The Night House

by J. C. McKenzie

He nodded. “I don’t hear my brother bellowing for your head. Success?”

  A grin spread across her face. She couldn’t stop it if she tried. “Yes, but I didn’t stop there.”

  “Taya,” Thane growled.

  She loved when he rumbled her name. His deep voice vibrating along her naked skin sent all kinds of shivers to all the right places.

  “What did you do?”

  “I decided to make it a family affair.” She pulled out Julian’s comb, Adrianna’s earring, and Lane’s watch.

  Thane hissed and snatched the items from her outstretched hand. “He would’ve killed you.”

  “He’d have to catch me.”

  “Taya—”

  The clip of shoes against stone rebounded down the hall. Thane snapped his mouth shut and straightened. Taya took a step back, out of the heat of his body and shivered.

  Adrianna sashayed down the hall, her skirts swinging back and forth with each step. She often wore men’s clothing when safe behind Jericho walls, but tonight she had on the full get-up.

  “Isn’t it past your bed time?” Taya called out to her.

  Adrianna smirked and slowed as she approached them. “Some of us need more beauty sleep than others.”

  “Must be why I never sleep.” Thane’s words were ruined when he stifled a yawn.

  “Why are you up, cuzzie? Preparing for the delegation?”

  Thane frowned. “What delegation?”

  “Ugh. Figures Julian didn’t brief you. Edur, Draco and Ramiel are visiting tomorrow to discuss gate access and trade routes.”

  Thane groaned and ran a large hand through his platinum hair.

  Wait. Three big houses, but not the House of Raiden. That meant Gale would be at home toiling over his plans to become Arkavia’s biggest douche. Taya turned to her friend. “And Thane is expected to attend this delegation?”

  “Of course.”

  An idea percolated. “Which means my presence is also expected?”

  Adrianna cocked her head, her pouty lips twitching down a little at the corners. “Yes?”

  This was the opportunity they needed—a chance to eliminate Gale without any suspicion cast their way. If Thane had an alibi from three powerful houses, and witnesses placed her in attendance, too, no one would connect them with Gale’s death.

  Taya’s smile grew. “How would you like to play dress up again?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Someone Has to Do It

  The cold air stung Taya’s nose as she crouched in the bushes in the forest surrounding the House of Raiden. A clear field separated the protection of the forest’s shadows and the gray stone walls of the massive building. That didn’t concern her. With her Tarka shielding, she became nearly invisible at night. The reflections of moonlight off metal could give her away, but she sheathed her swords and wore leather instead of traditional Arkavian armour. As long as she didn’t draw a weapon, she’d remain unseen.

  The rotating guards ambled slowly along the ramparts and turrets above. A lone archer sat on a high ledge of a lookout tower.

  The house might be smaller than the House of Jericho, but it was well guarded for a family not in an active feud. Anticipation gnawed on her spine. She stretched and forced her breathing to remain steady. She needed to stay calm and centered in order to pull her magic tight to her skin like Thane showed her.

  Thane.

  He’d held her and delivered a bone-melting kiss before she left. “Come back to me,” he said.

  She shook her head and pushed the memory away. She needed to focus on her target. There was no room for lovey-dovey crap tonight. Thane safely sat in a large room with his family and members from the Houses of Edur, Draco and Ramiel. Sure, Adrianna, not Taya, stood behind him dressed in face coverings, fighting garb and imitation swords, but no one else knew that.

  Taya pulled on her power and let it soak into her with its soothing energy, coating her like a second skin. The power vibrated against her bones, ramping up with anticipation. The power of her blades ebbed from the scabbard and demanded release. She stepped into the moonlight and in a low crouch, sprinted across the open space. No one called out. No one raised an alarm.

  They might keep the main gates closed at night, but they left a side entrance accessible for changing guards, and the shift had just ended. Unfortunately for the new soldier guarding the door, he had to die. He was Arkavian, he worked for the house that lead a procession of earthen slaves to their doom, and he guarded the only feasible entrance. No mercy. No trying to justify his presence. No preservation of life. She steeled her heart and pressed forward.

