their mistake centuries ago. They’ve made a lot of copies of the formula and the spell, and they are already developing the new potion.” She wasn’t smiling anymore.

  “Oh, hell,” I mumbled. It figures that they wouldn’t be as dumb as I needed them to be.

  “Aaron told us about what happened. He said you used air in Lyndor. As far as Master Smith is concerned, you couldn’t wield it at all during your short training,” Grandmother continued.

  I nodded, trying to get my head around destroying McGraw’s potions without even realizing it, as well as the fact that the Council was still a step ahead in their game.

  “How did you use it?”

  “Uh…I thought Aaron told you?” I wasn’t exactly comfortable discussing my powers with them for whatever reason.

  “As you can imagine, he couldn’t let us in on details. Would you be kind enough to explain?” Grandmother said.

  My heart skipped a beat. Was Aaron hurt that night, and I didn’t see it?

  “What do you mean, why couldn’t he tell you?” He’d seemed fine the day he visited me.

  “When a shifter is in his animal form, even the strong ones like Aaron, they can misjudge a situation,” she said.

  “Animal form? Aaron was in his animal form?” And I’d missed it?

  Goddamn it.

  “Yes. Aaron is one of few that has complete control over his animal form. He was able to walk away with you only because he was turned. He would have never made it otherwise. He and Jack had to fight Royal Guards on their way to send your family to safety. And as soon as he took you, even more Guards with reinforcements surrounded the castle,” Grandmother explained.

  That could only mean one thing: Aaron carried me on his animal. That was humiliating for a shifter. They never carried other creatures on them, no matter what the situation was.

  Even after he heard my confession, he took me. I would have left me there to die.

  “You’ve done well, Star, but it won’t be that easy next time,” Grandmother continued.

  “Easy?” I said in disbelief. “You think that was easy? You find fighting seven Royal Guards, having to hit my own father and knock him unconscious, and going inside my own sister’s mind easy?”

  As soon as I said the words, I regretted them. All the Elders froze in place, their eyes wide as they watched me as if I’d suddenly grown an extra head.

  Apparently, Aaron didn’t tell them about the mind thing with Ella—if he knew himself.

  I sighed, shaking my head. Stupid. I should have kept something like that to myself. Life would’ve been a bit easier if nobody ever knew I could get inside someone’s head. I never wanted to do that again, to invade someone’s mind like that. It made me the same—if not worse—than the potion.

  “You controlled a mind?” Grandmother asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Here we go.

  “I didn’t control it. I was just inside it.”

  “Inside someone’s mind?” Grandmother seemed shocked, as did the others.

  “How did you think I woke my sister up?” I was really curious. What had Aaron told them?

  “After your father woke up on his second day, aware and with his mind his own again, we assumed that they’d given your sister a smaller dose of the potion and so it had worn off earlier. We never…” Arlo the were-lion said.

  It never occurred to them? They were the ones who told me I could control anything.

  “I’m sure it’s happened to the other Elementals before me.” It was getting really uncomfortable to be looked at like they were looking at me.

  Grandmother shook her head.

  “The first Elemental was a man who could control light and electricity aside from the elements. The next one before you, nearly two hundred years ago, was killed by the Council before he turned eighteen. In theory, it is said that an Elemental can control everything with the right concentration. I just never assumed everything included beings or minds,” she explained, and for a second, there was a gleaming in her eyes, a pure reflection of greed, hate and something darker. It was gone before I could figure it out, but I didn’t like it one bit.

  “Okay.” What else could I say?

  “We must retrieve Illyon,”Grandmother said to the others.

  I remembered Illyon. It was what got me into all this mess in the first place.

  I didn’t really believe that, but still, someone or something had to take the blame.

  “What does the book have to do with me?” I asked

  “Illyon is not a book.” Eleanor the vampire spit like I’d just insulted her.

  “Illyon is a power source, the power source of magic itself. Our Bible. Everything about before, now and after is inside of it,” Grandmother said.

  “You mean like a spell book?”

  “Something like that. The spell of manipulation is inside it, as well as a detailed description about every creature that has ever existed or will exist in this world. It has been in the Council’s hands for way too long.”

  Before I knew about the Elemental thing, I had been ready to accept that I didn’t have any magical power and live with it. After what the Elders told me about what I was, I still wasn’t surprised. I was used to being an outcast, to never belonging with anyone, anyway. But now that I knew I had a way of knowing exactly what I was, I wanted that book. I needed that book.

  Simmons, that bitch. She never talked about Illyon and never answered the few questions I had about in the beginning. By the second year, I had forgotten all about it, or that the Council had it.

  But if they had it for so long...

  “Wait, the spell was in the book? If the Council had the book all this time and the book had the spell for the potion, how come they haven’t used it until now?”

