“Let me show you,” Mom said and parted her skirts to reveal a leather sheath strapped to her thigh. She slid the blade in its place. “Just like that.”
I grinned, excited for the future when I would get to attend balls at the king’s palace, dressed in beautiful gowns, my blade strapped to my long legs that I got from my mom.
“Phoenix, did you find the necklace?” Mom asked me.
“Yes, mom,” I said and handed her the pearls.
The sound of my metal bed frame creaking brings me back to reality. I look at it over my shoulder to find nothing but the breeze rustling the curtains.
Everything in this apartment is old. Maybe I should move in with Vera. Too many memories linger in the corners here already. Memories that will do me no good.
But I can’t. I need to have a place where I can speak with Daegel in private. While I may have agreed to break up with him, it doesn’t mean I have to.
Despite the odds, there’s a part of me that believes we can make it out together. If only he listens to me, and truly hears me.
With a sigh, I pad over to the kitchen table. The floorboards creak under my feet, and somewhere else in the apartment. I look around, heart pounding.
But it’s just me and the shadows.
I pick up the invitation to the Black Night. The paper is sturdy, the black ink flowing in intricate patterns on the page. I have no clue what to expect from this event. What if the moment Ekions find out I’m aiming for the Ezkai General role they boo me off the stage?
A human as their Ezkai General. There’s bound to be resistance…
The presence behind me is sharp.Wrong. A blade sings free of its sheath. I spin, catching the assassin’s wrist mid-strike.
Dressed all in black, with a hood, the figure rips their hand away and ducks. They sweep their leg across my ankle, but I’m faster. I jump to avoid stumbling and rush towards my wardrobe where my weapons lay.
The attacker is good, though.
They grab me by the waist before I can tear the wardrobe doors open. I reach for my dagger, mere inches away from my fingers. But the intruder spins us around and tosses me onto the bed.
I bounce off the mattress, my hair in my face. Before I can recover, the intruder is on top of me. They pin me in place with their hips. But my hands are still free, and it’s a mistake.
I catch the hand with the blade once more, and pull it closer to me. As the intruder falls forward, I roll us around so I’m on top now. I pin the hand with their blade to the bed.
Unfortunately, they’re fast, too. Before I can react, a second dagger is in their free hand. I grunt when the knife sinks into my side. Sharp pain goes through me.
I punch the intruder hard enough to break their nose. I can’t see their face through the thin veil they wear, but I hear the crunch and their grunt.
With the blade stuck in my side, I rip their other one from their grip and angle it across their neck.
“Who the fuck are you?” I pant.
The intruder freezes.
“Who sent you?” I snap. “Is it Caligos?”
Instead of answering me, the intruder lifts their head towards me. My blade sinks into their neck and blood pours onto my sheets.
I’m flabbergasted by the suicide. They choke, convulse, force themselves down until the steel severs. They choose death over answers.
I let go of their arm and plop next to the corpse onto my mattress. My heart hammers in my chest and ears, the wound in my side bleeding.
What the fuck was that?
With trembling hands, I rip the veil from their face. It’s a young fae woman. I tear her black muslin tunic away, looking for Caligos tattoos, but I find none.
I frown. If not Caligos, then who sent this assassin?
