“Oh, hey, you all right? You look stressed.”
“I’m fine. What did you ask me here for?” My pistol and knife were well within reach if he did something stupid. I could beat him.
“I think you should leave.”
“I only just got here.”
“I mean, leave Sheffield,” he clarified, eyebrows knitting together. “It’s not safe for you to stay here.”
Well, this definitely wasn’t what I’d been expecting. Jack was just trying to protect me. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just leave, it’s not how it works with the Fae. I’ve been fine so far, anyway.”
“That was because they were letting me mess about with you. It’s changed now, they said that if I don’t kill you, then they will and we both know that I’m not going to do it.” So he was stalling them. “You have to leave, just get out of here.”
I shifted my weight, before settling myself on the edge of his bed. “If I was to leave, it wouldn’t be a case of just moving to another city. I’m an assassin, I get put where I’m needed and moved about at the will of my bosses. If I was to leave, I’d have to go somewhere no Fae would ever find me, and that means a developing country. Somewhere I can’t speak the language, I have no qualifications, no friends. It’s not as easy as just moving back to Newcastle or something.”
Jack frowned. “It’s really that strict?”
Pulling my knees to my chest, I nodded. “You don’t shun the Fae customs and have a happy life afterwards. My photo would be circulated throughout the entire race and if anyone caught me, I’d be kill-on-sight. There’s an odd few of us working on border control, too, for if I ever tried to re-enter. It’s not as easy as just leaving.”
Rising from his seat, Jack collapsed next to me and our knees bounced together. “Surely even that’s better than being dead, though. Why are you an assassin, anyway? I feel like you’d prefer border control a lot more.”
“I’m an orphan. We don’t get a lot of say in what we do and no parent wants to send their kid down the assassin line when there’s things like doctor, scientist and politician available.”
Jack blinked. “You really don’t have parents? I thought all of the Filey stuff was a lie. Sorry, that came out really,” he hovered on the word, “blunt.”
“My mum fell in love with a human guy and they had me. That’s against the rules. You have to “mate” with other Fae to keep the race alive. It was fifty-fifty whether or not I was Fae, unfortunately I turned out to be. My mum had the choice to stay here with me and keep doing her job, or being banished, without me. She chose to leave with my dad.” I’d only had the story drummed into me to make sure it was clear how stupid going against the wishes of my race was.
“Wow. That’s awful. I didn’t realise the Fae thing was anything like that at all, I thought you just got to do what you pleased, but had an extra bit of speed and strength and stuff.”
“You have no idea.”
“You should get out.” It was utterly sincere, his desire for me to leave. But if I left, I’d be throwing him to the wolves. I highly doubted the organisation he was working for were the type to just let him go back to his normal life when they didn’t have a use for him anymore.
“I’ll think about it,” I lied. The only real thing to do was to find a way to find this organisation and shut them down before they became proactive. I was going to have to do something soon, before they got bored of Jack.
Jack grimaced. “No you won’t. Is having Jenny around really worth more than your life?”
“If I leave, they’ll ‘let you go’ and by that I don’t mean let you go on living your life as normal. You must know that, right? I can’t tell Dale, because he’ll decide it’s time to bring you in and make you tell us everything you know. I’d rather play sitting duck for a little bit longer, okay? Until I can figure something out.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“You’re being naïve.”
Jack collapsed down onto the bed, his hands moving to cradle his head. “I just want you to be safe after I brought you into all this mess.”
“Jack you didn’t bring me into this at all. I was always a part of this. They’re not just targeting me, they’re targeting all of us. You’re the one who got dragged in to do their dirty work because I killed your brother. This is my fault, not yours. You don’t have to feel guilty.”
“You can’t stop me feeling guilty about this. But, well, I’ll stall them for as long as I can, but they won’t wait around forever. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“You shouldn’t risk it, if they find out you don’t hate me they might get rid of you.”
“How would they find out? I seriously doubt I’m their top priority, to be honest.”
If I was going to disobey his wishes, I guess there was nothing I could do to force him to accept mine. “Okay. Thank you.” My smile was particularly weak. We were playing a dangerous game. I needed to think of some way to fix this mess that didn’t involve getting Jack killed.
Hopefully something would come to me in the near future. Maybe I could ask Glen about it when we went on our job tomorrow.
“It’s no problem. Thank you, too.”
We stayed in silence for a moment, weighing up how likely it was we’d be dead by the end of the week. I really was hoping to make it to my birthday.
Jack propped himself back up and then left the bed, choosing to pace the room. I made myself get up, too. “Well, I really should be going.” Clasping my hands together in front of me, I wasn’t really sure why I was hovering around. “Thanks for the warning, and for looking out for me.”
“At least I’m not playing bait in the hopes I don’t get shot down,” he muttered.
