Page 54 of Decoy

It was the only invitation I needed. Before I could allow sense—or worse, the nearby shadows—to persuade me otherwise, I leaned down and caressed her lips in a gentle kiss. I fully intended it to be brief, but the moment I allowed myself this momentary deviation I lost all hold of my careful control, especially when she kissed me back more fiercely than our first kiss the night before.

My arms came around her against my will, and this time I was the one to pull her closer, though it was still somehow not close enough. Blast it all, now I’d done it. I’d prided myself on maintaining constant control, but never had I felt I possessed less of it than I did now. I couldn’t get enough of her. It no longer mattered what I’d be required to sacrifice to obtain her secrets, I wanted every last one. I’d give it all up for her, just to discover every part of this bewitching woman who’d somehow found a way to wriggle past my every defense into my heart.

Whatever trap had been carefully laid had sprung, and it was far too late to escape from its clutches…if at this point I even wanted to be free.

CHAPTER15

Istared after the princess long after she’d departed with her guard to return to the royal duties that would occupy her afternoon. I usually prided myself in my clear thinking, but now my thoughts were a muddled mess, with the memory of our kiss eclipsing all others. Everything was spiraling rapidly from my careful control. I needed to do something to reclaim it, but I wasn’t certain how to salvage the whirling chaos.

I didn’t have long to puzzle over this seemingly impossible riddle when my reverie was interrupted. “Well, that was…interesting.”

I startled at the unexpected but familiar voice and whipped around. I frantically searched the ornate landscape before lifting my gaze to the nearby canopy of trees. I didn’t immediately see him, and though my delay was only a few seconds, it was enough that if my intruder had been an enemy I’d be dead. Another mistake to mar what had once been a perfect record…untilher.

After much needless searching, I finally detected the familiar silhouette of my dearest friend high in the branches. When I spotted him, he leapt gracefully down and shook the leaves from his hair before pinning me with a disapproving frown.

“That’s the first time since completing your training that you’ve failed to notice my pursuit, as well as it being the longest it’s taken for you to find me.”

I winced at the sharp reprimand, fully deserved. Failing to detect an enemy’s presence was one of the most deadly mistakes an assassin could make, which only showed the extent of my distraction. I scrambled for any excuse for my falter, but Malik was far too attuned for me to have any hope of getting away with it.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. “Perhaps I should have taken the time to explain the finer points of assassination: you’re supposed tokillyour target, not fall in love with them.”

I stiffened.Love?I didn’t feel such an emotion towards her…though with my current inexplicable emotions, I couldn’t deny I teetered on the edge, dangerously close to tipping. I’d spent a lifetime burying every feeling that would interfere with my purpose as an assassin and had carefully honed my numb indifference, a skill now rendered useless with the feelings that blasted woman stirred within my heart, which, left unchecked, would only prove disastrous.

“And correct me if I’m wrong, but one isn’t supposed tokisstheir mark…unless utilizing such a tactic is a new assassination technique I’m not yet aware of.” Though his expression remained stoic, amusement glistened in his eyes.

If he only knew how close I’d come to accidentally killing her via last night’s poisoned kiss. “I’m attempting to get closer to her in order to obtain information.”

His eyebrows rose. “And yet you two were doing very little talking. Do you make a habit out of utilizing a kiss in place of other more efficient methods?”

“Often, and I’ll likely employ such a technique many times more in the future.”

By his frown he easily detected my deceit but was kind enough not to press me. Not that the interrogation would provide any satisfactory answers; I couldn’t explain my reluctance to employ such a tactic with anyone else when I myself didn’t fully understand my reasoning, only that a kiss felt exclusivelyhers.

Once more the memory overcame me, strengthening my growing urgency to protect her against my duty. Despite Malik’s unwanted prodding questions, his appearance felt like providence. As the friend who’d always stood by my side in all my past missions, perhaps he could offer guidance to help me escape my current dark and endless labyrinth.

He frowned. “It appears a lot has happened while I’ve been gone.”

More than he knew. “There’s been a complication: someone tried to attack the princess last night.”

“Someone other thanyou, correct?”

I ignored his blatant disapproval. “I need your help in figuring out who’s responsible and what their purpose is…for the sake of the mission, of course.”

He didn’t immediately answer, his eyes narrowed as he studied me. Though I’d become an expert in concealing my emotions, in this moment I felt they lay before him like an open book whose contents I’d do anything to conceal.

“Of course.” But I knew him well enough to know he hadn’t bought my paltry excuse. If he’d read between the lines, he knew my interest in the attacker had little to do with discovering their purpose and more to do with my target’s life than was prudent. Thankfully, he was a good enough friend not to call me out.

“The princess must possess something of great importance for you to have such a vested interest. Did you discover anything of use?”

Even with my inability to torture or kill, I’d always been an expert in obtaining information in other ways, yet so far I’d only succeeded in acquiring more questions than answers. None of what I’d discovered had done much to progress either my personal mission or the one bestowed upon me by the shadows; rather, it’d only dug me deeper in a hole I had no idea how to get out of.

“She guards her secrets carefully. The only one I’ve managed to extract is her suspicion of me.” Which in truth was so obvious as not to be much of an accomplishment.

I wisely chose to keep silent about the damage these suspicions had already inflicted on our assassin house’s reputation; such news would be enough for him to extinguish her life right now without regard to obtaining the information about the other assailant currently after her.

Even without this condemning clarification, his mouth still thinned. “All the reason to kill her sooner rather than later.”

Aversion twisted my stomach in a way similar to whenever I encountered blood. The closer the princess and I grew, the more impossible the thought of fulfilling my torturous mission became. I’d rather die than harm her, a notion that went entirely against my training. “It’s too soon to kill her.”

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