Amanda Bonilla - Shaedes of Gray - A Shaede Assassin Novel

“Find them?” Raif said. “Yes. And kill every last one.”

I smiled. Finally, someone who wasn’t insisting I hide and protect myself. “And what about Azriel? Are you certain he’s orchestrating all of this?”

Raif smiled back. “I hope so.”

Chapter 21

I’d stopped at my apartment to grab a few things for the night, fully intending on returning to Xander’s to help Raif stand guard. Somehow the thought of being housed up with Tyler and Xander, not to mention the reminder of poor Delilah and her battered body, slowed my efforts. I wasn’t afraid of the danger. Cutting your eyeteeth in battle has a way of making a person swell with pride. And truth be told, I’d have much rather gone one-on-one with an enraged Lyhtan than spend the evening in the company of Xander, Tyler, or both. Hell, even Anya would have made a better companion, as far as my current circumstances were concerned. I just needed some time to clear my head. Get my shit together. But rather than think about anything, I curled up in a ball on the couch and fell asleep.

It must’ve been around midnight when I sensed a disturbance in the air behind me. I lay suctioned to the surface of my couch, barely breathing. I refused to wish for help. More than capable and deadly, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I tried to calm the shallow drafts of breath, slow the brisk thrumming of my pulse, as I waited for my guest to formally make his presence known.

“Hello, my love.” That cool, seductive voice snaked into my soul, pulling me unbidden into memories I’d tried to banish. He’d found me. I hadn’t been able to track him down, not for decades. And he’d found me. I hoped Azriel hadn’t come to kill me, because despite my claim of strength, I wasn’t sure I could kill him.

My voice froze inside my throat. Words formed on my tongue, but something prevented me from pushing them through my lips. My heart hammered inside my chest, and I suddenly felt the urge to swallow more than usual. I had often wondered how I’d feel if I ever came face-to-face with him again. Well, in this case, face to back of couch, but his voice was enough to send me over the edge. My nerves crumbled like dry bread, and I tried to make myself believe he’d leave if I could only manage to stay still for a moment longer.

Azriel’s soft laughter rippled over me like rings on a pond. I tried to clear my throat in an effort to jump-start my vocal cords, and the sound came more like a whimper than anything with force behind it. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to sit up.

“I was expecting the Big Bad Wolf, and instead I get Red Riding Hood. I have to say, Darian, I thought I made you tougher than that.”

I tucked up my knees closer to my chest. As if that could save me. I took three deep breaths, the kind deep-sea divers take, and I pushed myself to a sitting position. My back was still turned to him, and I felt more than heard the rise and fall of his chest behind me. His presence burned like an open flame in the center of my existence.

Turn around. Just turn around, Darian. Fuck. My brain was working, so why wasn’t my mouth or why weren’t my feet, for that matter? Why couldn’t I just turn around and face him?

I thought of leaving my corporeal form, but knowing it wouldn’t do much good, I remained frozen where I sat. Left with no choices, it was either turn and face my maker or sit like a mute fool and wait to die. With considerable effort, I stood. And even though I felt like I was standing on a metal floor in a pair of magnetic boots, I shuffled my bare feet against the hardwood, inch by inch, until I turned to face the man I’d been hired to kill.

The moment my eyes met his, every memory of our time together crashed over me like a tidal wave. Every moment. Every kiss, every touch—all of it.

He smiled and his eyes wrinkled at the corners, sparking to life with the light that had stuck in my memory over the many lonely years without him. He rested his right hand over his heart and rocked back on his heels, putting me instantly under his spell.

“If it’s possible, you’re even more beautiful than I remember,” he said.

“You left me,” I blurted like an idiot. At least my mouth was working again.

He laughed his cold and humorless laugh, causing a dread chill to race down my spine. I’d never understood just how much power he held over me—until now. Because I had the strange feeling that I’d leave with him in a second if he asked me to. I’d forget my promise to Xander and disregard every sweet word from Tyler’s mouth for an ounce of affection from him.

“Azriel,” I choked, as if the word burned my throat.

“Darling,” he answered.

I was in trouble. Big trouble.

And then . . . I remembered myself. Bullshit. He was nothing but a low-life, lying piece of shit. Savior or not, he was dangerous, a threat to my existence. I shouldn’t have been thinking about where we could run away together. But I should have been counting the steps from me to my sword. What was wrong with me? I’d succumbed to the glamour of my own kind for the last time. Azriel had tried to have me killed, or at the very least poisoned by his Lyhtan lackeys. Not to mention the fact that he’d dropped me cold, leaving me alone with nothing but lies to structure my existence. Screw him and his perfect GQ face.

“I’m going to slice your sorry ass into little, tiny pieces,” I snapped. I wasn’t completely confident I could kill him. I hated being on the defensive. My plan had been to ferret him out, bring the fight to his door. Start with the ball in my court. So much for planning.

Azriel threw his head back in a burst of chilly laughter. “There’s my girl,” he said. “You had me worried for a second.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” I matched his tone in temperature. “You’re a dead man.”

“I only wanted to see how you were doing.” He smiled another model-worthy smile as he walked around my couch, closer. Too close. “Not too bad, from the looks of it.” The heat from his presence bathed me in balmy air. I was suddenly overcome with a desire to reach out and touch . . .

“What brings you here?” I asked, turning my gaze from his glowing features. “Haven’t had a good ass beating in a while? Feeling suicidal? I can take care of that for you.”

“Ah, but I’d rather die by your hand than live by anyone else’s,” he said, laughing at his own lame attempt at humor. “I think you said that to me once, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said, lying through my teeth. “I’ve forgotten everything about you.”

“If you say so.” He laughed and plopped down on one of my chairs like I’d invited him to settle in.

“I hear you’ve gone into the business of waging war against your own people,” I said, inching closer to the kitchen, where I’d left the katana.

“And I hear you’re shacking up with the king,” he said. “Doesn’t that make him sort of like your grandfather or something? Pretty sick, Darian.”

“Oh, I’ve already done pretty sick—about a hundred years ago.” I couldn’t let him get the upper hand. I knew too well that I could easily succumb to his charms. He’d kept me under his thumb once, but it wouldn’t happen again. “Are you disappointed your Lyhtans didn’t finish me off the other day? I owe you one, you know. Actually, if we’re getting down to business, I owe you two or three.”

“I didn’t come here tonight to fight you, Darian.” He said my name with such ease, something I couldn’t bring myself to do. His name was like poison on my lips, a curse.

“I suppose you didn’t.” I was within feet of the katana now. All I needed to do was shed my corporeal form and I’d have it in my hand. “You came here to kill me, quick and easy. But that’s not going to happen tonight or any night.”