My laugh was awkward. “I’m sure it’ll turn out okay.” The world would no doubt be better off without me anyway. I waited another moment, because Jack was fidgeting so much I was certain he was going to say more, but, when he didn’t I offered him another tight smile. “Well, see you at school.”
“Yeah, see you later.”
Chapter Eight
“Okay, so, here’s the plan.” Glen’s excitement wasn’t contagious. “He always goes from the strip club to his home at about eleven. It’s almost the only time he isn’t driving around in that awesome car he’s got, so it’s the best time to strike.”
“Weapons? Coordination?” There was no inflection in Dale’s voice as he studied the profile in front of him. There never was when we were going through pre-assassination rundowns. Still, he couldn’t risk anything going wrong. Exposing us to the general public in any way was a complete disaster and to be avoided at all costs, even if it meant Dale going through this arbitrary process.
“It’s not a good place to snipe, too residential.” Dale would comment if I stayed silent. “So we’re taking the standard pistol route. Sit on a bench outside, wait for him to come out, shoot him, then run.” Probably not the exact detail Dale was looking for, but it would do. He trusted us to make this work.
“Timings are exact? The people present are exact?”
“He always travels with two bodyguards, but we can take them out too, no problem. They’ll be slow. And we’ll get there an hour early and hang around in the shadows until he comes out. It’s foolproof.”
Dale nodded. “Well, you can get going, then. Don’t let me down. Actually, Ilona, I need to talk to you.”
I lowered myself back into my seat, already knowing where this was going. The bruise on my face wasn’t faded enough to be unnoticeable yet and it was obvious it had been far worse a couple of days ago. “So, you’ve had a run in with him then. What happened?”
“Just a fight because I found out I killed his brother.” There was no point lying about everything. A little bit of truth would keep him onside. “A job back when I was in Newcastle. Arsonist who killed a baby.”
“Nasty business. What about whoever he’s working for? Any luck?”
“Not yet.” That part was absolutely true too. �
�But they’ll start getting annoyed soon and contact him. He’s gotten nowhere with me.”
“Okay, but you’re running out of time. If we don’t get something soon I’m just pulling him in.”
A curt nod was all I could offer.
“Okay, then go and find Glen. You two should be off.”
Glen was hovering around the lobby waiting for me. “Got everything?”
Double checking my pistol and knife were present, it was all I should be needing. My trainers were comfy and my clothes were skin-tight tonight. Much more appropriate for blending into the background. It was a good job I wasn’t blonde, really.
When we were safely on our way towards the shady side of town, Glen asked the question I knew he’d been sitting on. “What happened to your face?”
“Jack hit me.”
He blanked, before his eyebrows raised. “That guy who tried to Rafflesia you? I can’t believe you let him get a hit on you.”
“He did just tell me I’d murdered his brother.” I stared out the window, ignoring Glen’s prying gaze. “At least it turned out he wasn’t one of the innocent ones.”
“What’s Dale doing about that anyway? Why hasn’t he just brought him in already? You’re in danger. We’re all in danger.”
“No, I’m not. Jack’s harmless.” He was right about everyone else being in danger too, but I valued Jack’s life over all of them, so I refrained from commenting.
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“I let him do it, we both know I could have dodged a punch from a human.” I wasn’t going to expand on that. “How’s Violet, anyway? Are you two together yet, or what?” Glen and Violet had been in Sheffield their whole lives and decided to join the Assassin’s Guild together, so they didn’t have to conform the extra pressure of their parent’s wishes. I didn’t miss the looks they shared.
I had the satisfaction of seeing his cheeks tinge pink and the corner of his mouth quirk upwards. Talking about someone other than me was definitely better. “No, we aren’t. There isn’t anything like that between us, you know that.”
“I certainly don’t. Look at you all blushing and embarrassed. Of course there’s something there. You should make the most of it.” If they had seriously found some kind of affection for each other in our profession it was a godsend.
He shook his head. “There’s nothing there, seriously. We’re just good friends.”
“Okay. Whatever you say.”
“I am interested in talking more about this whole ‘guy who wants to kill you’ situation, though.” My diversion hadn’t been successful after all, then. I tapped my nails against my legs in agitation. “Why haven’t you just brought him in? Just put him down, or something. Why on Earth would you let him whack you around like that?”
“Because he’s obviously working for someone and we need to find out who. Jack’s no good to us dead and he doesn’t know enough for it to be worth bringing him in. I’ve bugged his room and we’re waiting for a phone call that helps us out.” I didn’t respond to his final question. It was none of his business.
Glen made a noise of discontent. “Just bring him in. It’s not worth all the waiting about. I’m sure that’s what Dale really wants to do too.”
