It sounded like someone walking down the side of the building.
I sat up straight, body tingling and alert.
A shadow descended from above. It hesitated, hovering right outside the glass, before twisting and sliding through the opening.
The guard dropped silently to the floor.
Rope was wound around his waist. He unbuckled the harness and turned. He was draped in black, his face painted in darkness, his eyes quiet and cold. His lips pulled apart and his white teeth floated in the middle of his empty face.
“There you are,” he said, and he sounded like a laughing hyena.
“What do we do now? I can’t climb.”
“No, I doubt you can. It’s not easy.”
“And there’s no other harness. How do you expect me to—”
I stopped, the words dead on my tongue.
The guard’s face split as his grin got larger.
The bastard.
He wasn’t a guard. He wasn’t from Darren either.
I turned to run, a scream on my lips, but he was fast. He closed the gap and slammed into my back, knocking me forward. Air rushed from my lungs, and I only managed a pathetic moan as my chin smashed into the floor.
Then he was on me. Not a guard. Not a savior.
An assassin.
Maeve was the master of spies. She was a shadow, a silent killer. She was a knife in the dark.
And this was her tool.
Her way of hitting Kaspar where it would hurt him the most.
I was so stupid. So, so stupid.
Darren wouldn’t send a man like this.
I knew something was off, but I hoped anyway.
And now I’d pay.
The killer’s hands wrapped around my throat. He pinned me down with his knees, his eyes wide, still grinning, grinning madly, like he couldn’t believe his luck.
I croaked, gasped, struggled.
Couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t worry,” he assassin crooned. “It won’t last long. A minute or two, then you’ll be out. After that, nothing at all. I promise, it’s so easy.” His grip tightened.
Alice.
This was how Alice died.
Except it was Kaspar’s hands around her throat.
Choking her. Killing her.
Poor Alice.
I wouldn’t end up like her.
I wrenched my right arm free and slammed my fist into the assassin’s nose. He grunted in surprise and his grip relaxed long enough for me to pull in a breath and release the loudest scream I could.
It was like a fire alarm in the night.
The man cursed and slammed his elbow into my mouth. I grunted, went silent. I tasted blood, felt dizzy. He reached into a holster at his hip and pulled out a gun, black and gleaming in the night—
The door slammed open. The assassin aimed down.
Kaspar threw himself on top of the killer, knocking him aside as the gun went off. It was deafening. I rolled to the side, coughing and gasping for air.
The men struggled. Grunts of pain and rage. More guards entered the room. I rolled onto my elbows in time to see Kaspar slam his forehead into the assassin’s face, wrench the gun away, and press it against the man’s temple.
His guards stopped him from pulling the trigger as they piled on the intruder.
Kaspar threw the gun aside, cursing. He stood, taking in the scene.
The window wide open.
He came to me. Knelt down, touched my neck tenderly. He pulled me into his arms and held me tight.
“You let him in,” he whispered. “Why did you do that?”
“He said he was from my brother.” I sounded awful, like someone scraped a hot spoon down the back of my throat.
Kaspar hugged me tighter. “Oh, Penny. I’m so sorry.”
I believed him. I choked out a sob, then another, and soon I was crying, crying so hard my guts hurt. I released it all and he held me through it, his shoulder drenched with my tears.
Tears for myself, for Alice, for Livvie.
Tears for Kaspar and Darren.
Tears for all the dead.
God, it wasn’t fair. I wanted to go home. I wanted to stay here in Kaspar’s arms.
I didn’t know what I wanted or who I was.
Kaspar rubbed my back and told me everything was going to be okay.
It was a lie. I was still grateful for it.
The assassin was taken away. They threw him into an extra room. When I calmed down, Kaspar sent the doctor to make sure I was okay.
I heard screams of pain for the next few hours until they ended abruptly around sunrise.
Kaspar checked on me one more time. Just after the silence. He was covered in blood. His eyes were bloodshot. He kissed my forehead, climbed into my bed, and wrapped his arms around my body.
We fell asleep.
20
Alice
Eight Years Ago
Blackwoods College
I told her I was going to study all night. “Seriously, it’s fine. I have a history test tomorrow anyway. I have to memorize a bunch of old battles and stupid dates.”
Penny seemed hesitant, like she didn’t want to leave me alone.
She’d been doing a lot of that lately. Ever since her first date with Kaspar, they were with each other constantly.