I peeked up at Viper, waiting for acknowledgment of some kind, but it never came. I might have felt special for being selected as a rare assassin, if Viper would evenlookat me. But instead, he shifted his attention to the new fight happening in the ring and didn’t breathe a word. Not asee you later, nod,hope your face feels better, nothing.
This was the reason my father told me not to trust them. Viper didn’t care about me even when I was chosen as one of them. I was just the lowly outsider. I doubt he would care if I died during training.
My throat tightened, and the pain in my ribs flared. I quickly turned away and hobbled toward Taewyn and Celine, but I felt alone. As the only one going into this guild from Lothleton, Iwasalone.
It burned me up inside that Viper was... ashamed of me. At least, that’s what it felt like. I’d tried my best in the fight against a much stronger and experienced man when I didn’t want to be here in the first place. I was proud of what I’d done. Tears blurred my vision. I quickly blinked them away when Celine and Taewyn met me halfway.
“Holy shit, you’re going to be an assassin!” Celine wailed. “Maybe the farm life out there made you tougher than I thought.”
“We couldn’t believe you got back up after that hit to the face,” Taewyn added.
At least they were excited for me. I sniffled and half smiled. “I’m not a farmer. I’m a bonecarver.” I reached up and touched the smooth surface of my carved dragon earrings to make sure they were still there. It hurt to talk—to breathe. My head was spinning on top of it. “I need to sit down before I fall over.”
I found the nearest wall and slid my back down it, holding my head in my hands. I wanted to lay down on my good side, but Viper would no doubt be even more embarrassed of me. Those blue eyes had cut into my soul with a single dismissive look. I couldn’t even figure out why I wanted to impress him when I couldn’t trust him to look out for me. Why I even cared that he didn’t want me when Iwantedto go home. He was dangerous. Even his name, Viper, gave me an ominous sinking in my gut. I glanced at him once more, and a tingle of caution ran down my spine.
“Taewyn and I are about to step in the sparring arena but stay here and rest, and we’ll get you some water when we’re finished.”
“Thanks,” I rasped. I’d just sit here and wallow in self-pity.
I tappedmy feet nervously as the sun dropped lower and lower on the horizon. My body wanted to run. Shouldn’t they be done with their selections by now? Shouldn’t we get inside where it was safe? My mind started to play tricks, seeing shadows where there were none.
Taewyn sat beside me. His face was as messed up as mine, but he grinned. “I’m going to be an assassin,” he muttered, while holding a cold cloth to the split over his left eye. “I can’t believe I’m going to be an assassin.”
Celine sat on my other side. She had a black eye Taewyn had given her, but it was hardly noticeable with her dark makeup. “I thought I was going to be a warrior.” She tossed a knife from hand to hand. “Now I’m stuck with you two and my stupidass ex-boyfriend,” but she smiled through every word. I was more surprised that Morrow was an assassin than she was. Although,he was quick and agile and didn’t have the brawn of a couple of his friends. “And my trainer said I can’t smoke anymore so I better have my last one now.” She took the white roll of tobacco out of her pocket and lit the end of it with the nearby torch. She put it to her lips and closed her eyes. “I’m going to miss it.”
The sunset was pink and salmon tonight. I nervously picked at the dry skin around my nails. I couldn’t sit here much longer. I felt like I was going to combust if I didn’t at least move. “When do we go inside?”
“They’re almost done. There’s only a few left to test,” Celine answered.
I knew from Grandma Thora that they said it was safe at night inside the city, but I just didn’t believe it. There were torches on the walls and down the center of this whole area, but it would be dark soon. I’d almost died the previous night. That stupid gold nugget seemed even less important than ever. But now I regretted not telling my father where it was so he could sell it. “I want to go inside.”
“You have to wait for your trainer.” Taewyn handed me a canteen of water. “Viper is the highest-ranking assassin under the Commanders. You’re lucky.”
I took a gulp of water. Lucky? He couldn’t be less interested in being my trainer. If he was the highest-ranking, it was even more reason for him not to care about me—the loth. “How do people rank?”
“For assassins? Usually by number of kills,” Celine answered and blew out a plume of smoke. “He’s legendary.”
“Do you know him? What’s he like?” I stared at him across the courtyard. The way he could hold completely still was unnerving. He hadn’t looked my way once.
“Of course we don’t,” Celine drawled. “He would never talk to us before this. We’ve never even seen him before. The assassins stick to themselves.”
“Then how do you know anything about him?” I passed the canteen back.
“Nighthaven Academy teaches about assassins, but it’s fairly vague. We know they play a huge role in protecting the city. They complete secret missions, none of us know much about it, but if a high-level vampire needs to be taken out, you call in the assassins, not the warriors. The warriors defend the city and fight in larger-scale battles.”
“High-level?” The term didn’t make sense to me. Were they not just feral beasts?
Celine glanced at Taewyn with a sardonic smile. “She’s like a child.” With another inhale she blew out more smoke and turned to me. My stomach roiled at the way she thought of me. There was too much I didn’t know. But how would we know? The ducai didn’t talk to us. The only communication I knew of was when warriors came with wagons to collect goods like wheat or cattle, but Neverglade wasn’t large enough to produce much for the city. And we in Lothleton obviously didn’t talk to the vampires either. “The vampires in Nocturnus have levels of rank like we do, although most of them are stupid and ruled by their lust for blood. Assassins go after the important ones.”
For fear of being judged, I didn’t ask more about it. But them being stupid and ruled by blood, I knew well.
Taewyn added, “Even if assassins keep to themselves, they still talk when they get drunk at the pubs. And the professors sometimes report on an assassin’s high numbers of vampire kills. Everyone has heard of ‘Viper’, but they use codenames so none of us really knows their true identity.”
“Everyone still tries to guess.” Celine took a pull on her tobacco. “Some people say he’s Quinn Heraldson from Nighthaven-South, but I don’t think so. I remember Quinn, he wasn’t that tall. But the new girl gets to find out who he is first, lucky dog.”
His real name wouldn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t know any names here besides the royal family.
“I can’t wait to see the guild,” Taewyn said, so excited he almost shook. “It’s veiled by magic and only the assassins know where it is.”
