The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer
Chapter 45 – The Meet Up
(Caspien)
Cali went ahead of us in a car driven by one of our lead trainers chosen by Griffen personally.
I didn’t trust this guy, this John. But then again, I didn’t trust the Silent a*s*sa*s*sin either.
He wasn’t dumb enough to go anywhere without backup. Even though he got his title, titles, for a reason, even an a*s*sa*s*sin king couldn’t go himself against that many trained warriors alone. There were a lot of people that wanted him dead. Other a*s*sa*s*sins, family members of those he has killed or have been killed in his name, the long list of those he wronged to get to this position, and me.
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I was the one he should fear.
The difference was that many weren’t that stupid to even try. But I wasn’t stupid. I knew exactly who I was facing, and I was ready for it. I let the rage that I had carefully tucked away come to the surface. One thought about what could have happened to Emmett and Atlas pushed forward, demanding blood.
Easy, we will get blood, all of it. I had to reign him in just a bit.
Muffled screaming came from behind me.
“Can you keep her quiet, please?” I growled, “I’m trying to focus.”
“On what?” Griffen asked, sounding annoyed, “She’s already gagged,”
I looked behind us at the woman sitting bound in silver next to Griffen. He had a silver knife pointed to her throat, and even though her mouth was taped shut, she was still screaming, or what I thought might be a scream, she could have been trying to talk.
“Are you sure?” I asked Griffen again, but I already knew the answer.
This woman changed even in the past few minutes as we drove closer to the city’s edge. Besides, I doubted there would be many old ladies around that establishment.
I couldn’t put my finger on the change, but there was a shift. Her wrinkles seemed to lessen, or maybe her eyes were sharper.
Her eyes turned to slits at my gaze, and she glared at me but thankfully stopped struggling.
Griffen said he grabbed her outside, or one of our men did. A very straightforward operation despite the messiness and uncertainty of it all.
The thing about these kinds of people was that they had one motivator, well, two. Money was first, then power, and usually, those two things weren’t mutually exclusive.
Operating without a moral code turned people into monsters, thankfully for us, monsters that could be bought. Not all a*s*sa*s*sins were like that, though. Ezra, who came to me, seemed to want to establish a different life for himself. I knew others who only took jobs against people that could be proven guilty on some level or another.
But the types that were a*s*sociated with The Silent a*s*sa*s*sin weren’t those kinds, and for once I was happy about it.
I didn’t want to know how much Griffen’s men paid to get the information we needed, and I didn’t ask. I knew it was a small fortune to risk the wrath of the a*s*sa*s*sin king himself, but I would pay it ten times over without blinking if it helped us even get a chance of figuring out who tried to hurt my son.
Cali texted my burner phone with the coordinates, and I sent them to Holden and our team behind us. We had a loose plan. Cali first, then Griffen and I with the hostage. He hopefully cared about this woman enough to talk, or at least enough to throw him off guard. Holden would be behind once we a*s*sessed the situation and would stay in mindlink reach with a team. Something he vehemently insisted against. He wanted to be the first to arrive after Cali, but I couldn’t have him ruining this because of his protectiveness. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Cali, no one would, but I knew if it were my mate there, I wouldn’t be able to think straight, and we had one chance.
I told our driver the coordinates. He put it in a handheld GPS that looked like a brick. We weren’t taking any chances of having the coordinates somehow be tracked. Nothing was connected to the internet, nothing that could be traced.
It wasn’t that far from here, probably some innate clearing that was seemingly randomly chosen.
I didn’t like going in blind, and we were.
Cali couldn’t mindlink or risk a text to us when she got there. I promised her five minutes before we showed up, but that was more than I wanted.
We had no signal for danger, not one she could give us anyway. I had an uneasy feeling about all this. I wasn’t worried about myself. I wasn’t sure if it was c*oc*kiness or confidence, but I didn’t care. I was worried that we wouldn’t get him, that he would escape, and then I had to deal with this fear for longer. Fear of losing someone I didn’t know I had the capacity to care so deeply for.
It was a feeling I was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with.
Fear.
(Cali)
I indicated to the driver to stop. We were close, and I told him I would show up alone. At least that part of the plan I was sticking to.
I slid my sunglasses up, but my hair protested and pushed them back down. I grunted, ripping them off, ignoring the pain of the hair that came out with them, and shoved them in my pocket. The afternoon sun gave way to clouds, and I appreciated the break from the sweltering heat. I was sweating enough internally as it was.
