Merciless Saints (St. Monarch's Academy 1)

It’s one of the first lessons Cillian taught me. Always be on guard.

Miss Dervishi glances between MJ and me. “Do you know anything about weapons?”

“A little,” MJ answers, which surprises me. Her father is one of the best custodians, yet she seems grossly unprepared.

When Miss Dervishi’s eyes land on me, I gesture to the selection of weapons. “Heckler & Koch P30L, my personal favorite. Glock 19, second generation. Browning Hi-power Mark 3, Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine gun, but I prefer removing the forward handguard instead of keeping the extended barrel on. It’s easier to handle then. KA-BAR serrated Tanto –”

Before I can continue, Miss Dervishi nods. “At least one of you came prepared. Choose your weapon and line up by the shooting range so I can see if you know how to fire a weapon.”

Without hesitating, I pick the Heckler & Koch P30L and check the clip to make sure it’s loaded. An arm reaches past me to select the same weapon, and I know it’s Damien without having to look. Turning away from him, I head to the shooting range, and I take the last stall, so there’s no reason for someone to be behind me.

I put on ear protection, and widening my stance, I lift my arms and line the barrel up with my sight. Taking a deep breath, I slowly let it out, and then I pull the trigger. My bullet tears through the paper target's head.

Once I’ve emptied the clip, Miss Dervishi comes toward me. “Who trained you?”

“Cillian Byrne. My personal guard.”

Her eyebrows lift, and she actually looks impressed. “You were trained by one of the best. Why are you here?”

To show my enemies, I’m someone they should fear.

“One can never be good enough,” I answer instead.

With a nod, she moves onto MJ, and I reload my clip.

DAMIEN

It’s been a week since classes started, and besides Winter impressing me on a daily basis, nothing has changed in my routine. There has also been no word of when the auction will take place.

When I walk into the weapons room, I’m surprised to find the assassins still here. Paulie is the last of the custodians to arrive, and then Miss. Dervishi says, “Today, you’ll be paired for a game of laser tag. The last assassin standing wins. It doesn’t matter if the custodian is taken out, as long as your assassin survives.” Her gaze drifts over us before she continues, “Riccardo Nero and Hugo Lamas. Jet Tao and Paul Connors. Adrian Vincent and Winter Hemsley. Carson Koslov and Damien Vetrov. Miss Fang will sit this one out. Get geared up. You have five minutes.”

This should be an easy win.

I walk to Carson and grin at him as we pull on our vests before grabbing our laser guns. Carson glances over the other assassins, then murmurs, “Let’s show them how it’s done.”

When Carson begins to walk toward the door which leads outside where the abandoned building is, I flank his left side, my steps matching each of his.

Stopping by the entrance of the building, we wait for the other teams, and then Miss Dervishi says, “The music and smoke are to sharpen your instincts. There’s no time limit. You don’t get to leave until the last team… or man is standing. You have sixty seconds before your guns are activated. Good Luck.”

Nodding, Carson disappears inside, and I follow right behind him while counting to sixty. We’re instantly engulfed in darkness, unable to see anything but shadows and smoke. An intense beat fills the air, making it next to impossible to hear any movements.

We move deeper into the building, and finding stairs, I follow Carson up to a higher level where it’s even darker, except for a random flash of blue light every couple of seconds.

“Three… two…” Carson counts down, and then he goes silent on one.

“Move deeper,” I instruct him. “We need to go up. Let them finish each other off.”

Carson nods, and turning my back to him, we stick close together. He leads me while I keep guard, making sure no one creeps up on us.

“Aww… fuck,” I hear Paulie curse from somewhere in the building. “Sorry, mate.”

“Idiot,” Jet shouts.

“Two down,” Carson mutters.

“Less for us.”

We head up another flight of stairs, and this time the flashes of lights alternate between blue and red. It’s a little disorientating, and I’m sure that’s the goal.

We reach a couple of crates, and I gesture for Carson to take cover behind them while I take out the threats. I crouch down next to the crates, which gives me a clear view of the stairs. This way, I can pick them off as they appear.

Minutes pass in which the music fills my ears, almost matching my heartbeat.

A shadow moving grabs my attention, and I focus my sight on the spot. From the build of the person, it looks like Hugo. Before I can aim, he steps back and keeps his body hidden out of sight so I can’t get a shot while he peeks around the corner.