Now we're getting somewhere. Father of sirens. I need to ask Gryphon about that. It's definite proof though that the people living here are sirens.
I look at my watch. I better hurry. I ignore the rest of the display cases - I can always look at them once everyone's dead - and silently walk to the door behind which the human woman is waiting for me. I don't tiptoe - that would upset my balance. It's something people only do in books. Real assassins walk on the whole sole of their feet to stay grounded.
Now that I'm closer, I can hear the sound of a pen scratching over paper. She's writing, which should mean that she's distracted. I shall have to be fast to stop her from screaming, but if my senses don't deceive me, she should be sitting close to the door.
I take a deep breath and centre myself, pushing away all distracting thoughts. It's time to be the assassin I was raised to be.
The woman never has the chance to react. I'm behind her in one fluid movement and have a hand on her mouth and a blade against her throat in an instant. She's in her early thirties, with hair styled upwards so it looks like she's wearing a small traffic cone on her head, and thick glasses that I think are just for show. She's sat at a desk laden with files and books. Maybe she's some kind of secretary or personal assistant. The office is massive, with beautiful large windows looking out over the gardens. I could imagine doing my admin work in here. It's a lot less claustrophobic than my own small office.
"Shhhhhh, don't try to scream or I'll cut your throat," I hiss. "I'm going to remove my hand to ask you some questions. If you make a sound, you're dead, got it?"
She nods just as much as she can with the dagger pressed against her skin.
"Good. Don't make me regret this."
That's just for show. I wouldn't regret killing her. She oozes arrogance and money. The golden bracelet around her wrist must be worth what some people earn in a year. Her expensive perfume makes my nose itch. And why the hell is she wearing an inch of makeup on her otherwise quite pretty face? I'm tempted to get a cloth and wash it off to see what she looks like underneath.
Slowly, I pull back my hand from her mouth. Urgh, now I'm covered in red lipstick. I'd much prefer it to be blood.
"What's your name? Do you work or live here?" I whisper, hoping she'll get the clue and won't reply in a loud voice. I'd hate to have to cut her throat before I've got my answers.
"Maryam. And I live here. This is my parents' home."
Her parents? But she's human.
"Rosalind Tailor is your mother?"
She nods, her eyes wide, tears pooling at the edges of them. Pathetic.
"But... wait, were you adopted?"
"How do you know? Nobody knows that," she whispers. I don't think her eyes can go any wider.
"You're not a siren. They are, am I right?"
She purses her lips as if she's deciding whether to reply. Ah, it's that moment where my victim decides to play brave. I flick the knife in my hand, twirling it so the light reflects in the perfectly sharpened blade.
"Tell me or I may have to make an example of you."
"Yes," she sobs, her tears now flowing freely. "My mother is, but my father is human. How do you know about sirens?"
"Are they part of the Fangs?" I ask.
Okay, now her eyes are about to pop out of her skull. What a silly woman. She should have realised by now that I know more than normal people.
"Are you here to kill them?" she whispers, sobs interrupting her words.
"Kill who?"
"The Fangs! They're downstairs with Mama, negotiating. She sent me away because she doesn't like it when I get too close-"
"Wait, she's not part of the Fangs? But she's doing business with them?"
"Not business. Not voluntarily. They force her to work with them, but she doesn't want to. Mama isn't like other sirens, you have to believe me."
I hate when they use that sentence. I don't need to believe anything and anyone. I make up my own mind, thank you very much.
"Are all the people downstairs part of the Fangs?"
"All but my parents, yes. They always come in a group. I don't think they trust us very much. Mama usually tries to keep me and Papa away from them. They don't understand why she married a human."
My mind is racing. Things are turning out to be very different from what I thought. Maybe I shouldn't kill Rosalind yet. If she's not working with the Fangs voluntarily, and if she's pro-human, then maybe we could use her for our advantage.
I check my watch. Five minutes. I need to get a move on.