  “Illyon is written in a language as ancient as time. Only a few can understand it, and even fewer can read it. Azazel is one of them. He participated in writing it,” Arlo said.

  My whole body was in goose bumps once I remembered who the beer belly man was. I had forgotten somewhere in our conversation. Too many things on my mind. But honestly, I was standing in the same room with some serious royalty. They weren’t physically there but still. Wow.

  Azazel offered me half an evil smile. Mine had nothing on his. Of course, he was a demon. Evil was his name. I held his gaze as long as I could, trying to make it clear to them that I wasn’t a coward, even though he did show a pretty wicked, psycho smile.

  When he finally nodded at me, I moved my eyes to Grandmother eagerly. She could perfectly mask her power. In fact, I would have believed she was a mere human if I hadn’t known who she was. The Council thought she was dead, or so they said. I believed in nothing they’d told me anymore. All this time I’d read about the fey, all the books said that she was dethroned and killed by the current king, Desartes. I hoped the Council really believed it. ‘Cause they were in for a surprise.

  “Where is it?” I asked.

  “We don’t know where it is. The last one who had it was Samuel,
and the last Keeper we know of is you. But it was a long, long time ago. I doubt anything you might remember can help now,” Grandmother said.

  It was difficult to picture her as a wicked, powerful Queen of Fairies. She looked so lovely in the skin she was wearing.

  “I will talk to him,” I said, and for a short second, I wondered if I’d have to kill dear old Uncle Sam.

  Well, I’d killed more people than I had years. Ella and Aaron might have the power to make me feel human, evoking feelings in me like no one else could, and Dad could make me feel like a little girl, but I was still the best assassin in the country. I was the Raven. I would stop at nothing to make the Council pay. It became personal when they took my family.

  “He doesn’t have it anymore,” Eleanor said. “I’ve been watching him. It’s not with him.”

  “Tell me where he is, and I will find out where they’re keeping Illyon.”

  If Uncle Sam was the Guardian once, he would know where the book was. He knew. and he owed me for the rest of his life.

  Eleanor nodded. “I will.”

  Before we could go any further, I wanted to ask them something I’d been thinking about for a while.

  “The sups. The six Council sups you killed recently. I wanted to ask you why?” I asked, because it was unusual for Rebels to kill six sups and vanish without a trace. What I wanted to know more was who had done the job. They were professionals. I would want to work with them now that I was staying.

  “We didn't kill six supernatural recently,” Grandmother said, her brows narrowed in confusion.

  “What do you mean, you didn't kill them?”

  “I mean we didn’t,” she repeated. “We did hear about them, though.”

  “And it wasn’t you who killed them?” I asked again. What kind of a game was she playing?

  “Of course not. We don’t kill nymphs. There are already so few of them left in the mortal realm,” she said, looking almost offended.

  Something was very wrong.

  “Are you sure we’re talking about the vampire, the three shifters and two nymphs that were killed recently?” I asked, remembering the day in McGraw’s office when he told me about them. He said that it had been the RR’s doing, and I could read it in his eyes that he had his suspicions. Suspicions I found very suspicious myself. He thought there was a chance that the RR hadn’t killed the sups. He didn't say it, but I could read it in his eyes.

  “No. We didn’t kill them,” Eleanor said, as if she couldn’t wait to tell me that I’d offended her again. But she sounded sincere enough and really, why would she lie if they did kill them? They had no reason to try and cover their crimes from me. I was definitely not one to judge.

  Yes, something was very, very wrong. I never thought it was even possible, but it seemed to be true. Someone was going behind the Council’s back, and they didn’t have a clue.

  I was terrified and shocked for a moment, as realization hit me. In a second, my mind went to every face I’d seen in my four years, every sup that had sworn his loyalty to the Council, just like me. One of them was a traitor, and he was doing a damn good job, too. Killing Council sups and blaming the RR. Nobody would suspect a thing, and even if they saw it right in front of them, they wouldn’t believe it. Their big egos and all that. Fucking genius.

  But who was it? Who dared to go against the Council? I squeezed my brain for information but came up empty-handed. I had no idea. But maybe…just maybe, they already knew who it was. Was that why they had asked me to protect the Council until the end of the year?

  They’d wanted me badly enough that they left McGraw alone with only four Guards to face me. They wanted me and what the Council wanted, they always got.

  Fear spread in my chest for everyone who was a part of my life, for my family and for the RR, the ones I’d sworn just a night before that I’d die protecting. Not just to try to make up for all the people I’d killed. God knows two lifetimes wouldn’t suffice for that. But to keep them safe because it wasn’t their fault. They deserved to be free and live their lives peacefully.

  A strange kind of feeling wrapped around me as I realized I was a Red Rebel now.

  “We will dig in and see what we can find. If there is a traitor in their midst, we’ll figure it out,” Eleanor said.