  The door would make a sound and she couldn’t risk detection. As she closed the distance, she flipped her long dagger into her hand with the blade lying flat along the back of her forearm so she shielded the metal from moonlight.

  The guard turned toward her and his hand moved to the pommel of his sword. He’d spotted something, or heard the dampened sound of her feet on the hard, frozen ground, or maybe the rasp of her breathing or her racing heart.

  The guard frowned and leaned forward, gaze not quite focusing on her. She ducked behind him, clamped a hand over his mouth and slit his throat in one fluid move. He gargled against her hold. His teeth grazed her skin and blood bubbled and splashed on her palm. He sagged and fell back. She braced his weight with her body and propped him against the wall with bent knees. She posed him so he looked like he rested his head on crossed arms to sleep, and wiped her blade on his dark shirt.

  The ruse wouldn’t last forever. She needed to get in and out before the next change in guard or before someone looked a little too closely or decided to chew the guard out for sleeping on the job.

  She took a deep breath and turned the knob. Locked.

  Crap.

  Taya couldn’t wait for the next guard to open the door and walk through and she certainly wanted to avoid scaling walls. She crouched by the dead guard and patted down his pockets.

  Bingo.

  She pulled the keys from his pants pocket and got the right one on the third try. Her heart raced too fast. She took another deep breath of midnight, winter air, full of damp stone and moss. She needed to calm down. She breathed deeply again.

  She turned the handle and pushed open the door.

  “Hey!” A man said. “You’re not done with your shift—”

  Taya lunged forward and shoved her knife into the waiting guard’s chest. His eyes bulged and he toppled forward. She caught his weight. Ugh. Why did Arkavians have to breed such massive soldiers? Her legs threatened to buckle. Blood soaked the front of her shirt from his wound.

  She scanned the inner sanctum of House Raiden. No visible guards. No one had spotted her. No cries of alarm echoing through the halls. She released her breath, ignored her pounding heart and dragged the guard outside to pose him beside his comrade. His boots crunched gravel and drew two rough lines in the dirt. Sweat pebbled along her brow and dripped down her face. She used her boot to scatter the tracks.

  Let’s try that again. Taya slipped back inside the keep and pulled the door closed behind her. The hinges creaked and the wood groaned.

  She had less time now. A missing guard on the inside of the fortress would be noticed sooner than one on the outside.

  She cursed and sprinted toward Gale’s suite. Luckily, the House of Jericho held detailed schematics and other useful information on the other families. She’d memorized the floor plans and the location of Gale’s room. Cold air cut at her face as she ran, landing on her toes and using her shielding to dampen the smack of her boots against the hard tile.

  Killing Gale was her first mission as a free earthen and the first notch in her belt to truly avenge her world. Gale had killed so many from that town. He needed to pay with his blood. Tonight she’d be karma. Tonight she was vengeance.

  She slowed before rounding the final corner. The notes said Gale often had guards outside his door. Constantly paranoid, he rarely appeared without a guard and used his power to scan for ar
chers when he travelled. Other than a public assassination, which might result in witnesses and exposure, or a direct assault on a barren road, which might result in Thane’s team taking damage or losses, Taya was the best bet for success.

  She peered around the wall’s edge. Motherfucker. Two guards, one on each side of the double doors leading to Gale’s room. Full metal armour. She either had to kill them both or go around.

  Two dead guards would cause a commotion and lead to early detection. Even if she managed to take them down simultaneously, their large, hulking bodies, dressed in armour would make an unmistakable racket when they fell to the stone floor. She might manage to catch one and take the impact of his gargantuan body weight, but two? Simultaneously? Not a chance.

  Fuck.

  She ground her teeth and backed away. The notes on Gale also said he usually slept with a window open. They’d bribed a bitter, discarded mistress for that particular tidbit.