"What does your mother look like?" I ask.
"You're going to kill her?"
"No, I need to know so I don't kill her." I sigh. "Quickly now."
"Grey hair with some black streaks. She's wearing a green dress and a diamond necklace. She usually has a crocodile-skin handbag, green like her dress. And she's got glasses, almost the same as mine. My Papa-"
"Your father's outside in the gardens. He's not with the others."
I assume that was him. He was the only human male who didn't smell like food, so unless he's been the one cooking today's dinner, he must be her father. Hopefully, he'll stay outside and out of the way until I'm done.
I quickly tie her up with some parcel tape from her desk, fixing her to her chair. She squeals when I put some tape over her mouth.
"Quiet," I hiss. "You don't want to alert them."
"Hhhmrpphhhhhffff."
I sigh and remove the tape just enough to let her speak.
"But they're sirens! They'll make you do whatever they want. You don't stand a chance."
I grin at her and put the tape back in place.
"You have no idea, sweetheart. Wait and see."
Chapter Sixteen
I hate anti-siren tech. It gives me a headache. I'm not sure how exactly it works, but it seems to be some kind of soundwaves that mess with the sirens' ability to influence others. In this case, me. For that, it's worth it, although I'm going to switch it off as soon as I'm done. The little black box is secured to my belt and I swing it around until it's at my back, out of the way. I suppose if those sirens knew what it was, they could try and break it, but this portable tech is still new enough that I doubt they'd recognise it. I'd leave it outside the room if I knew what range it covers. I'll have to ask Benjamin next time I see him.
One minute to go. The door leading from the corridor to the large dining room is open, so I'm pressed against the wall, just out of sight but ready to storm in. I pluck some poison darts from my collar. This will make it easier to deal with nine people at once. I assume that the lady of the house will attack me, not knowing that I don't mean her any harm... yet.
I count down the seconds, ignoring the chatter from the other side of the wall. In three other locations across town, my guys will be doing the same. I breathe in the siren stink coming from the room. It's going to be satisfying to kill them, especially now that I know they're all Fangs. I think back at what they did back home, poisoning children. There's no hesitation in my soul. They're going to die. No mercy.
The two humans have moved away from this room, probably to the kitchen. I hope they'll stay there; I don't want them to get in the way. There are nine sirens in that room.
Twenty seconds. I have four darts in my hand, but I'll likely only have the time to throw two or three before they realise what's going on. I've not had a lot of practice recently. Still, that'll mean three people out of commission, leaving only six to fight at once. If they're normal sirens, they'll have no fighting skills so it shouldn't be too difficult, even though I'm outnumbered.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Death.
I step into the doorway and throw my darts. The first hits an elderly man right in the neck. His hand goes up in a feeble attempt to get it out, but he crumples to the ground before he can ever touch the dart. The second grazes a woman's cheek. Hopefully, she got enough of the poison. The third embeds itself in a large man's throat. Good. I didn't have the time to decide who to dart, otherwis
e, I would have chosen the three strongest people in the room. This was pure reflex, throwing the darts at whatever target seemed most ideal. By the time I throw the fourth dart at a tall thin man wearing a top hat, the sirens have realised what's happening. A very fat woman pushes the man to the side, but my dart still hits him in the chest. His shirt is thin silk, offering no protection. The poison enters his bloodstream just like intended and a second later, he's on the floor. The overweight woman screams and glares at me. She opens her mouth as if to start singing, but I don't pay her any attention. She's not the greatest threat in the room, not with my anti-siren tech protecting me from her enchantment.
Two men are racing towards me, both looking strong enough to maybe have some sort of fighting skills. I don't wait to find out. I pull out one of the lighter throwing daggers and flick it at the man on the left. It slashes into his throat and he staggers back, his hands wrapped around the bleeding wound. Then the other man is upon me and I only just have time to grab my larger blade. He tries to kick at my legs, but it's an untrained move. I grab his foot and twist, getting him off balance. He stumbles, falls, and I jump on his chest, cutting his throat before he can even scream.
