An Assassin's Redemption: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Romance Novel

by Tanya Kennedy

  He turned to face Darius, avoiding Eylsa’s searching eyes. “She’ll only let us handle it if I go with her on Saturday.”

  Darius sat back and tapped his fingertips against his lips. He stood. “Brendan, would you mind working on that report for me? I’ll be right back.”

  Eylsa watched him leave, her face still unreadable. She made her way to Brendan who stood trembling with anger in the corner, his eyes unfocused. She laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Brendan?”

  He pulled her to his chest, still shaking at the anger. She slid her arms around his back and he found his breath began to slow.

  “I’m sorry, I know you don’t understand.” He pulled back and held her shoulders. “She knows how important this is, not only to me but to everyone. Stopping the Trinity will save countless lives. She knows and she’s trying to use that knowledge to force me into something I don’t want to do. You shouldn’t force people to do things against their will, Eylsa, it’s not right.”

  “Even though it is something that wouldn’t be bad?”

  He pulled her to his chest. “Not even something that is not bad. Blackmail is wrong. Do you understand that? Can you see why I can’t do what she wants?”

  He felt her shift in his arms. “Not really.” She pulled back and stared up into his eyes. “But I understand that you don’t like it, and that’s enough.”

  He kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair as he moved to the desk. “I just don’t understand why she would do this. Surely she doesn’t think I’ll let her get away with it.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t know any other way to get what she wants.”

  “You can’t always get what you want.”

  Her brow furrowed. “You can if you play by different rules.”

  “Would you really want something if you have to sacrifice your integrity to get it?”

  She stared at him until he relented, breaking his gaze.

  “Well, our world doesn’t work like that, Ellie.”

  She tilted her head. “Ellie?”

  His smile was coy. “Thought I’d try it out.”

  “Why?”

  “I think it fits you. Might just have to stick.” He threw her a playful wink as he dropped into Darius’ chair and pulled the report toward him. “Can’t keep calling you Eylsa all the time—so formal.”

  “Why not? It is my name.”

  “So is Ellie, it’s just your name shorter.” He pointed to the chairs across the desk from him. “You might want to sit down; it could be awhile before Darius returns.”

  * * *

  Keena arranged her hair in her office mirror as she waited for Brendan to return. He would be back; she could see in his eyes that he wouldn’t give on what he wanted. It was time for him to learn that nothing comes free. Her smile was predatory as she turned at a knock at her door. “Come in.”

  Darius entered her office, and she felt her smile crack.

  “Keena.”

  “Darius, what an unexpected surprise. Sit.”

  He glanced at the chair beside him but did not move to take it. “I was hoping we could talk. About Eylsa.”

  Keena’s mouth tightened as she fought a grimace. “Yes, a very…charming girl. She and Brendan just left.”

  “I am aware of that.”

  “Is there some problem?” She stilled her emotions in the face of his infuriating calm.

  “Yes, Brendan seems to be under the impression that you will not allow us to handle Eylsa and Gregor ourselves. I must really caution you on this. They must be handled delicately. I truly think that bringing anyone else in to work with them would be dangerous.”

  A compassionate smile crossed her face as she shook her head and took her seat. “I do not understand what could have possibly given him the idea that I would not allow him to be in charge of his pet assassin. I’m quite sure I was very clear with my approval. Perhaps he is under too much strain. I know Arna has been overly harsh on him. I would be willing to speak with her if you would like me to…?”

  “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Brendan will figure out Arna on his own. I just wanted to make sure that Eylsa and Gregor will be under our direct control, and ours only. We will ask what you want, get whatever information you want, but to introduce too many people into it I believe would be a disaster.”

  She laughed, waving her hand. “Of course Darius, I’m sure I do not know why Brendan would think I would not let him handle something so delicate. I trust him implicitly.”

  Keena forced a smile as Darius nodded. “Yes, I’m glad you see it that way. We’ll be waiting for your questions; you can give them to me and I’ll be sure to deliver them.”

