Page 21 of Shadows and Flames
I watched her go before heading for the male who would hopefully provide an engaging evening. But what churned in my gut wasn’t excitement. No, what weighed in my stomach was the ever-present stone of worry.
How did you keep alive someone who was convinced they were already dead?
Chapter Ten
TOMÁS
My lip curled as I rifled through our employer’s wardrobe. I’d been doing this long enough to know that reconnaissance was important for a target of this status, but that did not at all mean that I wanted to be hunched over and going through some tosser’s shorts while a perfectly good party was raging just two floors below.
I searched every bit of the grandiose bedroom but found fuck-all. The man had stationed his guards to keep the guests sequestered on the lower levels of his estate. Not that many would be wandering away from the flowing alcohol and food, anyway.
When I crept to the door that led out to the corridor, I stilled to listen for anyone approaching. With a snort, I walked into the hall and, just for good measure, swaggered on silent steps over to the last room I had to check.
The office proved to be loads more useful. A cursory sweep of the massive wooden desk revealed guards’ watch schedules, as well as an opened invitation from none other than Paschal Von Herron. Our mark.
To my disappointment, he was not at this soirée, still making his way back to the city, according to the gossipmongersdownstairs. This invitation, though, might provide what we needed to get close to him.
I sat in the expensive chair behind the desk and leaned back as I read over everything, committing it to memory. Also appeared that the man who hired us was writing off his shady dealings as revenue earned by his more legitimate businesses.
My tongue clicked beneath my black mask. Rich people were always so predictable. And oblivious.
Shrugging, I straightened and began to put everything back where it was. Even with the lax security, I was bored, not stupid. Though, I did manage to take a few loose coins he had lying around.They were just right there for the taking!I argued when my best mate’s grumbly voice admonished me in my head. A man this rich wouldn’t miss them, surely.
As I circled the space, turning over and replacing everything to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything, the sound of a foot shuffling over carpet rang in my ears like a bell. I stiffened as I focused, and—yeah, there it was again. But it wasn’t the heavy footfalls of a guard who had no reason to hide. The person coming was trying, and almost succeeding, to walk the corridor silently.
Curiosity made my heart pick up a bit. Maybe this trip wasn’t going to be completely boring, then.
I slunk back into the shadows of the room, where the moonlight streaming in from the large windows didn’t reach. All but the top half of my face was covered by my black clothing, and centuries of doing this made it as easy as breathing. All the prep work for these contracts—the scouting, snooping, negotiating—that was the dull stuff. We still needed to pick the right time to make our kill as seamless as possible, so I’d thought that I wouldn’t get this thrill for a good while yet.
When that creeping person opened the door, I couldn’t help my grin.
Magic wasn’t ever my method of choice, but I was always thankful for the handful of Shadow spells that I knew. The darkness of my oath, a living entity bound to my soul, bent the aether at my will. I did not need words, just the intention of my thoughts.
The one I used now masked my scent so that I left no trace of myself behind. And it gave me enough of an advantage—some time—to take in the one that also seemed to be on a mission.
It took me a moment, since she looked a bit different from when I’d last seen her. There was a split second before I really took in her scent, and then recognition hit me. She closed the door with another almost-silent movement, but it was nearly deafening in the quiet space. Then she turned around, chartreuse silk shifting over her body.
Shit.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
What wasshedoing here?
My teeth ground, and my fingers flexed, touching the pommel of my shamshir sheathed at my hip. She was done up like many of those I’d seen streaming into the party before I’d entered the estate through one of the back windows. The delicate black gloves she wore smoothed down the front of her slinky gown, like running silk over water.
Elián wasnotgoing to react well to this.
I watched as she began to search the large bookshelf closest to the door. Though she wasn’t rushing, she wasted no time going through all the books I’d looked at, lifting a stone bust carved in the likeness of the owner of the estate with a snicker.
My Shadow training wasn’t anything I thought about all that much anymore. When she’d saved my arse that night in Vharas, I struggled at first to explain our ways. Trying to put into words what my body justdidwas a bit frustrating.
But when she suddenly stiffened and lifted her nose to the air, eyes narrowed, I felt something akin to panic in my gut. Had I made myself known? No, impossible.
Or… maybe not. She whipped around and looked right at me.
There was still a gigantic desk, a small sofa, and two plush armchairs between us, but the office seemed to shrink in that moment. Elián’s female tilted her head to the side as she watched me in a posture that was eerily like his.
Until a smile started curling at her full lips.
