Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel (16 page)

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Authors: Amanda Bonilla

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BOOK: Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel
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“My master wants you,” it said in my ear.
I pushed the image of my insides melting into a slurp-able goo to the back of my mind. Who was its master and why did he want me? I swallowed the fear threatening to overtake me. “Your master?” I goaded the thing. “I wouldn’t boast about servitude. It makes you pathetic.”
“As pathetic as you, Shaede?” Its grating voices used my own words against me. “Aren’t you a slave yourself?”
“I am my own,” I said.
“NO!” A blast of wind whipped at my face. “You belong to that scum of a king!”
“I am employed.” I kept my voice steady, my gaze straight ahead, even as the other pedestrians on the sidewalk gave me a wide berth. I must have come off as bat-shit insane.
“You are purchased,” it seethed. “You are a king’s whore and nothing else.”
Now, I’ve been called a few names here and there. Most of them didn’t even cause me to bat a lash.
Whore
was not one of them.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “You are a cowardly piece of shit,” I said in voice dripping with malice. “If you were half as tough as your talk, you’d show yourself so I could kick your ass and send your soul into the light forever.”
The Lyhtan’s many voices laughed in my ear, and I felt its presence close to me, like a bulldozer pressing against my body. “You speak with the arrogant supremacy of all Shaedes. But the eclipse will see to the end of your conceit.”
Again with the eclipse talk?
I guess this particular Lyhtan was an astronomy buff. I looked straight ahead. I didn’t blink. I didn’t breathe. My hand twitched as I thought of retrieving the katana from my back. Another gust of air pushed at me and then dissipated, followed by the familiar scurrying sound, only to leave me standing alone, trembling with rage.
The Lyhtan—and its master—
had
to be connected to the hit. Even Xander thought so. But the question was, Why would the mark want me?
The plot thickens,
I thought as I picked up my pace, walking the adrenaline out of my system and waiting for sunset to release me from pathetic uselessness.
When I made it back to my studio, I was unsurprised to find a note from Raif stuck to the wall beside the elevator door. The long knife he’d used to secure it there was a nice touch. He wanted me at the warehouse as soon as the sun set. I was almost excited for a night of training, despite my apprehension that he was going to kick my ass.
I showed up at the warehouse precisely at sunset. I didn’t want to give Raif any excuses to be unduly rough. Though it went against my nature, I vowed to behave myself. The epitome of humble, I kept my gaze cast down, my ears open, and my mouth shut. And I worked my ass off for him.
By the end of that night’s session, I was doing acrobatic maneuvers that would have made an Olympic gymnast jealous. “That was a sweet move, right?” I asked an indifferent Raif, who merely answered with a raised brow. “Come on. You have to admit, I’m much better than I was.”
“I suppose it’s good for a warrior to be arrogant or, at the very least, confident.” He turned and swung. I parried the thrust, no longer needing both hands to stay his progress. “You’re far from ready, though.”
I leapt high and became nothing but a mist of dark air. Twisting in midflight, I became solid just as my boot made contact with Raif’s arm. He spun away, deflecting my momentum, grunting as he gained his bearings. I landed and held the katana high.
“You’re not big on compliments, are you?”
“I’ll give you one when you deserve one,” he said, jabbing at my midsection.
But my swordplay was impeccable, my speed and precision without flaw. Buckets of sweat ran down my back and my toes squished in my black boots.
Yuck
. I didn’t give Raif one single excuse to punish me, and he didn’t. He worked me raw. No one could say Raif wasn’t thorough. It didn’t matter to me that he was doing this more out of duty to Xander than out of any concern for my well-being.
I cleaned the blade of the katana before sheathing it. The sun would be rising soon, and so our session had come to an end. I sensed Raif’s approach and I stiffened, waiting anxiously for him to make his move.
His voice was gentle in the empty warehouse, no longer barking orders, goading me, ridiculing me like a deranged drill sergeant. “Your wounds from the Lyhtan attack seemed to have healed.”
Is he actually trying to be nice?
Maybe I’d gained some ground with him. “I have a few on my legs, but for the most part, they’re gone.” I shrugged, acting tough for his benefit. “Xander thinks the Lyhtan is connected to the job. You have an opinion on that?”
“I think it’s possible. More than possible, in fact. They are formidable,” he said, reminding me of an ancient warrior, which he assuredly was. “And you’re not anywhere near strong enough to go up against one yet. But if you train with me, you will be. When I’m done with you, only a fool would rise against you. In the meantime, do not let your guard down if you should come across a Lyhtan again.”
“Too late,” I said, guiding the katana into the sheath and driving it home. “It’s got a crush on me. Followed me around for a while today.”
Raif looked taken aback. That was new. “It didn’t attack?”
“No, it was all about the name-calling today.” I kept my demeanor calm, even. “I think it’s building up for a big show.”
“What did it say to you?”
“That its master wanted me. What do you think that means?” I wished to hell I knew. Up until I’d met Xander, I’d lived well under the radar. No one besides Ty had known anything about me. Suddenly, I’d become
very
popular. “Xander said under normal circumstances, a Lyhtan would try to kill me on the spot. Why the games? So far, it’s just playing with me. And why, exactly, does its master want
me
?”
Raif’s eyes widened a fraction of an inch. But for him, it was as good as a gawking stare. “Don’t go anywhere alone,” he said after a moment.
Oh, great—another guy looking out for me. If I’d been any other girl, I might have been flattered. But I was
not
any other girl. “Raif, please. I can handle it. I don’t need backup or bodyguards. What I’d rather have is answers.”
“You can’t handle
it
,” he snapped.
Christ. Mr. Sensitive.
“Lyhtans are dangerous creatures. You’ll need protection.”
“I can protect myself,” I said. “Just tell me how. Do I need a special weapon—kryptonite? Holy water?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Raif said, distant and thoughtful. “Lyhtans are usually quite predictable. I don’t like that this one isn’t. They don’t take Shaede prisoners. They kill us. In the meantime, if you insist on going out during the day, take the Jinn with you.”
“Um, the
what
?” I said.
“Your friend. What’s his name—Tyler?”
“Oh, Ty. Well, I doubt he’d be much help. What’s a Jinn anyway—some kind of Shaede slang for
human
?”
Raif gave me the strangest look. Like he wanted to say something. Instead, he graced me with a benign smile.
“What do you want me to use Ty for if I get in a pinch?” I really wanted to know what made Raif think he’d make a decent protector. “You want me to feed him to the Lyhtan or something?”
Raif laughed. It sounded foreign coming from him, like a bird meowing. He was too hard for laughter; it didn’t suit him. “Let’s say I’d be willing to bet Tyler would give you anything you want.”
“O-kay,” I said. “Whatever. Listen, Raif. I’m tired of being led around by a ring in my nose. I want in the loop. Otherwise, why the pomp and circumstance? I’m working my ass off, not knowing why or for whom. I don’t want to fly blind anymore. I’m done guessing. Who’s this guy Xander wants dead so bad?”
Raif sighed. “What if I told you he wants you to kill his son?”
Words stalled in my throat.
Jesus
. Xander didn’t dick around, did he? “He wants me to kill his . . . son?”
“Yes,” Raif said, his voice hinting at disappointment. “It’s become . . . necessary, I’m afraid. It was a fact he wanted withheld until the last possible moment. He didn’t want your conviction to waver.”
Well, it wasn’t going to win him any Father of the Year awards, but that was his business. Mine was killing. “I guess he’s got his reasons. But why would it matter to me?”
“We agreed that the fewer people who know, the less the risk that it gets out. He doesn’t want his people to find out, and I don’t blame him. I’ve never met a better fighter than Alexander’s son. Nor anyone more ambitious. Trust me when I say your training is necessary. I want you ready for anything.”
Anything.
Before I could ask him to elaborate on that, he was gone.
 