  * * *

  Darius sighed in relief as he pulled the door shut behind him. Keena’s boldness was going to cause them problems. He knew she was a good woman, but her obsession with Brendan was becoming dangerous. He didn’t want to have to threaten or expose her to end it but ideas were running short. The hall outside his office was nearly deserted as he slipped inside and smiled at Brendan behind his desk.

  “Well?”

  He snaked his hands into his opposite sleeves. “The ‘misunderstanding’ has been cleared up. We are the only ones who will deal with Eylsa and Gregor.”

  Eylsa crossed her arms. “So it is wrong for this Keena to ask for something in exchange for this favor but not for Darius to lean on her to get her to do it?”

  “I did not lean on her.” Darius couldn’t hide his amusement at her suspicious glare.

  Brendan shrugged. “Keena would not be brazen enough to insist on the date with Darius. We merely circumvented the situation.”

  “So you cheated her game.”

  “In a way.”

  She glanced at the door behind her. “You want me to lean on her, make her leave you alone?”

  Brendan coughed a laugh into his hand trying hard to hide his smile. “Tempting, but I don’t think it will come to that.”

  She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  Brendan’s smile shifted to the older man. “Thank you, Darius.”

  “Think nothing of it. We will have to have a discussion about her—sooner than later, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s just what I needed. It’s not enough to have one boss who hates me; I have to have one who wants to date me too.” He caught Eylsa’s calculating eye. “I don’t need help with her either.”

  “That is a lie and we both know it.” Darius laid his hand on Brendan’s shoulder. “You’d better get her out of here before someone recognizes her.”

  “Good plan. Who is staying with her today?”

  “I’ll talk to Arna, give her an excuse. See what you can get out of these two to entice Keena in case she changes her mind.”

  “I’ll get something nice and juicy, right Ellie?” He winked at her open glare and jumped up from behind the desk.

  Darius smiled. “We’ll have to find out what we can do to keep them occupied as well. Hate for them to get cabin fever. No telling what they might get into.”

  “I’ll keep them busy if I have to fight with them.”

  “You would regret it if you tried.” Her arms moved across her chest.

  His devilish smile drew a suspicious glare to her face as he slid an arm around her shoulders. “Ellie and I will see you when you get home, Darius.” He pressed his homing device and they were gone in a flash.

  “Ellie?”

  He shook his head as he headed off toward Arna’s office. He wasn’t sure what he was going to tell her to keep Brendan out of more trouble but it would have to be something good.

  chapter 7

  Ashlan stormed through the castle corridors, anger burning from his eyes. He kicked the door to his father’s study open and glared back the guards who had dared to move toward him. “I wish to speak to my father alone.”

  His fists clenched in rage as they turned as one to glance at his father.

  “Leave us,” Mavrin ordered.

  They filed out, eyes never drifting fro
m in front of them, and pulled the door shut behind them.

  “Well?”

  “How could you lose her? How could you send her away?” He let his anger rage forth with his words.

  “If you could control your hormones, I wouldn’t have had to send her away. Was I supposed to let you ruin your reputation?”

  His calm voice grated on Ashlan’s nerves, and it only fueled his anger. “No, apparently you are supposed to lose my wife! Where did you send her?”

  “I did not send her anywhere. I told her to be scarce to keep you away from temptation. If you could have held your hormones, she would be back by now.”

  He turned his back. “All your scheming, and for what? I have lost my future!”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. You have the control of the Trinity at my retirement—a secured position of power. What more could you ask for?”

  Fire rolled up Ashlan’s spine and tingled along the base of his skull. “I can ask for my killer queen. Who will you have share my throne with her gone? Some vacant fop with no fire?”

  “Perhaps you could find yourself a woman who is of proper breeding. Honestly, boy, how could you think to wed an assassin in the first place?”

