CHAPTER 29

Silas

"It's not worth it,you big idiot," my little Soul Collector murmured in a harsh whisper. "The most important thing is to get to that box and get the fuck out of here before anyone notices we've come."

Magic still danced around the rock laying in my open palm after transporting us to the secret tunnel in the lad's room. Lev quickly tore down the barriers ready to alert the bastards of our arrival, then he spirited away to do his part. It was just the two of us now, but I had work to do before we went in search of the box.

She'd argued at first but finally gave in before we used the stone. My little rebel would wait here with a communication stone while I took out the rubbish. Still, she was fluttering with agitation, not at all convinced it was worth the risk. The little bird had been restless since she had to say goodbye for good to her parents. She didn't like leaving Lev alone, and she didn't want me to go either. It was quite the pivot from the steely-eyed vixen I met at that pub a few weeks ago.

Normally, I'd lay on the charm and bend her over to quiet her nerves, but even I wasn't shameless enough to do it walls away from a society of enemies out to claim my goddess's head. Not that I didn't have to talk myself out of giving it a go just to see if the Shimmering Assassin could add it to the good ol' resume.

"Love," I murmured, the always-there desire to taste her mouth and have her in my arms never far from the surface, "you don't really think I'd ever put you at risk by doing this, do you? Me? Really? Give me some bloody credit. These nitwits don't stand a chance, and I'll have them picked off one by one without any trouble. Won't take me but a few minutes to get every single one of them. Then I'll be right back here as your dutiful shadow. Just wait like a good little bird for your handsome rogue to return."

I had a list of names, and I'd make every bastard who'd ever hurt my little rebel pay for their crimes. I couldn't do it the way I liked—painfully drag out their torture until they were crying like little babes for the sweet release of death—but I wouldn't let them off either.

Each one would die by my hand tonight.

Her eyes rolled, and it got my blood pumping in a way it shouldn't. Not in this tiny tunnel with every enemy searching for her just within reach. But I could take out the names on this list so fast it would be like I hadn't left her side at all.

Nika didn't think it was worth the risk—and she was right—but these twats didn't deserve to breathe, let alone enjoy another day for what they'd done. Their afterlife of torture awaited them, and I was the perfect bastard to send them kicking and screaming into it.

Bane had dealt a devastating blow to Yuma and her cronies when he killed every powerful Fae with a seat on the Council. It was the entire reason the old hag was mad with fear. Perhaps the entire reason she went to those Brotherhood wankers to do her dirty work, even when she knew their motives couldn't be trusted.

Something told me the old sea witch knew Nika would get her powers back. Except, that minger didn't plan for the Shimmering Assassin to be among Nika's allies. There'd be nothing she could do to stop the vengeance my little rebel would rain down on their society after knowing the truth.

My lips tilted impishly, a little disappointed I wouldn't be the one to watch the old hag die knowing the one person she thought she could trust had betrayed her. "Just sit tight, love. I'll be back before you know it."

I was surprised when Nika grabbed me around the neck and dragged me down into a hard kiss. My body barely fit in this bloody tunnel as it was, so both arms caught on the wall instead of finding their way around her body. She escaped the kiss before I could wiggle myself into a better position to have her the way I wanted her.

"If you get hurt, asshole...I'll kill you. I'm choosing to trust you, so you better not do anything stupid," she whispered next to my ear after finding her way to it.

I had to swallow the groan bent on leaving my throat. Fuck, she didn't mean to do it, but she got me bloody hard every time she growled an order at me. I couldn't be fighting full mast. I might be her blubbering troll, but I had a reputation to keep. So, I pulled away and offered the flittering bird one of my most roguish smiles yet.

"Oh aye, love. Wouldn't dream of it."

If I stayed, I'd be pulled back into her delicious, all-consuming current. Nika had that effect on me, and I didn't bother trying to deny it. So, with a final kiss that dragged pretty moans and sweet mewls of delight from her throat, I disappeared from her side after securing the mask and hood of the Shimmering Assassin in place before I lost the game we'd been playing since the moment we met.

The reason no one knew my face was because they'd never seen it, not truly. All they could see were my eyes when they turned silver, the first and last thing my targets saw before they took their last breath.

The mask had concealing properties which caused partial amnesia to anyone who saw me come through. They'd think I was a dream, or maybe a hallucination, and they'd forget I was there slicing some bastard's throat out. But it didn't work on unnaturally powerful Fae, so I took every measure necessary to keep myself a shadow among the bastards roaming these halls.

It'd been a while since my magic roamed and moved in whimsical chaotic freedom around my body like it once did during my assassin days. I spirited from one place to another. Short distances didn't require much focus, and as long as I could see where I was going, I could appear wherever I wanted. The invisibility stone in my hand did the rest.

The corridors, like the lad promised, were free from their usual guard. The sensation of alarm permeated the space, and I sensed the draw of energy where Lev had summoned a distraction to keep the daft wankers occupied.

I walked with a little skip in my step, completely invisible to the naked eye and protected by a barrier in case anyone strayed too close. I eyed the gold placards decorating each door, checking my list against the engraved names cutting pretty letters across precious metal.