  Hopefully, this personality quirk remained true during the cold winter months.

  Out of the line of sight from the guards, Taya propped open the door to the balcony and slipped outside. No rusty hinges screeched and no gusts of air. Only the soft click of the door closing behind her disturbed the silence of the night.

  She held her breath and waited. No cries of alarm. She scanned the towers for lookouts. The archer faced the other direction. His job wasn’t to monitor the inside of the building. He wouldn’t see her with her shield, anyway.

  She turned and assessed the siding of the tower Gale slept in. A small ledge circled the tower. Small edges of the stone blocks used to construct the building only allowed a tenuous finger hold. She glanced down. The world tilted.

  She wouldn’t survive the fall.

  Gale knew of her existence. He knew her eyes and she couldn’t take the chance he’d recognize her face. He’d never invite her into his room or let her draw him into a private space. Killing him at night was her only option other than returning to Thane as a failure.

  Nope, the latter wasn’t an option.

  She glared at the wall. This left her only one choice.

  Taya stretched her fingers to improve the range of motion of her hands and stepped onto the balcony’s banister. On her toes, she reached for the ledge. Air pushed past her skin and protective clothing. Her leather pants brushed against the stone and her hood flapped in the wind. The fabric across her face blocked most of the chill. She sucked in a breath of cold air and hoisted her body onto the ledge. Her fingertips gripped the small crevice, but the ledge held her weight and gave her a sturdy base.

  “You can do this,” she whispered.

  Her dad’s voice spoke in her head. Stay light on your toes, let instinct take over. Don’t over think.

  She stepped out and readjusted her hold. The safety of the balcony no longer loomed beneath her.

  I’ve got this.

  Step by step, she inched around the tower. The wind pressed against her back. She continued her slow, deliberate pace with only the power of her Tarka shield protecting her exposed and vulnerable position.

  The cold air continued to slice past her, picking up speed as a small system moved over the keep and she moved out of its direct path. Thunder boomed in the distance.

  Her muscles tensed. She pressed her fingers into the rough stone.

  No.

  A sprinkle of rain pattered against her head and shoulders.

  No. No. No.

  She picked up her pace. Her heart lodged in her throat and threatened to choke her. The wind wailed in her ears. The rain picked up, splattering the stone siding and trailing down the bricks. The ledge grew slick.

  Taya squeezed her eyes closed and hugged herself against the cold surface. Only a few steps to go. The shutters of Gale’s window remained open and almost within an arm’s reach.

  She stepped out again. Her foot slipped. She scrambled and lost her finger hold on the ledge. As her whole body careened, she clawed at the ledge. No! She flung her body out, stretching, lengthening and pushed off the ledge with her other foot. Sailing through the air, she reached out as she plummeted.

  She wasn’t going to make it.

  Her hand slapped the window ledge. She death-gripped the rough stone. Her camouflaging shield dropped. Her body swung up with the momentum.

  She grabbed at the sill with her other hand. Her fingers couldn’t grip the slick surface. She flailed her legs to find some sort of purchase on the wall beneath. She groped the ledge with her free hand. There! With a tenuous hold, she pulled her panting body over the ledge and into the room as one soaking wet ball. She hit a plush rug, and rolled into a crouch.

  Gale stood in the middle of the room, dressed in full armour, weapons drawn and studied her. Candlelight reflected off the metal and the bright sapphire gem of his house ring. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I’ll Cut a Bitch

  Taya stood and brushed the rain from her clothes. Water and sweat dripped from her face and leathers to pool by her boots on the floor. A large canopy bed, topped with throw pillows and furs, occupied one side of the sprawling master bedroom. Beautiful, intricate rugs lined the smooth stone floor and a low burning fire radiated warmth from a fireplace opposite of the bed.

