The vampire and the assassin

Chapter 3

I looked at the two other vampires. Just what was the point of this new game? Was I supposed to run, or did he really have something he wanted to discuss with me? I had no clue, but I got the feeling that I was soon going to find out, and if I was honest, I had no plans to move from the spot I was in. If I didn't move, I wouldn't give him any reason to lash out at me. Not only that, I figured that if I stayed put, I could pretend not to listen while I silently thought over his offer.

Well, what are you idiots waiting for?" Mr. Vampire snapped at the two other vampires as they seemed to fumble around in their pockets for what I'd assumed was the key. It was bizarre to see these two vampires, who were supposed to be deadly killers and very gracious, looking the very opposite of those things. I lent my head back again and closed my eyes as if I were bored of the whole situation as my mind went over the events of what was going on. Just what was Mr Vampire's plan? I had no idea, but I knew I would end up being reluctant to help him.

"Is it wise, Lucian? After all, she took out a lot of our vampires." One vampire asked a little hesitantly as they walked towards me. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his comment. Of course, I had; it had been a choice of life or death for not only myself but for the others who had looked after me and who had needed me.

"Is it wise?" Mr Vampire, now known as Lucian, asked the question in a mocking tone to the vampire who had asked it. "If I had known you'd doubt me, then I would have sent you to be killed by her. Of course, it is wise. She's weak, and even you could probably overpower her right now, but the best part is that without her silver dagger, she can't do any harm to anyone." He let out a mocking laugh.

"Are you sure?" I asked a little groggily, as I didn't open my eyes. I had hoped and prayed that he was going to make me fight if I spoke out of turn, so I didn't have to listen to the business he wished to discuss with me; however, I had a feeling it wasn't going to work in my favor either. He seemed as if he was set on me listening to him.

"If you want to kill them, then go right ahead; I'll actually be pretty impressed, if I'm honest, considering how weak you look." Lucian's tone sounded bored, as if he wasn't even going to argue it out with me or even the two vampires. Maybe this conversation wasn't going to be as bad as I'd figured it would be; however, I wasn't holding my breath. The two vampires hesitantly unchained my shackles, which made me laugh again mentally, as I was only a five-foot-five-small human who was pretty weak from the way I'd been kept and from the lack of decent actual food, yet they seemed hesitant of me.

As soon as the arm shackle was unlocked, my arm simply fell next to me; when my other arm was freed, it did the same. I honestly didn't have the energy to move from where I was. I did open my eyes in time to see Lucian move a chair from the pile of wood to the middle of the room. As he walked through the moonlight, I noticed how his hair looked like it was silver, and he seemed to be well dressed, as if he had been coming to a business meeting rather than to see a chained-up woman. That made me laugh a little again, which seemed to have gained his attention this time around.

"You two leave and wait in the car for me." Lucian shoved his hands into his black trousers pockets as the two vampires couldn't seem to get out of the room fast enough. He stood hovering around near the chair, but his eyes never left mine. I hadn't realized just how dark his eyes were until I really looked at him under the moonlight. I'd have loved to know what I looked like to him. A dirty mess with ripped clothes that smelled really bad. That's what I pictured myself looking like; I certainly knew I didn't look like a model or even like myself, considering I couldn't remember the last time I was allowed to shower or had managed to bathe.

"Did you come all dressed up for me, Lucian?" I looked at him with a small smile dancing across my lips.

"Actually, I was on the way to visit my brother and thought I'd come and visit you first to have a business discussion with you."

"Won't your brother and mistress be annoyed that you're late?" I moved my leg up close to my chest as I rested my arms on my knee, watching him. There had been so much I'd learned about Lucian, what made him tick, and what was going on in his life. I knew that his brother was due to marry in the winter; I guessed it was getting close with Autumn now being on the doorstep of the seasons, and I knew that Lucian had been secretly seeing his brother's fiancee and that they had been planning something, or at the very least Lucian had been planning something. I'd begun to wonder if this conversation was all part of something he was planning.

"My brother will not care what time I turn up; as for Helena, do not speak of her." The last part seemed to come out as a snarl, but I got the feeling he'd kept much of the anger he'd felt towards me from mentioning her inside of him. Wow, I really did have him over a barrel in the sense that he was keeping his anger in check towards me.

"So Lucian, you are a business person and you want something, and you seem to think I can provide that something for you, so let's talk." I wasn't in the mood to play any more games with him. I forced myself to get up despite how weak I actually felt, and I walked towards him.

"This business deal is a simple one, Miss Assassin; you want freedom away from this hell house and away from me. I see it in your eyes every single time I have come to see you, the way you're silently begging for death from me."