Three women have started chanting in the background, one of them Rosalind Tailor. She stands with the Fang sirens, but I guess she doesn't know that I'm not here to kill her. Probably. I could still change my mind.
A strange tingling sensation is running down my back, but the device at my belt seems to be doing its job. Their faces are contorted with effort, but I leave them be and focus on the remaining people. I'm almost done. This is way too easy. Where's the challenge?
I turn to a woman wielding a chair. She’s the one the dart only grazed. Seriously? She throws it at me, but I roll to my right and it ends up landing on a corpse on the floor. That's not how you treat your dead. I pounce at her, but before I have a chance to cut open her flesh, a shrill sound makes me want to cover my ears. Only years of training stop me from following the instinct. I manage to press my blade against the woman's throat, immobilising her, then turn towards the awful sound. It's one of the three women. She's blowing a silver whistle. Does she think this will stop me from killing her?
A noise from far away makes me freeze. Rustling leaves, heavy paws on grass. She's called for backup. Shit.
Without looking at the siren beneath me, I cut her throat before throwing the bloody knife at the woman with the whistle. It embeds itself in her left eye, right where I intended, breaking through her eye socket and into her brain. She stares at me with her good eye, then slowly, as if in slow motion, falls backwards onto a table. The table cloth gets tangled up as she falls, pulling plates and cups onto the floor. I delight in the sound of shattering porcelain. It reminds me that this is fun. Not just a job.
The last two remaining women are clearly frightened, but that doesn't stop them from keeping on singing. Rosalind seems especially keen on overwhelming me with her siren magic. The pressure against my spine increases. Not sure how much longer the anti-siren tech will work. And I have new enemies incoming. I only have seconds before they'll be here. Time to deal with those women. I jump up, ignoring the corpses at my feet, and launch myself at the woman to the left of Rosalind. She's young, maybe my age, but her eyes are cold and her lips pursed in disgust. Sometimes, I hesitate before killing women my age, but not today. I slice my blade across her throat, but before it cuts deep enough, something grips my wrist. I look down, expecting to see a hand holding me, but there's nothing. Fuck sirens.
Rosalind continues her song, now sounding more confident, almost jubilant, and I realise it's her doing. She's broken through my defences and I didn't even realise. How is she doing this? They didn't manage it when three of them were singing together, but now she's succeeding all on her own. I reach for the anti-siren box on my belt and pull back my hand when something sharp cuts my finger. Fuck. It's damaged. That explains it.
The woman beneath me is buckling, trying to get me off her, but I'm way stronger, even with one of my arms not doing my bidding. Luckily, I'm still not under Rosalind's control and my other hand is free. I pull a second blade from its sheath and plunge it into the woman's heart. It's not as satisfying as cutting someone's throat - I like seeing blood splatter as much as the next assassin - but it feels good to hear that crunch.
Now only Rosalind is left. Plus at least five mutant shifters almost upon me.
"I'm not here to kill you!" I shout. "Stop it! I was only here for the Fangs."
Her eyebrows shoot up, but she keeps singing. Damn woman. I don't have time for this.
Footsteps sound from behind me and a man barges into the room, wielding a steak knife. One of the humans.
Urgh, I don't want to have to kill him too. He's just an innocent cook.
Luckily - well, kind of - that's the moment the first wolf crashes through a window, shattering it. Pieces of glass rain down on the floor, but my focus is on the mutant. He barely looks like a wolf. His snout is too large, with fangs glistening from a maw that seems to have more teeth than any animal should have. His front legs are longer than his hind legs, but both have sharp claws that can probably slice through flesh like a diamond blade. And this isn't the only one. A second jumps through the window, with three others outside. Fuck.
The only positive thing about this is that Rosalind stops singing and the human man flees, screaming like a roasting pig.