“If Dale wanted to do something, I don’t think he’d be worried about stepping on my toes. He’d just do it, we both know that. He obviously thinks this is the right call. If we pull Jack in we tell them something. It’s much better that they’re completely in the dark about what we do or don’t know. Because I doubt the organisation has a vendetta against just me, it’s obviously going to be all of us. Kinda surprised Dale hasn’t gone to someone higher up about it, to be honest.” As long as I’d been alive I hadn’t heard of anything like this. No one was supposed to know we existed.
There was no way Glen could argue with Dale’s decision - he was an emotionless veteran and he seemed to always do the right thing. His calls on missions were always correct. Despite his desk status, he’d been an assassin for a good forty years before now. You didn’t argue with Dale.
I tried to keep my emotions in check about the whole situation, anyway. There was no point in getting riled up. It wasn’t that I disliked Glen, I just didn’t particularly like him either. I couldn’t justify his life choices. His or Violet’s. As for Derek, the older man living on the top floor of our complex, I honestly had no idea about how he’d become an assassin, so I couldn’t judge.
“I guess so,” he conceded. “You know I just don’t want this to end badly.” No doubt that was concern for himself rather than me. “Shall we run through the plan one more time?”
***
It was cold on the bench. My bum was numb and my hands could barely hold a pistol straight if they tried. An hour early, what a ridiculous notion. I couldn’t be expected to sit on this bench for an hour wearing this thin skin-tight clothing and be warm.
There wasn’t allowed to be complete silence either – we had to make trivial small talk so we didn’t look suspicious sat around in silence. I really wasn’t in the mood to discuss the upcoming election with Glen.
“Oh, who are you voting for?”
“I’m going to go for the Fae candidate that’s standing in our constituency, especially since it’s going to be rigged for him to win it anyway. I want to feel like my vote counts.”
Truly awful conversation.
Thankfully, our target was right on time. The strip club was seedy, with a neon sign of a buxom woman that definitely did not entice me. I wondered why this so-called gang boss didn’t pick somewhere a bit more high-class. He certainly had the money.
One of the guards came first, he was short and about as wide as he was tall. All muscle, I was sure he’d claim. Then came our target. He certainly wasn’t all muscle. His girth was enough to barely fit through the door and I briefly wondered whether the bullet would even puncture that much fat.
The issue was the scantily clad woman hanging off his arm. She was not part of our plan. Her false, red smile told me she hadn’t much wanted to be part of the gang-bosses night, either. “Glen, wait. We can’t do it. He’s got someone with him. We’ll have to wait until next week.”
Glen shushed me. “We’ll avoid her.”
They hovered around the entrance once out on the street and I hoped she was about to go back inside. But no, they were on the short move from the club to his house, the bony woman still hanging onto his arm. “Glen, no. We can’t.”
“Ilona.” His whisper was stern. He was older, more experienced, and therefore his calls outranked mine. “We’ll avoid her. Our aims are good enough, you know that.”
My hand dithered on my holstered weapon, before nodding. “Fine. I’ve got the guards, you’ve got our man. Leave the woman. She’ll be in too much shock to see us, anyway. She’ll probably be grateful compared to what she’d be in for tonight.”
Still sunk into the bench, our softened voices hadn’t reached the ears of the party. Glen held my eyes and moved his fingers to count down. We had to move quickly, before they got into the house. Plus, the guards would have guns of their own. This had to be clean.
We stalked towards the group, completely silent on our feet and undetected until we’d pulled our weapons and fired the shots. My aim was immaculate as I capped the first guy in the forehead, immediately turning to the second, who hadn’t even managed to pull his gun before the bullet was lodged in his chest.
Turning to make sure Glen had got the target, I watched his finger pull the trigger on the last shot. It impaled the woman in the neck. Not enough to kill her straight away, but plenty painful enough to warrant a collapse to the ground and a soft whimper.
I was by her side in a flash, quick enough, even, to stop her head smashing against the concrete of the footpath. Her whimpering increased, but she wasn’t loud enough to attract any attention. Green, pained eyes stared into mine and they begged to know why. “It’s okay, you’re going to be fine,” I lied fluently. “Everything’s going to be all right.”
/>
“Ilona,” Glen hissed. “Come on, we need to go.”
“Don’t talk to me,” I fired back, gaze not leaving the broken woman. Her blood was spilling onto my clothes and hands at an alarming rate. There was no point in holding the wound. She’d be dead within the next five minutes whether I did or not. My hands shook as I felt her becoming cold. I was sure the tears tracking down my own face offered her no comfort.
“They fired a shot and their guns weren’t silenced. The police are going to be coming. People are going to be looking out of their windows. We have to leave. Now.”
“You bastard Glen. You said we could leave her alone.” The woman was fading quickly in my arms, her low groan of agony fading out and her eyes shut. I was almost glad she hadn’t been able to speak to me as I clung to her frail frame.
The Reluctant Assassin Page 6
