The Reluctant Assassin

by Alexandra Vos

  “I’m not doing university. My family own a business so I’m just going to go and work for them,” I didn’t have the effort to make pretend plans that I’d have much preferred to my real life. Honestly, I could probably go to uni if I asked Dale – it wasn’t like I had things to me spending my daytimes doing. But there would be no point. Humans should remain off limits to me from here on out. Jenny would be going to uni in London, she’d revealed a couple of days ago. Far enough away that she would be out of any danger I could cause. Jack was planning on going to Scotland. Here in Sheffield, I’d be perfectly alone and everyone would be safe.

  “Oh, how interesting! What kind of business?”

  “Ammunition. It’s a bit grim, but I’ve never really been very academic, anyway. I’d rather just go into the business and start earning.” Selling someone completely the opposite of my personality was easy enough. It wasn’t like Jack would have told her anything about me.

  The waiter took our orders and I decided that a pint was in order. Everyone else followed suit. “Aren’t you driving?” Jack checked.

  “I’m quite sure I can manage,” my reflexes didn’t even go down to human capabilities when I was drunk. I was quite sure I could drive a car, and a pint was nothing.

  “How did you two meet?” Ellie tucked a blonde strand behind her ears and I resisted the urge to sigh.

  “Just at a party a while back,” Leo answered this one, sending me a cheeky smile. “How about you two?”

  Ellie’s answer of “at karate,” was enough to make both our mouths rise in a smirk. Jack didn’t miss it.

  As Jack and Ellie broke off into their own conversation, I found myself staring out the window to mask my stony expression. It was harder than I even thought it would be, watching them. They knew each other inside out, their looks saying just as much as their words and I felt intrusive even observing them.

  When my drink arrived, I didn’t hesitate before taking a large gulp. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I could actually talk to Leo about things that mattered, but the thought of attempting irrelevant small talk was not even remotely appealing. “How are your parents?” I decided to ask. That was normal enough and Leo was no doubt clever enough to come up with a normal enough response that still told me what I wanted to know.

  “All right, I guess. I told them I was going to some stupid Law thing tonight, naturally.”

  Smirking, I raised my glass to my lips once more. “Glad to know I’m a good influence.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “And how is Amber?” The raising of my eyebrows brought a grin to his face. “Have you seen her recently?”

  “Yesterday, actually. My parents invited her over, so you can imagine how fun that was. I was definitely glad to get out tonight.”

  “Your parents don’t approve of the two of you?” Nosing her way into our conversation, I couldn’t stop my inherent dislike for Ellie. I couldn’t tell if it was more than simple jealousy or not.

  “Not really, they want to set me up with this girl who’s dad own a massive law firm. ‘It benefits everyone’,” he mocked with a grimace. “It’s easier not to argue for now.”

  “That’s a shame. I can’t imagine having to deal with anything like that. I think Jack’s mum likes me enough,” her dainty chuckle was infuriating. His mum was certainly more likely to prefer Ellie over the girl who killed her son and got her other son kidnapped.

  When the food came, I was glad of the excuse to stop talking. Jack and I hadn’t even looked at each other since arriving. He’d kept his gaze firmly anywhere but on my face and I had stared at him by accident more times than I would like to admit.

  I shovelled down my food with surprising vigour. I had expected my appetite to be lacking, but the toll practising these elemental powers had taken on my body had increased it. This morning, I had attempted the routine again and managed to stick with it for a lot longer since the creation of air didn’t break my concentration. However, I still hadn’t been able to manipulate it. There had just been a breeze in my room and that had been enough to almost knock me back out for a few hours.

  Still, tonight I would try again and hope that this was building my strength rather than exhausting me to the point that I wouldn’t be able to fight at all.

  “Hey, babe,” my withering glare made him smirk. “I’m going for a smoke. Do you want one?”

  My eyebrows knitted before I shrugged and accepted. “Sure.”

  Excusing ourselves from the table, I wasn’t sure what Leo’s ulterior motive was here. He couldn’t need to talk to me that badly. Or maybe he just really did smoke and wanted some company. I couldn’t deny I was content to move away from the happy couple.

  Retrieving a cigarette for himself, Leo offered me the packet. I shook my head and he sparked up. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  Wrapping my arms around me against the cold, I focused on his troubled face, lines of worry etched into it. “I figured. What’s up?”

  “Would you leave with me?” Leo didn’t look at me as he said the words, keeping his attention on the dark sky. He was serious, though. Deadly serious.

  “I couldn’t. This is my home. And you couldn’t, either. You have a good life here.”

  “No, I don’t. I hate it here. I don’t want to marry that bitch my mother is forcing on me. I don’t want to marry anyone. I don’t even want kids! What I do want is to get out of here and not have to put up with it anymore. I’m not asking you to be with me, Ilona, I just want some company to move with.”

  “I… I couldn’t.”

  “Do you really love him that much?”

