Page 84 of Guardians of the Assassins
She glanced over at Carrington, but couldn’t make herself feel bad for killing him. Seeing him just made her want to kill him all over again for the trouble he’d brought to her doorstep because of his greed. She’d given him more than one warning, more than one chance to walk away. It was his own stupidity that he thought she would just roll over and die to make his life easier.
“Thank you,” she murmured to Ryder, patting his hand before she turned toward the wolves.Most of the men had removed their masks. They were so young that her heart ached. A few looked nervous and uncertain, the majority were stoic, just awaiting their fate.
“My offer still stands—you are welcome to stay or go back to the Assembly. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you were just following orders. This is your fresh start to a new life if you want it.” Morgan thought they would be excited at the chance to leave Carrington’s reign of terror, but only five of them accepted her offer.
The remaining wolves hesitated, not trusting to keep her at her word, eying the metal wolves warily. “Take Carrington home and give him a proper burial. I hope you will tell the other alphas that I don’t want any more trouble. No retaliation will come from us.”
One of the older wolves gave a formal bow, then directed the younger ones to pick up the body of the alpha. They threw it over their shoulder with no more care than a bag of rocks anddisappeared in the trees with barely a sound, vanishing in seconds.
All except for the mysterious man that had been standing in the back, observing everything.
As if her attention was an invitation, the masked man casually strode forward, clapping his hands together slowly. “Very entertaining.”
He came to a stop directly across from her, only the wards separating them, but Morgan feared that it wasn’t much of a barrier. If this man wanted to enter the coven, he would get across.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the dark mask dissolved…revealing a dark fae.
Fae that wanted her dead.
Morgan bit back a groan for not having expected them to show up at the same time.
His skin was a light gray with just a tinge of purple to give it a bit of color. He was tall, towering over her nearly six-foot frame. She was used to seeing fae with a sleek form, but this man had broad shoulders and thick muscles and enough scars that said he came by his muscles naturally. His black hair was cut shorter, so the slight wavy strands brushed his shoulders.
He had a strong jaw, his expression carved from stone, leaving his face all angles. His pointed ears looked natural instead of sticking out. His lips were full, but it was his eyes that arrested her—they were a vivid purple.
Caedmon and Atlas immediately came to her side, standing slightly in front of her. Caedmon crossed his arms, not in the least bit intimidated. “What do you want?”
The dark fae tipped his head to the side, a spark of interest entering his eyes as he surveyed the two. Then his gaze swung back toward her. “They’re your mates. You willingly took a cursed ancient and a dark fae as your mates.”
She scowled at the questioning tone of his voice. “Yes, and if you think of touching them, I will end you. I told the same thing to the light fae—they’re mine and not going anywhere.”
Morgan waited for the fae to laugh or scoff.
She didn’t expect a grimace.
“This would be easier if you were corrupt and I could just kill you outright.” He sighed, like her life was a great inconvenience.
Caedmon reached back and pulled a sword out of thin air, his stance relaxing in a deceptive way that said he was seconds away from eviscerating the man. “What do you want?”
“He wants me dead, he’s been ordered to kill me, but the fae have rules they must follow.” Morgan tipped her head as she studied the man who stood so still and passive across from her, coiled energy giving him the impression of a wild beast. He wasn’t as uptight as the light fae, but he followed a code that was just as rigid and unbending.
Morgan chuckled, but it held little amusement. “My guess is he took a little bit of a detour and contacted the wolves to do his dirty work. Bummer they weren’t able to kill me like you were hoping, huh?”
“Indeed,” he muttered, a tinge of wry humor in his voice, not the least bit repentant. Then his amusement dropped away, his features hardening. “Which leaves me no choice but take you back to Faerie for trial.”
One by one, her mates came to stand next to her, a united front.
They would fight to keep the fae from taking her.
They would die for her.
And that was what raised her hackles.
The fae was alone, unarmed, and not even remotely worried about how he would complete his mission.
No…he had something else planned.
“No,” Atlas said, a brittleness to his tone that had Morgan glancing at him.
