Angel's Assassin (29 page)

Aurora placed a hand on her father’s arm. “He
sent Damien to kill me, Father,” she warned.

Gabriel rose to his full height, outraged.
“You sent an assassin to harm my daughter?”

Roke crossed his arms carelessly. “In truth,
it was not me.” He looked hard at Aurora. “Your refusals upset some
very powerful men. They do not like being upset.” He shrugged. “You
would not have me, either. It was an easy request to fulfill at the
time. And the offer was generous.” He turned back to Gabriel. “You
were speaking of Margaret’s death.”

Gabriel’s shoulders wilted. “Get out, Roke.”
There was no insistency behind his words.

“I have not gotten what I came for,” Roke
said, brushing past him. He held his wrinkled hands out to the fire
for warmth.

Aurora cast a glance over her shoulder at the
doorway. Two large forms stood just inside the door, two shadowy
sentinels. Roke’s men.

“Where is Damien?” Roke said softly.

“He is gone,” Aurora proclaimed, lifting her
chin in defiance, the need to protect him sudden and
instinctual.

Gabriel placed a gentle hand on her shoulder
and shook his head.

“Gone?” Roke echoed. He stood before the fire
for a long moment. Then, he slowly turned toward her. “Why do you
think it is that Damien defied my order and became your
bodyguard?”

“He did not want others to steal his
freedom,” she replied.

Roke’s eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtfully.
“And yet, he still failed his mission,” Roke answered. “He has
never failed.” Roke took two steps forward, his gaze consuming her.
“What do you think it is about you that corrupts a man like
Damien?”

Gabriel blocked his path, interposing himself
between Aurora and Roke.

Roke’s stare shifted to Gabriel. “What do you
think it is about her that makes a man want to protect her? From
death. From me. Even from her own mother.”

Gabriel was stone. He didn’t move, not a
muscle. “Don’t,” he whispered, half pleading, half begging.

Roke’s lips curled in an ugly grimace of
mockery. “I only want to protect her.”

For a long moment, the two men stared at each
other, a silent war of intent and unspoken threats.

Aurora watched the interplay in confusion.
She placed a hand on her father’s arm.

“Didn’t you tell her?” Roke asked.

In desperation, Gabriel turned to face
Aurora. His eyes held such sorrow, such guilt that Aurora clutched
his hands in comfort.

“Aurora,” Gabriel said softly. “Remember when
I told you that everything happens for a reason? That Damien might
have killed your mother to save other lives?”

“Justifying murder?” Roke mused, delighted.
“I will have to remember that.”

“I wanted Margaret away from you. But she was
your mother. I could not take you from her. You would not let me
and I could deny you nothing.”

Aurora tried to make sense of her father’s
words. She didn’t like the strain she heard in his tone. She didn’t
like the way his eyes suddenly looked old, suddenly looked
remorseful.

“Lord help me,” Gabriel said softly, “I never
wanted you to be hurt. I never expected…”

Aurora shook her head. “What are you
saying?”

“Damien was hired by someone,” Gabriel said
desperately. “He never would have killed Margaret if he wasn’t
commanded to do so. By someone dark and horribly, horribly
evil.”

Aurora swiveled her head to Roke. “By his
master,” she whispered in contempt. “You did it. You had her
killed. Just like you would have had me killed.”

Roke smiled at her. There was something
sinister in his grin, something powerful and confident. It sent
shivers across Aurora’s shoulders. “You don’t have to tell her,”
Roke suggested to Gabriel.

“It was the night she had that little boy
whipped for dashing out in front of her horse when she was in the
village,” Gabriel began. “I heard her tell you that no peasant,
man, woman, or child, should dare to cross before the path of a
noble. It was horrible. That child barely survived. I knew he was
crippled for life. And Roke was here. I didn’t know what else to
do. I couldn’t leave you under her influence. I didn’t want you…”
His shoulders drooped. “… to become like her.”

Aurora stared at her father in confusion. She
shook her head. “What did you do?”

“Roke told me that it would be quick and
painless. He promised you would not see it. You would not be
affected by it.”

Roke shrugged, nonchalantly. “A slight
miscalculation on my part.”