  “What? No, of course not.” My eyes immediately found Jack through the window as he laughed with his girlfriend about something. “I mean, it wouldn’t even matter if I did. I couldn’t leave now, anyway. Not right now, whilst the Warlock is still here. Jack would be thrown back out to the wild. It,” I swallowed, before meeting his eyes. “It would have to be summer.”

  Part of me felt sick to my stomach even saying the words. To actually leave would be a massive step. Leo frowned at me. “If you don’t want to, don’t make yourself. You know it was only a suggestion, right?”

  “Yeah, of course. Only, I do want to leave. Or, it doesn’t seem like I do right now, but when it gets to September my two friends are going to be leaving for uni and I’m going to be stuck in my flat hating the world. I’d really rather not do that.”

  A smile touched the corner of Leo’s lips, but I couldn’t bring myself to reciprocate it. My gaze returned to Jack and I flushed when I realised he was watching me too, the smallest of frowns touching his face.

  “You should tell him how you feel.”

  “He already knows how I feel,” I returned my attention to Leo, unable to stop my lethargic tone. “We like each other, we decided it’s not to be acted on, end of story. Jack and Ellie can be happy. That’s all that matters.”

  “You should tell him that you more than like him.”

  “No, I shouldn’t. And I won’t, ever. It wouldn’t help anything.”

  I was surprised when Leo stubbed out his cigarette and embraced me in a tight hug. “I always thought being made to marry someone I hated was bad, but I guess not being allowed to be with someone you love is worse.”

  “Maybe. I think they’re both pretty shitty, to be honest.” Leo chuckled and I hugged him tighter, willing back tears. “Thank you for asking me. I’d be happy to leave England with you if I manage to survive this mess.”

  “It will be fun. It’s weird to think I’ve never left the country before. An adventure has to be fun.”

  I found myself grinning as we pulled apart, though my heart felt heavy. “Yeah, it definitely could be fun.”

  Back inside the restaurant, Jack gave me a questioning gaze, but was unable to push for answers whilst Ellie was there. I was glad of that. Jack didn’t need to know about my escape plan. He’d be happily at uni and have forgotten about me by the time I’d executed it,
anyway.

  “Do you guys want desserts? I’m stuffed.”

  I was actually tempted to argue that I could absolutely do with some chocolate cake right now, but since everyone else shook their heads I stayed quiet. Getting home and practising my routine again was likely the best outcome.

  Being back outside with Jack had me on edge and I felt the weight of the alcohol effecting me, even though I knew the effect was negligible. I stuck to walking in front, Leo by my side, as I scoured every inch for anything suspicious. We were in a built-up area, so there weren’t really any sniping locations. Then again, if Dimitri killed off Jack he’d have lost half of his leverage over me.

  That thought relaxed me slightly. Dimitri wouldn’t push his luck that far, surely.

  “Jack!”

  I’d retrieved the knife and stabbed the man who had reached for a gun in the neck before the syllable had even left my mouth. It was undoubtedly the fastest I had ever moved, and I didn’t even give the now dead man more than a glance as his blood drained onto the footpath.

  Ellie went to scream, but I put my hand across her mouth before the sound could leave it. Thankfully, I had the sense not to use my bloody hand. “He had a gun,” I kicked it into vision with my foot, eyes scanning the otherwise deserted area to make sure no one was about to call the police. “Please don’t scream if I let go.”

  Ellie barely nodded, water quickly gathering in the corner of her eyes. When I released her, she cowered into Jack. “He’s… he’s dead.”

  “Yeah, he is. But he deserves it. He was about to kill your boyfriend.” My tone was emotionless, disguising the rushing of my blood and pounding heartbeat. “Jack take her home.” The ‘think of something to explain this’ was implied.

  “You moved so fast.”

  That bit was definitely going to be hard to explain.

  Retrieving my own pistol, I handed it to Jack. “The safety is on.” Ellie’s wide eyes got even more hysterically big and she shied away from the weapon, refusing to look anywhere near me.

  “Thanks.”

  When Jack had begun leading Ellie away, I removed my jumper and tied it around the guy’s neck to stop any bleeding. “We need to hurry up and get this in the car before someone sees. Help me carry, it’ll be faster.”

  Staying focused on the practicalities was the easiest way to ignore fear.

  We managed to run with the dead man between us back to the car without being seen. Shoving him in my boot, I slammed it shut and attempted to get the image of him succeeding with his task out of my head. “Are you okay?” Leo checked, hand resting on my shoulder.

  I shrugged away from him, wrapping my arms around my middle. “I’m fine. I do this sort of thing all the time. It’s not a big deal.”

  When I spotted Jack jogging back towards us, I clasped my hands together. “Come on, we need to get out of here. What did you tell Ellie?”

  “That she didn’t know anything about me and I didn’t want to be with her and if she told anyone what had happened tonight, then I wouldn’t hesitate in making her regret it.” He didn’t even flinch as he said the words. “How are you? Are you all right?” Jack came and stood opposite me, his worried face filling my vision and his hand grasping mine.

