But he might be just what I need right now.
Someone with information.
“What are the four of you doing together?” Are they some sort of anti-league?
His attention darts away from me. The city lights outside shine down on him, beaming over his now somber features.
“Tylin should have killed you.” It’s a whispered confession. It’s so quiet it scurries through the room and across my flesh.
“But he didn’t.” I need him to do what I know a normal assassin would never do. I need him to give me information on his own people. “He trusts me,” I say it with more confidence than I feel. Unearned conviction steadies my voice. “You want to trust me.” I feel like I’m trying to convince us both.
His tongue rolls across his lower lip. He looks at me from beneath long, dark lashes. It’s a dangerous look. Striding steps sound quietly through the room as he comes closer and closer until the nerves just beneath my skin start to tingle throughout my body.
He lowers himself. Long fingers grip the chair as he holds himself above me. Heavy shadows line his face. His beautiful eyes bore into mine, making me shift beneath his gaze.
“I don’t trust Armond.” Warm breath kisses my lips. “I don’t trust the Lifeless League.” His attention drifts to my mouth for only a second before meeting my gaze with a hard look. “And I don’t fucking trust the assassin they sent to kill me. So no, I don’t want to trust you, Alexa.” He shoves so hard away from me that the chair scrapes against the damp concrete.
My jaw clenches shut when he storms back to his spot near the windows. Why are they all so frustrating?
It seems I’ll have to figure this out for myself. The League would never have kicked them out. That isn’t their way. They would have disposed of a rogue assassin rather than releasing them. So that must mean they left. They abandoned us.
They abandoned me, even.
Why does that feel so hurtful?
They left because they didn’t trust the League. But why? The League will kill me for not killing these men. The twist of my stomach seems to tell me I can’t kill them though. If it were one man, it’d seem logical. Occasionally, an assassin will think they can retire. Think they can slip away without a trace. But four of them?
It just doesn’t feel right.
If I’m being honest, Armond isn’t someone to be trusted. He’s someone to be respected.
“Will you answer me one thing?” I sit up straighter in my chair, realizing he’s not as easy of a target as I originally thought.
He looks my way but doesn’t reply.
“Do you intend to retaliate? Will you eventually come back for Armond to do to him what he would surely do to you?”
“That is the plan.” His voice holds that casual sound once again.
His response isn’t surprising. They aren’t the first people to want Armond dead. They are the first who might have a real fighting chance though.
“And what about those who get in your way?”
“No hard feelings, but I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.”
My shoulders tense and instead of cowering from his words, I stand. His quiet appraisal watches my every move as I walk the span of the room to stand before him. White moonlight slices through the space between us. My lips purse as I stare up at him for several quiet seconds.
A taunting thought trickles through my mind. I could earn their trust. I could drag this out until I know what this is really about.
When I speak, my voice is a conspiratorial whisper that caresses the room.
“Don’t you think it’d be more helpful if you had someone on the inside?”
He leans in close, a smile tipping his lips. My breasts push against the hard panes of his chest. His words surprise me more than I’ll ever admit.
“What makes you think we don’t already?”
An empty breath falls from my lips. I hate when I’m speechless. To be fair, it doesn’t happen often. My shitty retorts always manage to fall from my lips before I can stop them.