“I still hesitated. I didn’t think it was
right. I didn’t think killing Margaret was the answer.”

Dread churned in Aurora’s stomach, filling
her body.

“I had to persuade you,” Roke reminded with
amusement. “I had to remind you of how good Aurora was. How
compassionate. I knew first hand how people changed in the face of
darkness, under the constant influence of evil. That is why I am so
drawn to Aurora. She is everything I am not. She is a danger to me
and my men. If I possessed such a creature…” His eyes filled with
rapture. “Goodness doing what I commanded...” He grinned, his eyes
seeing his future. “Imagine the power I would wield.”

Aurora stepped toward her father, shaking her
head. “Father…” she pleaded.

“Aurora, I did it for you,” Gabriel said,
falling to his knees in repentance before her. “I never intended to
harm you.”

Aurora stared at him, the horror of
understanding filtering into her mind. He hired Roke to kill her
mother. And Roke ordered Damien to do it. Her father let Roke
corrupt him. She clenched her fists. “Both of you are mad,” Aurora
whispered, repulsed. “I am not this angel you see me as. I have
wicked, horrible thoughts the same as anyone. But the difference is
that I control those thoughts, those impulses, where you have not.
I would never have been like mother because I had you to look up
to.” She shook her head and stepped away from him. “But now… How
could you have, Father? How could you have let him talk you into
something so terrible?”

Her father bowed his head beneath her
accusation.

“Because he is weak,” Roke answered
viciously. “He allowed me to persuade him that killing your mother
was the right thing to do. I found it deliciously enticing.”

Aurora took another step away from her
father. Her own father! She looked up to him all these years,
wanted to be like him. She thought he was so good, so kind. But
like Damien, she had been wrong about him, too. Damien was right.
There was evil in everyone.

“Of course, in the end, it was because of
you,” Roke said slyly. “To protect you.” He placed his hands
reverently on her shoulders, turning her to face him. “Your life
was worth more than your mother’s.”

Aurora yanked away from Roke, freeing
herself. Her world crumbled about her. Everything she believed was
a lie. Everything she thought was wrong. People were not inherently
good. Her body trembled with sorrow, with remorse. Even her. She
wasn’t good. Roke saw her kindness. Her father loved her
compassion. Her people adored her fairness. But she was not good.
Because someone so good could never have been the cause of so much
agony.

Roke pulled out a piece of parchment. “Even
now, my dear, he still seeks to protect you.”

Aurora stared at the parchment in dread.

“Come now, my child,” Roke said, responding
to the dark look on her face. “I promised to find your mother’s
killer, and that is exactly what I have done. My word is always
good.” Roke grinned a terrible grin.

Gabriel shook his head.

“Don’t fear, Gabriel. I’ll call the assassins
off. I’ll call them all off.” Roke smiled victoriously. “I can’t
have my wife killed by my own assassins.”

Gabriel slumped into a chair in defeat. His
head slowly raised and then lowered.

Roke turned to Aurora, his eyes glimmering
with triumph as he held the parchment tightly in his hand. “You are
mine. We ride to Castle Roke within the hour.”

D
amien rode
hard to escape Castle Acquitaine. He traveled for one day straight,
finally resting just outside of an inn. He knew time was of the
essence, but he also knew he could never fight Roke and his minions
without being well-rested. He would need every ounce of physical
energy and every shred of mental sharpness to face them in battle.
He made camp near a small stream in the thick forest. Even now, his
soul demanded he return to Acquitaine, but he knew he could never
return. Aurora saw him as a monster, the murderer of her
mother.

Damien rolled onto his side, pulling a
blanket over him, trying to shield himself from his thoughts. They
would not abate. Aurora, his mind groaned. She was everything he
ever wanted. And his darkness overwhelmed her. He gave her nothing
but pain.

Despite his embattled mind, sleep came immediately;
his body was exhausted.

Suddenly, Aurora was there. Beautiful,
glorious. She was an angel. Her hair was wild about her shoulders,
her eyes lidded and sultry, her lips full and wet as if he had just
kissed them. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She
reached out her arms to him, beckoning, calling to him.

