Rise of the Assassin (Child of an Alpha Series Book 1)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  “Were they able to get a name or at least get a look at his face?” Deja asked, hoping the mission wasn’t a complete failure.

  “No,” my father answered. “Every time one of ours got close enough to see him, he would put his hood back on and turn away from them. His followers call him ‘Master,’ which wasn’t going to help us at all.”

  “So, he’s untraceable too?” I asked. “No one knows where he lives? I find it hard to believe that no one knows anything about him.”

  “If someone does know that information, they’re keeping it to themselves,” my father replied, looking defeated. “The only thing we do know is he’s a sorcerer. Not only is magical energy left on the bodies but one of the guards we sent in saw him opening a portal and walking through it.”

  “His followers probably don’t know where he goes, then,” Juda observed. “He’s a mystery even to them.”

  “That’s what we’ve come to as well,” Uncle Chris agreed with his daughter.

  “So, what about tonight?” Kota inquired as the room went silent. “What are you going to do about the ones left at the gate?”

  “We’re going to start with identifying them and notifying their families,” Uncle Alex answered. “We’ll then search the bodies thoroughly to see if any clues were left behind, whether intentionally or accidentally.”

  “What about a search?” Nova suggested. “He’s obviously in the area. We should be out there looking for him.”

  “If he were any other race that might be a good idea,” Uncle Ben acknowledged. “But he’s a sorcerer. He could’ve portaled anywhere he’s been before.”

  Deja repeated the question: “So, what are you going to do then?”

  “We’ll discuss it with the councils,” my father told her. “They don’t know about the prophecy, but they do know about the murders and believe as much as we do that it’s a threat towards the alpha families. We’ll come up with a plan and go from there.”

  “You can’t trust the councils,” Juda snapped as she leaned forward on the couch. “They’re against you as much as that following is.”

  “We do have allies on the council,” Uncle Chris tried to explain to her.

  “That’s why you’re suddenly in a hurry to bind me off to Declan,” I accused my father. “Vincent is only an ally if I bind to his son.”

  “That’s not true, Luna,” my father argued. “Vincent and I have been discussing this for years. We both agreed it was a good match and we would pursue it more when the time was right.”

  “My birthday was the right time?” I said, pushing myself to the edge of the couch, using my legs to hold me up so I didn’t slide off.

  “I realize my timing was off,” my father acknowledged. “But things are getting serious now and we need to prepare.”

  “Luna, I think your father’s right,” Kota said, “It’s not a bad idea.”

  “Do you really think your father isn’t about to do the same thing to you?” I snarled at her. “Did no one else hear them talking about it before we came falling from ceiling?”

  Kota whipped her head over to Uncle Alex, hoping to hear him say I was wrong. He looked at her with pleading eyes, almost like he was asking for forgiveness before he explained himself.

  “Everyone needs to calm down,” Uncle Gabe said as he lifted his hands towards Uncle Alex and Kota, signaling for them to stop before anything got out of hand. The room seemed less tense and my frustration disappeared. It took me a moment to realize that Uncle Gabe was messing with our emotions. I tried to say something, but he must’ve sensed that I had figured out what he was doing and focused his energy on me. I clenched my teeth tighter as I fought him, refusing to let him win.

  “Stop it,” was all I was able to say.

  “Stay calm and I will,” he told me before shooting his gaze over to his daughter. “And stop trying to counter act what I’m doing.”

  I knew that was the only way I was able to say something. Deja possessed the same ability as her father, which made it possible for her to at least try and fight back. Uncle Gabe was too strong to be overpowered though. Deja didn’t have a chance.

  I felt whatever Uncle Gabe and Deja were doing lift. It was strange to go back to the way I was feeling before. The calmness had been kind of nice. Things weren’t as loud and intense. Now I felt like everything was coming at me at one time. The fairies call it manipulating energy, but it seemed more like a form of torture.