Time to get some backup. I whistle sharply, alerting whatever cats are in the area. There should be at least one of Ryker's spies nearby. Then I shift, faster than ever before, just in time. The wolf mutant is bleeding from multiple little scratches, but it doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He growls and then he's upon me.
I let go of all thoughts and surrender myself to pure instinct. I counter his strikes, block his claws, even manage to get a bite in once or twice, but he's larger than me and he's not alone. The other wolves surround me, nipping at my feet, trying to get in on the fight. The wolf I'm fighting with seems to somehow hold them back, as if he wants to do this himself. Suits me.
I feint to the left, letting him expose his right side. My claws tear through his skin, cutting into his flesh, but he twists and burning pain bursts through my left hind leg. His jaws are clamped around it and he starts shaking his head from side to side, bringing me off balance. I yelp in pain and stop attacking his right flank. I try to get him off me, clawing at him, biting whatever I can reach, but he's stronger. Shit. I'm in agony and it's making me lost control. Aimless struggling isn't helpful.
I need to be stronger. I've done that before. I pulled on strength I didn't realise I possessed. I need to do it again. But how?
More pain shoots through me, this time originating at my tail. I turn around just in time to see one of the other wolves rip off part of my tail. It doesn't seem real. The pain is real, certainly, but I can't understand how there's part of my tail in his mouth, no longer attached to my body.
Blood streams from the wound.
He fucking bit off my tail.
I go crazy.
* * *
Three wolves are dead on the floor by the time backup arrives. I'm also barely conscious. My vision is blurred but I just about make out Lennox flying through the air, landing on one of the remaining mutants.
I trust him to handle those two. They're both injured, although I've lost track of how much. I'm covered in blood, both theirs and my own. It smells delicious, but I'm too tired to even start licking my fur. I sink to the floor, curl up and try to stay awake. I want to help Lennox, I do, but I simply can't. My energy is spent and I'm still bleeding from my tail and other wounds. There's a big gash on my belly where one of the mutants tried to rip me open.
Time passes. Blood flows. I'm slowly healing, but not everywhere.
"What were you thinking, taking on five mutants at once?"
Lennox has shifted back to human and is kneeling by my side. I didn't even realise he'd approached. I'm in really bad shape. And here I was full
of confidence that I'd be able to deal with this on my own. And I was, until the mutants came. They were bigger and meaner than the ones in the forest. Those were easy prey. The ones today, not so much.
I meow softly in response to Lennox's question.
"Can you shift back?"
I slowly unfurl and look at my tail. The lower third is still missing. Is it going to grow back? I've never lost part of my body before, so it's hard to know.
"Fuck," Lennox exhales. "They bit off your tail."
I roll my eyes as if to say, thanks for letting me know.
"Maybe don't shift just yet. Who knows what part of you may be missing if you do.”
I hadn't thought of that. I obviously don't have a tail when I'm human, so does that mean something else will be cut off? Some fingers? An ear? My boobs? Damn, he's made me a little scared. Or maybe more than a little, not that I'd admit that.
"I was done with my target within seconds," he continues. "He swallowed a poison pill before I could interrogate him. I left him in his house and decided to join you since you were closest. Glad I did. When the cat came running to fetch me, I thought the worst."
A little meow comes from behind me. I barely sense the cat standing there. Everything is dulled like someone's thrown a thick blanket over me. I want to sleep, but I know that's a bad idea. I've got so many things to do. I need to question Rosalind. Where is the siren? Was she killed?
I lift my head, groaning at the exertion. Fuck, that hurts.
"Stay still until you're healed," Lennox warns but I ignore him. I turn to where I last saw Rosalind standing, pressed against the wall. She's no longer there. Of course, she isn't. That would have been too easy.
"Cat, find the siren and her human daughter," I order to the kitty behind me. I can't smell her scent, don't know who she is. "They mustn't leave the house."
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