  “It was my choice, Father! Mine! You will find her and I will marry her!”

  “I will tell you what you will do: You will get out of my study. I am looking for Eylsa. If we find her, she will be reprimanded. You will find yourself a woman of blood and give up this foolish notion of marrying an assassin!”

  Ashlan’s face burned as he slammed the door open and charged into the hallway. Men jumped aside as he raged past them. The corridors blurred around him as he went, never slowing even as he reached her room. Only when his lungs filled with a warm clean scent, her scent, did he calm. Eyes closed, he pulled the scent deeper, drawing it down into his gut.

  “Where did you go?” His gaze swept the room, pausing on different things, trinkets, Eylsa’s entire life. Where would she go? How would they find her?

  He moved to her dresser, pulled open a drawer, and dug through the clothes. “Clean. All clean.” He pounded his fists onto the dresser. She was always so clean! He needed something, something she kept with her, something she touched often. He tore through the room, snatching things up then tossing them aside. Nothing, nothing! His hand raked back through his hair as he spun and took in the disheveled room around him.

  He froze.

  Behind the dresser he could just make out a shadow rumpled on the floor. His hand slid behind the dresser and his fingers closed over the soft shirt, forgotten in a rare moment of callousness. He cut a chunk from the neck. Cloth pressed to his nose, he could faintly smell her there. His satisfied smile verged on manic as he rushed from the room.

  The cold morning air was crisp against his skin as he stepped out into the light. He glanced around as he caressed the swatch with his fingers. Along the front of the castle was a small fenced courtyard, empty now save a few guards. A small table sat along the east side. When he reached it, he pulled a map from his coat and spread it out on the table. He palmed the cloth, pulsed power into it, and closed his eyes. “Endro nictae.”

  He dropped the cloth onto the center of the map and watched as it glowed in a flash of orange flame. A trail crept along streets and stopped at the Tribunal, pulsing before jumping to a small street in the country.

  He searched his jacket for his homing device, set the address into it and, snatching up the map, pressed the device and flashed away.

  When he arrived he crouched and waited in the bushes, listening. Someone was approaching. He could hear voices pitched low as footsteps neared, then he caught sight of two people rounding a corner. His eyes narrowed as they rushed into a house across the street and shut the door behind them. His glare swept along the street as he pressed his homing device again, snapping to his empty bedroom.

  * * *

  Eylsa dropped Brendan’s hand as she swept through the living room, tossed the cloak aside, and unzipped her coat. “So, this is a win for you?”

  He shrugged the coat off his shoulders and rested his hands on his lower back. “We got what we wanted and didn’t have to compromise on morals, so yeah.”

  “You’re strange.”

  He laughed. “You think I’m strange?”

  Her eyes narrowed and he couldn’t help but laugh harder.

  “As strange as you seem to us, I guess we must seem strange to you.” He took her hand and pulled her toward him as he leaned back against the table. “Eylsa, we are going to do everything we can to keep you safe, keep you from having to go back to them, but it will be on our terms.”

  She stared down at his hand wrapped around hers. “We can take care of ourselves, Gregor and I. Who will take care of you? Will you protect yourselves with as much fervor?”

  He laughed. “Haven’t done such a bad job of that so far.”

  “You haven’t had people hunting you, wanting you dead. Your terms may not be enough.” She met his gaze and her eyes searched his for a moment. “But ours will be.”

  “No, Ellie, I won’t have you going back to what they made you just to keep us safe.”

  “And what did they make her?” They turned to face Gregor as he entered the kitchen from the stairs. “Strong. Independent. Smart. What quality that was instilled in her would you have her ignore?”

  Brendan straightened his back, defiant. “She came to us because she could no longer take what they ask her to do. I will not have her hurt because she thinks that’s what it takes to keep us safe.”

  “Brendan.” Eylsa put her hand on his arm and he laid his over hers.