"I was beginning to think of this place as home. I was thinking about making a complaint to you tonight about that draughty window over there, and I was going to ask if it was possible for the window behind me to have a curtain up, as sometimes when I nap in the day..."

"ENOUGH!" He roared, and I couldn't help but grin at Lucian.

"I thought we were stating facts based on your comment. What do you want in return for my freedom?"

"I want my vampire brother dead." The comment caught me off guard a little, and I blinked a couple of times to let the words sink into my head. I folded my arms over my chest as my mind began to process everything. Lucian had thought I was an assassin; had that been why he'd wanted Liam, because he knew of Liam's past. I got up slowly and began to pace around slowly as I let the blood flow back into my legs again.

"Why?" I stopped and looked at him seriously. I don't know why I wanted to know the reason behind it, but I did. I guessed it was because if he wanted my help so much, he'd offer it to me.

"Why does it matter to you? Did it matter to you when you killed all those vampires, werewolves, and low demons that attacked?" Lucian tilted his head with a grin as he saw confusion wash over my face. Low Demons? What the hell was he talking about? I knew the wolves hadn't been normal wild wolves, but demons? "Did Liam not tell you what happened?" Lucian laughed as he went and sat in the chair as if he were bored of the whole conversation. "That bang that night... That was the seal between the human world—the one you live in right now and the demon world breaking. Demons and other nightmare monsters flooded into the world and began to hunt and kill humans for sport and payback for sealing them away in the first place."

I looked down at my hands as I began to realize just what had happened. I'd told Liam that I'd refused to kill humans and that I didn't want a part of it, and he made me his assistant, only killing those he'd decided to let me kill, but when the chance arose to throw me under the bus to learn to be a killer, he took it.

"That bas..."

"Just learned how much of a traitor Liam is," Lucian asked with a pleased grin. "He set you up for death. That number he gave you wasn't even his phone. He hadn't wanted to actually come and find you, Miss Assassin. So what's your story of why he double-crossed you?"

"Shut up." I couldn't help but answer as I looked at Lucian, full of hate and anger. I knew it was misdirected at him, as it was Liam I was angry with, but he'd also been the one who had kept me locked away for however long it had been, and now he was dropping all of this on me. Just who did he think he was?

"As you wish, how about this business deal?" He asked as he looked at his fingers.

"Fine," I muttered in anger. A piece of me had made an unconscious decision to actually go ahead and do what I'd been asked to do. After all, if his brother was anything like him, I'd make him pay for what Lucian had done to me and for what Liam had put me through. I wasn't going to let anyone push me around any more.

"Great. On the way over to my brother's house, we'll stop off and get you washed up and changed into something more clean, and on the way there, we'll discuss the plans."

"Plans?" I looked at Lucian again with no emotion on my face whatsoever. I should have seen this coming. Liam always had a plan for how things were going to go.

"Yes, you're going to have to gain his trust before the wedding, and then before the wedding begins, you're going to kill him." Lucian got up, dusted his hands off, and gestured to the door.

"I'll bring you your silver dagger just before the wedding, just so there's no double-crossing me. I've been bitten once by Liam before, and I shall not fall into that pit again." Lucian gestured towards the door for me to go; however, I hung back, still not fully happy. If he wanted my help in this matter, he'd play by my game rules.

"I want to know right now, one, what I am going against, and two, why you want this." I shifted my weight a little as my stomach rumbled in hunger, as normally someone would have been bringing me food and letting one hand out for me to eat.

Lucian laughed, shaking his head. "Humans are so annoying about wanting answers to see if they fall into their moral reasoning of why they should do the job. Is your freedom not a good enough reason to do this? Should I up the stakes right now for you?" He turned toward me as I saw darkness wash over him. "I am not playing your little game, Rosetta. Oh, I forget, you hate that name." He grinned coldly. "So unless you want me to unleash the full force of my anger on you, I suggest you just simply agree, shut your mouth, and leave out that door with me. We will go to a hotel and get you washed up, something to eat, and some new clothes. We need my brother to take the bait. You will then do what you have to do, and once it's done, you can walk away alive and grateful." Lucian gestured towards the door again for me to go ahead.

I really didn't want to make this deal with the devil, but there was no way out of it, so I walked out of the room. I heard Lucian laugh behind me, muttering about how he thought I'd see it his way. I waited at the top of the stairs to let him go first.

"Just think, when you kill my brother, you can take out your frustration of wanting to kill me on him." He laughed as he walked down the stairs. That was exactly my plan; I'd kill him, and when I got my freedom, I was seriously thinking about hunting Lucian down and killing him too. After all, I had nothing left to lose.