  “There’s too much to go over right now,” my father said when we all were paying attention again. “Scarlett’s going to notice that we left the ballroom and I’m trying to not fight with her tonight as well. We can discuss this more in the morning.”

  “How can we go back to the ball knowing there are five dead bodies in the castle?” I asked, refusing to get up off the couch. “I can’t go back and pretend to have a good time after all of this.”

  “Unless you want to deal with your mother and your aunts, you better put a smile on your face and behave,” my father scolded. “I suggest the rest of you do the same or we’re all going to have a miserable night.”

  “How did you girls know about the escape route?” Uncle Alex asked as he looked at our wrinkled dresses.

  “I found it when I was exploring the castle years ago,” I admitted, thinking there was no point in lying about it now.

  “This isn’t the first time you’ve spied on me, is it?” My father turned around to face me. He didn’t seem angry anymore. In a short time, his anger had worked its way down to frustration, which was much better than him being mad at me.

  “Do you really need my assistance in answering that question?” I responded, my expression frozen still as he stared at me. It didn’t register with me until this moment, but he knew we had been up there spying on them all these years, which is why I felt like the floorboard had moved. He was the one who moved it so he could easily catch us the next time we tried to eavesdrop.

  “This conversation is not over,” he reminded me.

  “I know,” I groaned as I walked past him towards the door.

  The girls followed me, our heels making more noise in the hallway than I would’ve liked. I didn’t want people to know that I was coming. I liked sneaking up on them or walking past them without them realizing I was there.

  “I’m going to clean up before going back to the ballroom,” I told my father, who nodded before walking away. I went for the stairs hoping I was by myself, but I was disappointed when I noticed the girls behind me. I wanted to tell them I needed a few minutes alone, but that would only make them ask more questions. The best thing to do was to let them follow me and then hide in my bathroom for a few minutes. The odds of that plan being successful were slim, but it was worth a shot.

  I entered my chambers and went straight for the bathroom, enacting my plan with the hopes of it running smoothly. I didn’t close the door all the way, but I did push it toward the doorframe, hoping the girls would take a hint. I sat down on the chair in front of the counter and dropped my head into my hands.

  My father had been discussing my future for years without saying a word to anyone. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t think my father would spend so much of my youth on it. Was he in that much of a hurry to bind me off? My gut told me I was being ridiculous, but my mind liked to play tricks on me. Did Declan know this whole time? Or was he in the dark just as much as I was? What about Vincent? This whole time my father acted like he was the last person he wanted to be in a room with. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I knew my father was trying to protect me and strengthen our alliances, but was that really the only reason? I couldn’t help but feel like there was something else he wasn’t telling me that would make this whole thing make sense.

  “Miss Luna?” a small voice came from outside the door. I recognized it to be Ivy, but I wasn’t sure what she was doing in here. She was supposed to be at the ball. She pushed the door open and walked in with a pile of clean towels in her arms, still dressed in her bla
ck and white uniform.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her as I stood up from the chair and took the towels from her. I dropped them on the counter and turned back to her, waiting for her explanation.

  “Your towels finished drying, so I folded them and brought them up here so they would be ready for you tomorrow,” she explained, not understanding that I wasn’t talking about the towels.

  “I mean, why aren’t you at the ball?”

  “I had too much to do,” she answered honestly. “I’m still learning how to do things, so I don’t finish everything as quickly as the other maids do.”

  “Get in that closet, Ivy,” I demanded as I pointed towards the room holding my clothes and shoes. She looked at me as if she didn’t understand, but after a moment’s hesitation, she did as she was told. She stood in the middle of the room, back towards me, looking more worried than she had been when she first met me. “You are not allowed to come out of this closet until you have that dress on and a pair of heels.”

  I shut the door and waited for her, the girls piling in when they heard me talking. They seemed confused when they saw me guarding the closet door but either didn’t care enough to ask what I was doing or they didn’t know what to say.

  “You should go back down to the ball,” I told them. “I’ll come down when Ivy is finished getting ready.”