Helpful little detail that was. Practically an X to mark every evil bastard's spot. There were very few things I could count on as being helpful about the Dark Fae, but their propensity towards organized rule made hunting them easier than most. Rarely did the lot stray from their perfectly curated plan, and it was one thing that made an adaptive beast like myself really bite at the bit to watch them scrabble in distress when I did what I did best—fuck all and color outside the bloody lines.

It was something that impressed me when Nika, who'd trained under the same organized rule, adapted better than any Dark Fae tosser I knew. But then again, I'd expect nothing less of Bane's daughter.

Bane might be dead, but Nika was every powerful part of what he was. That old git was the only person who'd ever defeated me, and I didn't doubt for a second that when the time came, his daughter would do what no one else could—send that wanker brother of mine back to the After where he belonged. And if I was a lucky enough bastard afterwards, I'd get to pledge the rest of my immortal life to her.

Without trouble, I hit the first target's room. The wanker was already out of bed, halfway dressed, and completely taken by surprised when I came at him, my blade cutting into his throat and stealing whatever cry he planned to make. Dark green fog exploded out of him, ready to launch an assault, but my own magic wrapped around him like a rope and robbed him of the chance. The hapless muppet's magic was trapped inside mine, able to do little more than cling to his body before disappearing into nothing.

Taking a few confident strides into the room, my power wafted backwards to shut the door so we'd have our privacy. Mustn't ruin a good soiree, yeah? I yanked the string of my magic coiling around my prey so that the blonde bastard hit the ground, bleeding all over his white marble floors.

I hovered over him while I cooly cleaned the blade I'd used to slice the gurgling plonker's throat open. "Be glad I'm on a time crunch tonight, mate. Otherwise, I'd be cutting out your tongue...your eyes...all the fun bits just to watch you mourn each one with the same elation you no doubt shared when you tortured my sweet goddess."

The dying Dark Fae struggled against the magic wrapped around him, failing to take in air each time he tried. All he could do was sputter more blood all over his face and the floor. I crouched down, head tilted to one side, my eyes already silver and narrowed on him. His fluttering dark ones skittered over to mine, and I laughed a little in my throat.

You could always tell when these macho, top-of-their-game wankers knew their number was up. They never thought anyone would be ballsy enough to come and collect. Ironic as it might be that I was here collecting their tarnished souls for my beautiful Soul Collector when mine was just as black, but if that was all an unworthy bastard like myself was good for, then I'd bloody well do it.

"Well, guess it's not so bad. You didn't give up right away. Which means I get to watch you lose all hope the same way I imagine you aimed to get out of my little bird. But Nika, she's not someone a feckless twat like you can conquer. Probably the entire reason you saw fit to torture her over and over, year after year like the witless wanker you are. No matter what you did, she never gave into you once. Not for a bleeding second. She never let you win."

Recognition dawned in the dying man's eyes. He knew her name. The fear that reached his unfocused gaze told me he knew Death was here for him; that the crimes he'd committed were finally seeing the bloody, silver-hand of justice they deserved. And the taste of vengeance was as sweet as I thought it would be.

One less bastard out there who got off on my girl's pain and agony. Tonight, the tables were turned, and the only ending he'd get was the one no one—save the bastard we were after—got to come back from.

My grin broadened before I winked at him, acting cute while the bastard drowned in his own blood. "Karma, she's got friends, yeah?"

The blonde tosser's eyes rolled back into his head, suffocation taking him. Chuckling, I watched as he wriggled and danced over the floor, trying and failing to fight the onset of death. And when the life finally left him, I abandoned his corpse for anyone curious enough to find it.

I had more names, and he was only the first of five.

Within minutes, I visited several rooms, painted their floors in the blood and entrails of my goddess's tormentors, and left as if I'd never been there. I watched each death, taking in those seconds of fleeting fear before spiriting to the next. The last one was in a corridor, so I was forced to take him somewhere he wouldn't be found right away. I tied him up, hung the wanker upside down, and slit his throat wide open to bleed the bastard dry. Then I returned to the flittering bird, minutes gone and my evil heart satiated.

"Hello, love. Miss me?"

Her eyes beamed an angry ice-blue before she looked me over, not at all convinced I'd gotten out of it unscathed. There wasn't a spot on me, so she probably figured I'd been off galivanting rather than assassinating a slew of deserving twats. "Are you really all done?"

Chuckling under my breath, I bent down and stole a kiss. "Aye. Didn't I say it? Wouldn't be but a few minutes. I'm a bloke of my word. Now, you ready to go pay Yuma's secret room of hopefully a box of souls and not a creepy collection of sex devices a visit?"

"Ew, gross. Why would you even mention that?" she whispered, nearly getting a laugh out of me before I caught myself. Nika grumbled under her breath before nodding in resignation. "We'll go now, but I'm leading the way, asshole."

Fuck me, every time—every bloody time she growled at me like that, my pants were tighter than they should be.

"Lead away, love."