  “Yeah, I’m good.” I couldn’t maintain eye contact. “But, really, let’s go.”

  “I’ll drive,” Leo offered, holding his hand out for the keys. “At least back to mine.” I shook my head, but Jack retrieved the keys from my pocket and handed them to him. “Thanks.”

  Leo got in the car, but Jack didn’t follow suit. Instead, he wrapped a pair of tight arms around me. “Thanks for saving my life, again.”

  The sobs that wracked my body shocked the both of us, but I clung onto him for dear life, my fingers bunching in the back of his shirt. Jack murmured soothing sounds into my hair, but it did nothing much to banish the image of him lying lifeless on the concrete, covered in blood, which plagued my mind. If Jack got hurt in this mess I really didn’t know what I’d do.

  “I’m fine, I’m right here. Nothing happened. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “Of course it is, eventually. I can’t always be there to stop these things happening. What if we kill Dimitri, but one day one of his cronies happens to see you walking about and you get shot anyway? I wouldn’t be able to stop that. We’re probably not going to be able to stop Dimitri. Something horrible is going to happen, even worse than it already is.”

  If I couldn’t master this elemental technique, then Dimitri was going to wipe out the whole of my race. If I thought I’d mastered it and failed on the day, Jack, Jenny and their families would be lost.

  “This isn’t your fault, Ilona. I got myself caught up in this mess.” A mess I was partly allowing to continue. “And we can make it through this, you know we can.”

  “I don’t think I believe it anymore.”

  Forcing my head from where it was buried in his shirt, Jack cupped my face and gave me the most expressive look anyone had ever sent my way. “Well, if you really think that, then you should know that I really love you and I would do anything to make this work between us, if it were possible. I really mean that.”

  He pressed his lips to mine with soft determination. It wasn’t anything sexual and it was likely the last kiss we’d ever share. I pressed myself against him and simply enjoyed the pleasant warmth and tingles that took over me for as long as I could. Eventually, I forced myself to pull away. “I love you too, Jack. I’m sorry, that everything’s like this, but I don’t deserve you, anyway.” Dropping our contact completely, I wiped the make-up from under my eyes. “Better not keep Leo waiting for too long.”

  My lips burned and my mind was clouded with guilt and desire and everything in between. No one had ever said those words to me before, but all they did now was fill me with sadness.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I clasped my hands together, the pistol tucked in the back of my jeans not offering a great deal of comfort. I had tried my absolute hardest to let Jenny meet me at her house, but she was insistent. So, here I was, sitting in the middle of the park and feeling awfully exposed.

  My mind was racing as to what Jenny could be asking to meet me for. I’d told her I had flu and that’s why I wasn’t going to be in school for a while.

  Jenny approached with crossed arms and knitted eyebrows. “Hey, Jen. What’s up? Is something going on at home?”

  “Tell me it isn’t true.”

  It could have technically meant anything, but there was no real doubt as to what Jenny wanted confirming. I supposed this explained why she wanted to meet in this ice cold park on a Sunday morning. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Jenny hadn’t properly come near me yet, she was standing as far away from the bench as possible whilst still within earshot. Distrust and anger emanated from her. “You kill people.” I opened my mouth, to at least try and deny it, but Jenny thrust an envelope at me, retracting her hand as soon as I’d taken it and taking another step back.

  It was a large collection of pictures. I flinched away from the one of my last job. They’d managed to capture the moment the woman was shot just perfectly. I had no idea of Dimitri’s motive in showing Jenny this, but I supposed she had to find out eventually. There was a reason no one else in the Guild had human friends. “I can explain, Jenny, you have to let me explain.”

  Tears gathered when she shook her head. “Nothing can explain the fact that you’ve killed people. It’s not okay. Nothing will ever make it okay. Was anything you’ve ever told me even true? Your parents?”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but found my voice falling short. There was no point in arguing. Jenny deserved better, anyway. It would be better if she hated me.

  “I’m leaving. I don’t ever want you near my house again.”

  Jenny didn’t glance back once as she practically ran from the park, leaving me sat, holding the pictures detailing the extent of my crimes. I didn’t move a muscle, even when Dimitri sat down beside me and
offered some fake pity.

  “Why?”

  “Why not? She cares about you too much to go to the police, but she hates you enough to not be friends with you anymore. I mean, just because I’ve decided to spare you doesn’t mean that you should be allowed to be happy. You’re not that much better than everyone else.”

  “How do you know she won’t go to the police?” Jenny had a definite moral outlook. She surely wasn’t just going to stand by and let me continue doing this.

  “She just gave you her evidence.”

  I made an incoherent noise of acknowledgement. “Why did you try and have Jack killed?”

  “I didn’t,” Dimitri’s melodious voice became irritated for a change. “Some moron who thought it was a good idea to go against my wishes. One of his friends died on the night we met. I’m glad you put him out of my way. I didn’t need him messing things up. Oh, you and your pathetic feelings, always working so well for me.”