  “Why isn’t she down there already?” Nova asked. “Did anyone tell her that she was invited?”

  “I told her,” I said softly. “She put work before having a good time, so I’m not leaving this room until she is ready to go.”

  “Are you going to clean yourself up before going back down there?” Deja asked as she looked at my dress.

  “Yes,” I snarled. “I will make sure I look presentable before going back to the ball. Are you happy now?”

  The girls all smirked at me before exiting the bathroom. I heard the door shut behind them just as Ivy exited the closet. She appeared to be shy and uncomfortable wearing the dress, but she looked more beautiful than I anticipated. All we needed to do was fix up her hair and we were ready to go downstairs.

  I didn’t know a thing about doing someone else’s hair. I barely did my own when I had nowhere I needed to look presentable. I brushed through her hair before tying it up on top of her head, the tail of it lying against her back. She didn’t say much when I was finished with it, but I could tell by the crack of a smile that she was pleased with how she looked.

  “Are you ready to enjoy yourself now?” I asked, guiding her towards my bedroom.

  “Yes, Miss Luna,” she answered as we crossed the room. I made sure she exited before I did so she didn’t wander back inside to fix something she saw out of place. I only just met her, but she seemed like the type to avoid things by giving herself more work to do. That wasn’t going to happen with me around.

  When we got to the staircase, I saw my mother standing at the bottom of it. I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. No doubt she saw the girls return and became suspicious when she didn’t see me with them. Ivy and I walked side by side until we reached the bottom, my mother complimenting her as she admired the gown that was meant for me. I encouraged Ivy to join the others in the ballroom and tried to follow her when my mother stopped me. I knew that was going to happen, but I thought she might let it go just this once since it was my birthday.

  “Where have you been?” my mother asked as she gripped my arm tightly.

  “I was helping Ivy with her dress,” I told her the truth — while leaving out some very important details. Hopefully, my father didn’t say anything to her about our earlier adventure.

  “Then why is your dress a mess?” she asked as she started to pat my gown down, as if that would get rid of all the wrinkles. I sighed and tried to pull away from her, but she kept a firm grip on my arm.

  “It’s fine, Mom,” I moaned.

  “It’s not fine,” she assured me. “You look like you’ve been wrestling with your brothers, but since they’re still in the ballroom with no wrinkles in their clothes, I’m going to assume you were up to no good with your sisters. Their dresses look just like yours, only they took the time to at least try and make them look better.”

  “Why are you making such a big deal out of this?” I asked as I stopped moving, figuring there was no point in continuing to fight her. “No one is going to care what I look like anyways.”

  “Yes, they will,” my mother argued. “Do you really want a reputation of wrinkled clothing? You are part of the alpha family and you need to act like it.”

  “That’s what you keep telling me.” I rolled my eyes as I leaned against the staircase.

  “Well, maybe if you took it seriously, I wouldn’t have to keep telling you,” she snapped as she looked up into my face. I looked so much like her. Her hair was the same color as my own, but her eyes were a Caribbean blue, just like my brothers. Our features were delicate and our skin smooth, but the flaws were there if you looked hard enough.

  “What’s going on over here?” a male voice asked as it echoed through the entryway. My father walked towards us, looking formal and elegant.

  “Just trying to stop your daughter from embarrassing herself at her own ball,” my mother told him as she continued to mess with my dress.

  “Don’t you mean embarrassing you?” I corrected, knowing it wouldn’t help my situation. If I were smart, I would think before speaking, but no one had ever put the word ‘smart’ in a statement involving me.

  “It does affect the whole family whether you realize it or not,” my mother scolded. “Your brothers seem to understand this, so I’m not sure why you can’t.”

  “Scarlett, I think you need to calm down,” my father suggested, forcing her to stop messing with my dress and glare up in his direction. I could tell by his reaction that he was ready to back down and let my mother continue, but he surprised me by doing the opposite. “It’s her birthday and I don’t think it would kill you if you cut her some slack.”