  Gregor’s eyes dropped to their hands then returned to his face. “You will have her deny who she is?”

  “I will have her be able to sleep.” He took a step toward Gregor, shoulders squared. “How do you sleep, Gregor? How do you live with what you have been trained to do?”

  “I sleep quite well without the poison of your idiocy infecting my mind.”

  “That’s enough, both of you,” Eylsa snapped. “This was my decision, Gregor. You do not have to stay. I can’t go back. You know what will happen if I do.”

  “Do you agree, with suppressing what you are? What you were bred and born to be?”

  She shook her head, eyes pressed closed. “Is that all I am? All I can ever be? If that is so, what am I now when I am unable to kill?” She stepped in front of Brendan, Gregor’s gaze held firm in hers. “I am worthless to them like this and they will dispose of me. I am useful here.”

  “It is your choice, I just don’t want you to get hurt. These men are just using you to get information.”

  Brendan crossed his arms. “Listen, buddy, she came to us both times. No one is forcing her to do anything here.”

  “No, you are not forcing her, you are corrupting her.” Gregor took a deep breath. “But I did say that I would respect your decision, and I will stand by that.”

  Eylsa smiled as she walked past him up the stairs, pleased.

  When she was gone, Gregor returned his eyes to Brendan. “You had better be prepared to protect her, boy. She is more precious than you can understand.”

  “I will keep her safe, you don’t have to worry. We’ll keep you safe too.”

  Gregor laughed. “I’ve done some research into you…all of you. You may be disgustingly good, but you are strong.” He stepped close enough to Brendan that his breath shifted the younger man’s hair. “You have never backed down from me, even knowing that I could kill you without a spark of remorse. I expect that for anyone who stands between you and Eylsa.”

  Brendan stared after him as he walked away up the stairs. Head shaking in confusion, he dropped into a chair at the table and pulled a notebook toward him from among a pile of clutter. In a few minutes he had a decent list of questions and had even jotted down some of his own observations. He tapped his lip with his pen and reviewed what he had written.

  He jumped at a loud crash from above, leapt to his feet, and flew up
the stairs. The crashes drew him to the attic. When he rounded the top, he slid to a halt in confusion as Gregor dropped to the floor at his feet, a grinning Eylsa standing over him.

  “What is going on?”

  Gregor stared up at him from the floor. “I’m sure you would not object to a little exercise, boy.”

  Eylsa crouched as Gregor regained his feet, muscles tensed in anticipation. “Have to do something to work off all that food you people keep forcing on us.”

  Brendan scratched his neck sheepishly and stared in confusion at the pen in his hand. “Doesn’t look to me to be affecting you any.”

  Gregor glared at him in reproach as Eylsa turned and pointed at her bare thigh exposed beneath shorts. “Look at this flab! It’s disgraceful.” She slapped her stomach. “And I didn’t used to have a pouch.”

  “You don’t have one now.”

  She waved him off as she turned back to Gregor. “I don’t want to lose my edge.”

  Gregor grabbed her as she ran at him twisting and striking. “Assassins are very competitive. If another finds her out of shape, they will take advantage to improve their own name.” He grunted as she slammed him hard back against the wall with a kick to his chest.

  “And I do not intend to let that happen.”

  “Do you have to take the house down around you while you do it?”

  Her smile became predatory as she turned toward him with a feline grace. “You think you can do better?”

  He held out his hands helplessly as she gained on him. “Now Ellie, let’s not do anything we’ll regret.”

  “Don’t you want to know who would have won between us had it come to that? Doesn’t it burn in your mind?”

  He grabbed her waist, holding her back from him. “Doesn’t even simmer there, sorry.”

  “It burns in mine.” She jerked backward and rolled him to the floor. Smiling down into his nervous face, she said, “It’s no fun if you don’t fight back.”

  “I’m hoping you’ll lose interest and not hurt me.”

  Gregor clapped his hands. “That’s enough play. Back to work.”