Page 59 of An Assassin's Death
“Done?” His harsh tone draws my attention.
My lips purse and, just before I speak, I tap his wound just hard enough to make him groan.
“All done.” My voice is annoyingly chipper and I hear him curse me even after I’ve left the kitchen, the door swinging closed behind me.
Asshole.
The door swings again and he passes me, taking the stairs quick enough to make me stop and glare after him. I swear, I live in a house full of children most days.
The shadows along the wall hold my focus as one shifts oddly, sending my body into a stance of defense. It was the shadow of a man. The slasher movie flashes through my mind, throwing me even further on edge. I turn toward the door, taking the steps slowly and stealthily back downstairs. When I reach the floor just near the door, my fingers grip a pink and white polka dotted umbrella tightly, my grip tightening as the shadow comes back into view against the wall. It crawls over the room as the person comes closer to the house.
If there were dramatic music playing right now, I’d know one of us were about to die a gruesome death just as the woman on TV did earlier today. Seconds tick by. My spine stiffens as the knob starts to turn and in the minimal moonlight, I see every movement.
Tylin takes a single step in and he seems to immediately know he’s not alone. Tension lines his broad shoulders. His gaze narrows on me in an instant.
“I didn’t realize I had a curfew, Mom.” He’s shirtless, his jogging shorts low in his hips once again. Those angling tattoo lines between his hips are more exposed, detailing just how low his shorts really are.
Who the hell jogs in the middle of the night though?
A breath of relief slips over my lips.
“I almost killed you, just so you know.”
He walks toward the kitchen before turning back to look at me, his attention lingering on the umbrella in my lowered hand.
“With a fist full of polka dots?”
With a roll of my eyes, I place the umbrella back. I take a few steps closer to him and just before the snarky remark slips over my lips, the real question I’ve been dying to ask sneaks out.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice cuts through the shadows and he stops in his tracks. I’m always saying the wrong thing when I’m with him. “Why didn’t you tell me you tried to kill Armond?”
I knew. I knew before I ever came here. I just thought he had started to trust me. That we were friends of sorts. It’s been weeks and he still keeps me at arm’s length.
Because I’m just an asset.
He doesn’t trust me with the full details. He trusts me just enough to pull this job off. We’re not friends though. How stupid of me to think that.
His gaze becomes more serious than I’ve ever seen.
Slow steps bring him closer and closer until he’s staring down on me. Fuck him and his confidence. I meet his hard glare.
“Don’t get caught up in what you think you know, Huntress.” His whispered words fan across my lips and a consuming energy swirls between us.
“You’re willing to let me risk my life for all this but you won’t even tell me the full story.” My voice dips but the anger in me shoves it right back into place. “You want me on your fucking team, then act like it.” Rage shakes through me and before I say one more stupid thing, I turn away from him.
Warm fingers grip my wrist just lightly, halting me in my tracks.
“They’re breeding a source of power. They’re creating something deadly. What if I told you it was safer if you didn’t know the full story?”
His question consumes my mind with confusion.
I hate this. I hate the not knowing. And I hate that he’ll never tell me.
My stomach tangles as I realize we’ll never be friends. I was an idiot to think I could ever really belong here.
I’m making a mess of my life.
More than it was before.