  I nodded but wasn’t really counting on it. I had my own sources, and I was going to hire whoever I could to get to the bottom of it, to find the mastermind of this plan. Good thing I had connections. And money. I was glad the Council had paid me a lot of money for my services.

  My mind kept going to the damned prophecy. As much as I hated it and didn’t want to hear it, I had to. I didn’t want to know the words of it because somehow, something inside me told me that it would change things forever. Maybe it was the fact that in every story I read, prophecies always turned things into chaos. Or maybe it was just instinct. But I knew I had no choice.

  “I want to hear the prophecy,” I said reluctantly.

  Grandmother nodded. “The Oracle will find you and transmit the prophecy directly. Listen carefully while she speaks because you can hear it only one time.”

  “Can’t you just tell me? I need to know what it is that made the Council come after me in the first place.”

  I needed information to put my thoughts in order. Confusion was a pain in the ass.

  “Impatience never helped anyone. The Oracle will come to you,” Grandmother said.

  Too bad patience was never a strong virtue of mine. In fact, I was everything but patient. But I had to let it go for now.

  “There is a war coming. We must be prepared. We’ve had many, many people join us this last week. Most of them are helpless and in dire need of training if they’re going to help us, and that is what we’ll start with at each of our Bases. As soon as you feel better, you can join in preparing fighters that will be a Royal Guard’s equal. They will be ready for you once you are,” Grandmother said.

  “I’ll choose my own team myself.” I knew what to look for, and I trusted my instincts. They’d proven right with Nick even when I’d had no idea.

  Grandmother nodded. “You will continue your practice with Master Smith. I will ask of you not to discuss the issue of your mind controlling with anyone. Panic would be a dangerous thing for us now.”

  She didn’t even have to say that. I’d already made up my mind. People didn’t trust me. I couldn’t imagine what that, mixed with the knowledge that I could get into their minds, would do.

  “No matter what that was, that mind thing, I want you all to know that I will not, ever, try to do it again,” I said because for some reason, the looks on their faces gave me the impression that they would count on me to do it again. Reluctantly, Grandmother nodded.

  “I trust you to make your own schedules, but you must understand that there are rules. You will take no step without discussing it first with one of us. Thomas will be supervising you, and he will report back to us,” she continued. “We have removed him and Smith permanently to your Base.”

  The Council was scary. Really, really scary. Scarier than the Elders were, or at least looked. Even that scary, I still made my own choices, my own decisions. I wasn’t about to change that. I laughed a little at the thought of all the times I got in trouble because of the exact same thing. In the end, it all had been worth it.

  “I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat. “With all due respect to all of you, I will not hesitate to take an action I deem necessary without discussing it with you, or anyone else for that matter. All this time I’ve worked on my own. I will do things my own way, and I may not always have a plan or the time before I act to tell you. I will not take stupid risks to put lives in danger, I assure you, but if I see an opportunity, I will take it without discussing it with anyone.” Thought I’d make that clear.

  Anger sparked in all of their eyes. None of them said a single word as they watched me to…what? Try to make me change my mind?

  Yep, that seemed to be it. Had they seen the look Samay
an could give? I resisted that look twice.

  When they saw that I wasn’t going to budge, they started looking at each other, and then Grandmother gave me another reluctant nod.

  “We will expect you to try and speak to us, at least.” She sounded deeply annoyed.

  It was a small victory, but it was very sweet nonetheless.

  All of them needed to understand that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it my way. I knew better than anyone how the Council operated, and I was going to take advantage of that the best I could. And once I felt better and ready, I would start to fight the only way I knew how: dirty, remorseless and aiming to kill.

  I always thought that made me the best. I never feared death. I always went in with all I had, not concerned whether I was going to make it out or not. I had nothing to lose. My life wouldn’t be a big loss, so it was easy.

  Now, a little tingling of fear played inside my stomach. I knew the Council would come after me with all they had. But no matter what, I was going to try my best to keep my family safe while I brought all of them down.

  “Any idea why they want me to go back and protect them until the end of the year?” I asked, not really hoping to get an answer.

  “They fear our growing number. They fear we will be able to stop their plan. Having you by their side along with the Royal Guards, which by the way have noticeably dropped in number since last week,” Azazel said, and we were both grinning with satisfaction, “nothing can stop them. Now, you, siding with us…”

  It still made no sense to me why they didn’t kill me, but I didn’t voice my concern. Why had the Council kept me alive? If they’d brought all the Royal Guards to fight me, I would’ve been dead three times by the time I reached the cells. Not that I was complaining, but why? Why was I worth more to them alive than dead?

  “You and your family will be staying at the Base. You father is already helping with the construction of another tunnel for a bigger training area there in Kentucky, and you will do your share once you get on your feet,” Grandmother said, bringing me back to the present.