I made my way home in the hours before dawn. I took comfort from the fact that the Lyhtan would not be able to torment me until the sun crested the horizon. But after that, I was fair game. I opted to glide as a shadow while the waning light permitted. But as night faded quickly away, I wasn’t strong enough to remain shrouded and was forced to walk in my solid form. I could have called Tyler or a cab to pick me up, but I wanted the time alone to think.
I spent the rest of the day in my studio, waiting for the Lyhtan, which never came. The time spent anticipating an attack ticked by torturous and slow. Perhaps that was the plan. Mess with my head; keep me guessing; drive me crazy. It worked. I was going out of my fucking mind waiting for that damned thing to make its move.
Nothing
. Not even a whisper.
Tyler showed up later in the afternoon. It wasn’t yet twilight; the sun had a couple of good hours left before it sank out of sight. I suppose he’d picked that opportune time to come for a reason. He wasn’t alone.
He’d brought a girl with him.
Interesting
. I might have been jealous if she’d been his type, but she obviously wasn’t. Meek, thin, and sallow, she shuffled her feet beside him, keeping her shoulders and arms hunched close to her body as if protecting a secret. Her mousy brown hair, stringy and not even a little lustrous, hung around her childlike form. Totally unremarkable. Only her blindness made me take notice.
Her milky blue eyes gave her away and creeped me right the hell out. And they didn’t move—ever. If she heard a noise or sensed movement, her head would jerk and tilt. The motion of a small creature, alert in the presence of a predator. She stayed close to Tyler, moving with every shift of his body as if tied to him with a length of rope, urging her to stir whenever he did.
“You should have called first,” I said. I didn’t like company. Especially weird company.
Tyler shrugged, leaving
his
guest in
my
living room and following me into the kitchen. “I wanted you to meet Delilah,” he whispered.
“Why?” I adopted his quiet tone, ignoring the girl. “What makes you think I would want to meet her?”
“Well, if you don’t want
me
around during the day, I thought Delilah could give you a hand.”
“Really?” I said. “Sorry, Ty, but she doesn’t look good for much. What am I supposed to do with her?”
“I’m standing right here!” Delilah snapped. Well, she had more-than-decent hearing and a fiery temper. Good. It was a bit of a shock, really, to hear such a strong, snarky voice come out of a weak and fragile body. I’d expected something much more demure.
“Sorry, kid,” I said. “So . . . you tell me: What good are you?”
“I have a gift,” she said. “I can see things you can’t.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“I can see the Lyhtan during the day when it’s invisible.”
Okay, that got my attention. Not even Levi had supplied me with that little tidbit of information. “How do you know what they look like? Have you seen one before?”
“Yes.”
A real conversationalist. We might get along after all. “Well, what did it look like?”
“Ugly,” she said. “Ugly as sin.”
Her assertion seemed to match Levi’s. Maybe I’d finally stumbled across a couple of people who weren’t intent on bullshitting me to death.
“They can’t pass as human?” I asked, waiting to see if once again her answer would match Levi’s.
“No. Not even a little.”
“Can you see me right now?” I asked her.
“No. But if you were to take your other form, I could.”
Hmm. More food for thought
.
“So, again, what help do you think you’d be to me? I can hear the Lyhtan. And I can sure as hell smell it. That’s good enough.”
“Is it?” she asked. “How do you fight a voice?”
Damn. She had a point. Even if Raif was successful in getting me something to defend myself with, I didn’t want to hack away at the air, hoping I was getting a piece.
“You might be worth keeping around for a while,” I admitted.
“I don’t work for free,” she said.
A woman after my own heart
.
“Fine. Ty can negotiate your fee.”

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