Page 26 of The Assassin's Dancer
With a final gurgle, his knees buckle, and he’s collapses to the floor. I hear the sound of a blade being torn from flesh.
“Are you alright?” someone asks, but I can’t quite tell who. My vision is blurry as the garden around me spins.
“Amaryllis?” the voice calls again. “Ruby?”
Hugo’s on the floor. There’s a circular crimson stain growing on the front of his doublet.
Stars. He’s…
“Dead,” I squeak, finishing the thought out loud.
“Yes,” the voice replies, but this time I look up to meet my saviour.
Kasimir stands in front of me, worry pooling in his green eyes as they fall over my shaking body, like he’s searching for something.
“Did he hurt you?” he asks in a dark tone.
My breath stills. He’s searching for injuries.
I shake my head. “You killed him. You… you actually killed him.”
“Yes,” he says calmly, “I’m sorry you had to see this side of me.”
This side of him? Minutes ago, he was a gentleman. We were laughing as he held my waist and spun me around the dancefloor. Now we’re here, and he’s standing in front of mewith a dripping red dagger in his hand, completely unfazed by the dead man on the floor – as if he’s done this a thousand times before…
But of course he has. He’s an assassin.
I want to laugh, but all I can do is stand frozen in place, inches from the growing puddle of blood.
With a heavy breath, Kaz cups my cheek.
I don’t react.
“You’re in shock,” he says quietly. Stooping, he lowers his face until it’s inches away from mine. “Listen to me, Ruby.” He brushes my cheek with his thumb. “I want you to go for a walk around the grounds. Don’t take too long. Just get some air. Then come back in a few minutes and go back into the ballroom. When you get there, cry if you need to, but tell the guards that a group of men attacked Hugo and dragged him towards the forest.” He blinks, staring deep into me. “Can you do that for me, Ruby?”
I shudder. “Go for a walk,” I repeat wistfully. “Yes, I can do that… There were men, but I didn’t see their faces, and I’ll speak to the guards about it.”
“There’s my good girl.” Kaz smiles, brushing a kiss against my forehead.
After slowly leading me around Hugo, Kaz squeezes my hand one last time before I wander towards the palace grounds.
For my walk.
11
KASIMIR
Well, that didn’t go as planned. Why is it that no matter how I intend things to be, I always find myself here, my hands hooked around a dead man’s ankles as I haul yet another body through the woods.
It’s funny. I’m a murderer – a cold-blooded killer.
I’ve spent years hunting down the men who make it their life’s mission to bother women, and yet here I am, rushing to clean up the mess I made so I can go and bother the one woman I can’t stop thinking about.
Some people might say I’m a hypocrite. Or a bad person. Or both. But I know they’re wrong – I’m worse than that. Because I kill men for having the thoughts I’m having, but that still doesn’t stop me as I climb the stone bricks and push open the window of her bedchamber once again.
Slipping through, I press my back to the wall to stay hidden.
My stomach dips when I see her.
