Kelly Meding - Requiem for the Dead

"So you want me to what? Assassinate Riley before the official challenge fight?"

"No."

I glanced at Kismet, a little confused. She shrugged. "What then?"

"Riley is simply a stand-in for Marcellus. Since Marcus refused to give up the security codes to the Dane compound, you're going in for me. You've been allowed onto the grounds as a guest because of your relationship with the Coni."

He was right on that count. Joseph, Aurora, and Ava lived with the Danes, and I'd visited them a few times since they had moved to the mansion. The security guards knew me, and they'd let me in without putting up a fuss. Vale was hot-headed and didn't plan well, but he did his research.

And then his plan for me today fell into place with alarming clarity moments before he said it: "Your job, once you're in the Dane compound, is to find Marcellus and kill him"

"No."

"No?"

"Hell no. Do I really need to list all the reasons why that will never happen?"

"You're clever, and you have a few handy powers in your pocket, or so I've heard."

"So you think I'll what? Teleport into Elder Dane's office, cut his throat, and then teleport back out? And no one will be suspicious?"

"I honestly don't care if you're suspected or not, as long as you aren't caught. If you are, you're rogue. One mention of me will result in more of this."

Wood creaked. I heard a sound that might have been fingers snapping, and then a woman screamed. Lori. I squeezed the phone as anger surged through me. Lori kept screaming.

"Stop!" My eyes stung with emotion I didn't understand. "Stop, please."

Her screams dissolved into deep sobs, and then the sound cut off.

"You were saying?" Vale asked.

The Frosts weren't my parents, but the knowledge didn't stop a surge of hate and grief from making my insides shake. I didn't look at Kismet. I had to make this decision on my own. "I do this and you let the Frosts go alive and without further harm?"

"Yes."

"I also want the items you stole from me yesterday."

"What items would that be?"

"The scroll and the leather bag."

"Sorry, Ms. Stone, you'll need to do another favor for those."

"Unless the Felia kill me first."

"That's your issue."

Fantastic.

"You have until noon tomorrow," Vale said. "If you tell anyone about this conversation, I'll be sure to take it out on your parents before handing them back."

"What about Kismet? The woman whose phone you send that photo to?"

"I've already reached an understanding with Ms. Kismet. Noon."

He hung up, and I very nearly threw the phone across the room. Instead, I forced my fingers to unclench and hand it back to Kismet. She watched me with a curious, cautious expression that I mirrored.

"What does he have over you?" I asked.

"That's my problem, Stone."

"Not if it affects the outcome of this whole clusterfuck."

"It won't. Vale thinks he has something to hold over my head and keep me quiet, so I don't connect him to whatever it is he wants you to do. But the bigger picture is more important, Evy. The Assembly, the Watchtower, the vampire cure, it's all more important right now. What happens next is your call."

My mind raced with a dozen different things I could do, different ways to go about solving this particular crisis. I wasn't the planner though. That was always Wyatt's job—to come up with a solution to problems, plan out our defense or offense. And I couldn't risk telling Wyatt what was going on. Not this time. He'd try to stop me or want to help, and I could not allow Vale to torture and murder the Frosts. They'd already lost their daughter; they deserved better than that. But how could I walk onto the Dane compound and murder Marcellus without putting a giant target on my own ass?

"What now?" Kismet asked.

"For now, I need your word that you won't say anything about this. Not to anyone, even yourself. Life as normal. Please?"

"I promise." She frowned. "Evy, what are you going to do?"

"I need to figure out how to assassinate a were-cat without getting my throat ripped out."

Kismet impressed me by shutting up completely about the call and my new task. Two months ago, she would have questioned the hell out of my decisions, maybe even ratted me out to the others. Hell, two months ago I would have refused to let her stay in the room while I spoke to Vale. Showed how far our relationship had progressed from the days of her trying to murder me.

We walked into Operations to a lot of loud chatter. Wyatt looked up from his conversation circle with Astrid and Rufus. I met his eyes and managed to not react to the question in his—I'd taken more time getting to Ops than he expected. I winked, then smiled, and his curiosity settled.

"What's going on?" Kismet asked as we joined the trio.

"Elder Dane has been challenged," Astrid replied. "It's an official challenge through the Assembly, so Riley will fight in his place."

"Who challenged him?" I asked.

"A man named Silva. His true form is a lion."

"So not a Bengal?"

"At this point, none of the Bengals are stupid enough to step forward, but that doesn't mean Silva is unconnected to Vale."

She had no idea how connected he was to Vale.

"When's the fight?" Kismet asked.

"Noon tomorrow."

Of course it was noon tomorrow. Twenty-four hours before the fate of the Watchtower was decided. "So what are we doing?" I asked.

"The same thing we've been doing," Astrid said. "Searching for Vale."

"We don't just need him for the crimes he's committed," Rufus added. "He also has the items you received from the gnome. We need those things back."

Yet another reason I needed a good plan for this assassination job. I had to be alive in order to do this unknown second favor and get the scroll and medicine pouch from Vale. No pressure.

"I'd also like to send a team down into the sewers near Parker's Palace," Astrid said. "We know the goblins came and went from there last night, so it's possible there's a nest nearby. It may lead us to Nessa's location."

I avoided eye contact, which wasn't like me, but I didn't want her assigning that job to me today. I had other things to do.

"I'd like to take point," Kismet said.

Bless you, Gina.

"All right," Astrid said. "Take six people, good noses and good with blades. Let me know when you're ready to leave."

"Understood." She headed out without another word or look, and I made a mental note to thank her later—if I was alive to manage it.

Wyatt, on the other hand, cornered me as soon as I left Ops. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing except the obvious, why?" I said. I hated lying to him, but I didn't have time for an interrogation.

"I expected you to jump at the chance to do some goblin hunting."

"I think I got my fill last night." Which was partially true. The release of gutting a dozen goblins had felt wonderful, and it was very therapeutic. I'd probably benefit greatly from gutting a few dozen more. "Plus, I want to be available in case Vale is found."

Wyatt nodded. "All right, I can accept that."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I know you better than you know yourself, Evy. Something else is bothering you. Is it the Frosts?"

Oh, baby, you have no idea. "A little, yes. I still don't know how to deal with them."

"Maybe once this challenge business is over with tomorrow, you'll be able to sit down and talk with them."

"Maybe."

"Don't you think you should? Chalice was their daughter. They deserve some sort of closure." Grief flickered in Wyatt's eyes. He took family issues to heart, because his had been taken away so violently when he was still a teenager. His parents and sister were murdered by Halfies, and his twin brother died a few years later in a tragic accident.