  “This is why she continues to do things like this.” My mother stood up tall. “You keep coming in to save the day, making sure that she never has to learn from her mistakes.”

  “Stop,” I said as I pushed myself between them. I couldn’t stand to listen to my mother talk like that to my father, and I didn’t want to be the reason my father felt like he needed to defend me to my mother. It just wasn’t worth it. “It’s not a big deal. I never should’ve left the ballroom and wrinkled up my dress. It won’t happen again.”

  I tried to walk away, but this time it was my father who stopped me. He forced me back to where I was standing. “I know what you’re trying to do, but whether it happens now or later, your mother and I will be discussing this. Nothing you say or do will stop it.”

  “Understood,” I told him as I tried to walk away again. I didn’t like seeing my parents fight, especially over something I did. I wasn’t able to control my curiosity, which is why I found myself in trouble on most days, but this was different. This was me being nosy and attempting to prove a point only to have it backfire on me. There was guilt in the pit of my stomach that I didn’t like but refused to leave.

  “Luna, where have you been?” Liam asked at the entrance of the ballroom. He seemed to be having a good time, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He had a glass in his hand that I assumed was wine. Did our mother know he was drinking that? After the trouble I’d already caused tonight, I wasn’t about to say anything, but there was a small portion of me that wanted to warn him before she noticed.

  “Just getting myself in trouble,” I mumbled as I walked past him. “Nothing different from any other day.”

  “Even on your birthday, you can’t stay away from the dark side,” he laughed as he wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me into his side. I’m not sure how many glasses of wine he’d had but judging by his behavior I would say at least three or four. I looked around for Levi to help me before our brother did something that would really change our reputatio
n. He was talking amongst the vampire council and seemed to be having a good conversation instead of the tense ones my father was always talking about. I decided to take care of this on my own instead of interrupting him.

  I led Liam through the crowd, forcing him to keep moving forward every time he tried to talk to someone. I was hoping one of the girls would come along and help me, but they disappeared within the rest of the crowd, hopefully having a better time than I was.

  We finally got to the kitchen, where Liam tumbled to the floor. I don’t know what caused him to lose his footing since he was doing just fine before we got here. I tried to pick him up, but he suddenly was too heavy to even attempt lifting. When I got down and put my face to his, I realized he was passed out. He didn’t hit his head, so I was assuming he drank more wine than I originally thought. The glass of wine that was in his hand had spilled all over the floor.

  I cursed my brother for making me clean up after him, looking for some towels and finally finding them in a cabinet beneath the dishes we used during our meals. I grabbed a few of them and dropped them on top of the wine lying in a puddle next to my brother. The white towels started to turn into a light purple color as the liquid disappeared from the tiles.

  When I was finished, I tried to prop my brother up so he didn’t look so awkward. His arms were both facing different directions and his legs were lying one way while his head was face down on the floor. He looked like a mess, and I really shouldn’t be working this hard to take care of him, but he would have done the same for me if he was thinking clearly and the roles were reversed.

  There was no chance of me getting him up onto one of the chairs. The best I could do was sit him up straight and lean him against the cabinets.

  “You should just leave him there,” a voice said from the entry of the kitchen. “Maybe he’ll learn to stick to the lemon juice if he wakes up in the middle of the staff cooking breakfast.”

  I turned around to see Declan’s hypnotizing light blue eyes for the second time tonight. There was a part of me that was happy to see him because he could help me move my brother, but there was also a part of me that was nervous to be around him. I didn’t want to sound stupid in his presence, and ever since I realized just how long this plan had been developing, I knew there was no way out of it. This was happening whether I wanted it to or not. I still didn’t know what I wanted, but I was pretty sure the choice had been taken from me. The only thing I knew for sure was Declan was not the worst vampire to end up with. I wouldn’t have to worry about watching my back every time we were in the same room. Was that enough to spend the next five hundred years together?