“Freedom.” A voice hissed through the sudden
darkness that surrounded him.

Damien knew the voice. Roke. He whirled,
looking for his master. Roke loomed up behind Aurora, his eyes red
like the devil, his fingers clawed as they reached for her. His
hands wrapped around her body.

Damien lunged for her, but Roke pulled her
back into the darkness. Her light shone for only a moment and then
it was gone, consumed by the ultimate blackness of death.

“NO!” Damien shouted.

He sat up immediately, panting, sweat
drenching his body. Tense and disoriented, his gaze swept the
shadowed forest around him. Blackness. The leaves of the trees
shuddered above him in a soft breeze. Prickles raced along his skin
and Damien reached for his sword.

Someone was out there.

“Good eve, brother,” Gawyn whispered as he
stepped from between a cluster of bushes.

Damien relaxed slightly, but did not remove
his hand from the hilt of his weapon. “What do you want?” he
demanded gruffly.

Gawyn chuckled. “No ‘good eve, brother’?”

Damien settled back against the bark of the
tree he slept beneath to hear Gawyn prattle on until he was ready
to tell him what he came for.

“I didn’t think so,” Gawyn said, stopping two
feet away from him. He stared down at him for a long moment. “You
left Acquitaine. Why?”

Damien looked away from Gawyn, unaccustomed
to speaking with him. “I could not complete my mission.”

Gawyn’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’ve spent
all this time sulking after your freedom and now you simply abandon
it?”

Damien clenched his teeth.

“Are you heading back to Castle Roke?”

“Since when do I tell you what I am doing?”
Damien demanded.

Gawyn smiled and placed his hands on hips.
“It’s just… well, after all this time of protecting her, I find it
difficult to believe you’re leaving her to die.”

Damien stiffened. “Her father will protect
her.”

“Like he did before?” Gawyn asked with rich
sarcasm. “He doesn’t stand a chance against Roke’s assassins and
you know it.”

“He’ll have to hold out for just a little
longer,” Damien said quietly.

Gawyn scowled until realization opened his
eyes wide. His arms dropped to his side. “You’re going back to face
Roke,” he gasped.

“I’m damned tired of being his slave.”

“You won’t make it. He has those two giants
with him at all times. You’re good, but not good enough to face
those two trained killers and then Roke.”

Damien looked at Gawyn with resolution.
“There is nothing else I can do.”

“Damien,” Gawyn pleaded, “think about what
you’re planning to do. Roke is not going to lie down and expose his
throat to you. You’ll have to fight all three of them. You can’t do
it.”

“I have to. I have no other choice.” Damien
picked his dagger up from the ground and inspected the sharp blade.
How could he expect Gawyn to understand? Aurora was everything to
him. And he would make sure she was safe.

Gawyn watched Damien for a speculative
moment. “Could it be that you’ve finally found something more
important than your freedom?”

Damien ignored his brother, rubbing the flat
edge of the blade over his leggings to clean it.

Gawyn squatted before him, leaning in
conspiratorially. “Let me go with you. I can watch your back.”

Damien chuckled humorlessly, a reply on his
lips. But when he looked at Gawyn, something caught his eye.
Hanging about Gawyn’s neck on a thin black string was a golden
band. He reached out with his dagger and wrapped the string around
the blade. “What’s this?”

Gawyn tried to pull away.

Damien cut the string and caught the necklace
in his palm as it slid from his brother’s neck.

Gawyn stood with a shrug of his shoulders.
“It’s just a token.”

Damien fingered the gold band etched with a
red rose, inspecting it. He knew this ring. Angry heat boiled his
blood. He lifted a deadly glare to his brother. “It was you,” he
whispered.

Gawyn shook his head as Damien slowly stood
before him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I found that
ring in Acquitaine.”

Damien’s fingers curled about the band.
“Aurora said her captor took her ring. This ring. You son of a
bitch,” he ground out. He lashed out with a hard blow to Gawyn’s
jaw.

Gawyn flew back onto the leaf-covered
ground.

“This is Aurora’s ring,” Damien snarled and
grabbed him by the tunic, hauling him to his feet and shoving him
back into the trunk of a tree.