  Did he stand by this window and let the night air slide over his shoulders while he enjoyed the silkiness of his favourite liqueur? How could such a vile creature have great taste in furnishings? The hair on the back of her neck lifted. There was something so inherently wrong with this dichotomy.

  “If you expected me, why not dismiss the guards instead of making me climb walls? You could’ve saved some of your men’s lives.”

  He cocked his head. “Obviously, I hoped you wouldn’t make it. I should’ve known. Thane wouldn’t employ a subpar shadow.”

  She forced her lungs to take even breaths of the fragrant wood and oil scented air, though her heart raced and adrenaline pumped through her veins. She wanted to double over and pant. Her shoulders screamed and her hands ached from gripping the edges of stone slabs for her life. To hell with avoiding noise. She’d leave through the doors after she killed Gale.

  “You’ve been waiting for me?” she repeated his words. She needed to keep him talking while she collected herself. He seemed like the type who liked to listen to himself speak.

  Gale nodded. “Since the assassins failed to kill you. You’ve bonded to the swords, haven’t you? Something no one in my family has managed to do in generations.”

  That’s right. He couldn’t even touch them.

  “How did you get them?” he asked. “I know you weren’t in that town when we raided it.”

  “I visited the town after.”

  “Soon after?” A streak of moonlight broke through the cloud cover and beamed through the open window to illuminate his armour. The reflection bathed him in a white glow while she stood to the side in the dark.

  She nodded. What harm would come in telling him the truth? If he was willing to talk, she might glean more information from him for Thane.

  “You recognized me at the wedding reception,” Gale said.

  “How do you know?”

  “Your eyes gave you away. Never play cards.” He paused. “You recognized me, but I’ve never seen you. And you came across my brother’s body in the town. That leaves only one possibility. You must’ve been nearby when we attacked.”

  “The bushes.”

  He swore.

  “You stopped your pretty horse a few feet away from me to admire your pathetic work,” she explained.

  Gale’s mouth turned down. His shifted back and forth and stared at the ground by her feet. He stilled, gaze cutting to her face. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? Some dirty earthen whore? And by some sick twist of fate, you look like us.” His face screwed up as if saying the words left a vile taste in his mouth. “And you watched the destruction of your comrades and did nothing. You’re a coward.”

  “I’m not a coward, I’m smart. At
tacking you then would’ve been suicide.” Wait, why was she defending herself to this asshole?

  “And now isn’t? One shout and the guards will come.”

  She shrugged. “Why not? They already think you’re weak. Call them. Show them you need defending against a dirty earthen whore.”

  He hissed, but didn’t attack.

  What was he waiting for? Was there some sort of trap? She scanned the room. No elaborate pulley system connected to a net. Only tasteful décor and historical artifacts in custom nooks lined the walls. Was he planning something else? Something less obvious? She pooled her power and held her shield closer.

  Gale laughed. His magic pulsed in the air. “Your camouflage won’t work here. Not against a son of lightning.”

  Dang it! Why not? She held onto the shield anyway. Maybe he had a way to nullify the camouflaging affect, but hopefully, she still had a defense against a magical assault.

  “I’m going to kill you,” he said. “I was going to make it swift, but after that weak comment, I’ll make you suffer first.”

  She tried not to roll her eyes and failed. She’d accuse him of stealing the lines from an average C-list movie, but the reference would be lost on him. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I want to know something else.”

  “Ask away.”

  “Are you here in retaliation for the hit or something else?”

  “You know why I’m here. Why else would you send assassins?” She swiped her wet hair out of her face.

  “I sent those thugs to retrieve my brother’s swords.”

  Oh. Well, then. Thane had mentioned the weapons belonged to her by Arkavian law and Gale would have to take them back if he wanted them. But why would he put so much effort into retrieving something so useless to him? He left them on Earth. Was his hit on her just to save face? Had they underestimated his pride? Apparently, it outweighed his common sense. “And when those assassins failed, you sent another. Why bother? What could you possibly want with these swords?”

  He cocked his head. “I never sent another.”