I eased out of the car and nodded to the driver, who pulled off. Even though I knew he wouldn’t be far, my stomach did little flips. I was left on the side of a road with a thin layer of dirt covering it. We weren’t far from the city, but this seemed isolated. The city loomed in the distance, and I had never felt further from it.
I was alone.
What the f*uc*k was I thinking?
I shoved that thought aside. It would do nothing for me. Not now that I had already made my decision, a decision I would choose over again without question.
I settled into my cool, confident facade. One that was a second skin to me now. Even if I didn’t feel calm and collected, I knew full well I could act it, and that others would believe me.
I walked towards the dot on this ma*s*sive GPS that looked like something straight from the army two decades ago. It indicated that I was close, but I couldn’t exactly tell how close. A green dot was pulsing, and I stepped toward it. It moved slightly, barely at all.
I looked up and saw nothing as out of the ordinary as I moved through the trees. I focused on my feet, stepping over some fallen twigs and underbrush.
A few steps later, I stumbled into a clearing. I was so focused on what was below me I didn’t see it coming between the condensed trees. I grabbed a tree for balance and took a brief moment to compose myself, checking the GPS. I was on the green dot now.
John, or whoever he really was, was standing in the middle of the clearing. No hood this time. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and black jeans. He looked so normal; it was jarring.
It threw me off, but I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting. But him in a full cloak and swords strapped across his back made more sense to me than him in jeans looking so casual.
A light wind picked up, and his black hair ruffled, moving across his face. Besides that, he was eerily still, statuesque.
I paused, a*s*sessing my surroundings, something I did not do at our first encounter. My heartbeat thankfully evened, and I took a few steps into the clearing.
I couldn’t sense anything out of place, but everything I sensed still felt new in this new form; new body, upgraded body, whatever. I could smell him faintly, the smell that I now knew to be werewolf.
Griffen gave me a myriad of quick tips. The basis of what other species smell like, the difference in sound between an animal snapping a twig and one made by a man, the subtle changes in someone’s face when you caught them off guard, and they had to lie.
Holden cut him off and told him he wasn’t helping and just to trust my instincts.
Both of their advice was vague, and neither was particularly helpful.
I took another step, keeping my eyes on the man. I didn’t want to look untrustworthy or nervous, but I kept my senses open, whatever that meant.
I stopped, still fifteen feet from him, and held his stare. I didn’t want to make the first move. One side of his face tugged up in a slight smile; his gray eyes raked over me, appraising me, his first movement.
“I wasn’t sure if you would show,” His voice was smokey; it seemed to come to me on the wind.
“I told you I would,” I found my voice, thankfully hard and confident; it didn’t waver with my nerves.
“I don’t trust people.”
I snorted, crossing my arms; that was an understatement.
“So, now I’m here,” He opened his arms to the bare field.
“You said you would bring proof,” I quirked up an eyebrow, tilting my head, “I don’t see anything besides yourself.”
“You don’t believe me,” A whisper of a frown crossed his beautifully marred face.
“I asked for someone, and magically you showed up saying you were him. At a place, he was not known to frequent and at a place that was supposed to be the first step in even getting a deal with him, let alone meet him.”
He sucked in air between his teeth. I wouldn’t have noticed it when I was a human.
“I got your number,”
“Obviously,” I looked him over, “But from a woman who didn’t seem to like or trust me.” Both the sides of his lips tugged up at the mention of her. Interesting.
He looked behind me, and I tensed. I was worried Caspien was here too soon. S*hi*t, he only gave me five minutes, but I didn’t know how much I could a*s*sess in that amount of time. I didn’t know much a*s*sa*s*sin lingo and wasn’t sure how much more I could fake.
“This job of yours,” He took a step to the side, not towards me. Then he took another.
I followed his movements, mirroring them, “Are you trying to circle me? Because no,” I stopped pinning him with a stare, and he stopped too. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to move me, but I didn’t like it.
“Smart girl.”
“Gross, don’t,” That flared my anger, and my fists clenched against my will. He looked down at my hands, a flicker of something crossed his face so fast I couldn’t figure it out.
“You have a past?”
“Who the f*uc*k doesn’t?” I scoffed, trying to reign in the anger, but I couldn’t help the edge of it that came out in my words.
“Fair point, but there’s a difference between a past and a past,” He tilted his head, studying my face, but I kept it impassive, cool, and unchanging.
“Poetic,”
“I usually deal with the latter; most of my business actually deals with them,” he went on, shrugging lightly.
“That’s why I’m here,” I tried to reign in the conversation, back to something pretend, something not so real.
“Jealous ex?”
“Something like that,” I tried a smile, but it didn’t work, “It’s not your job to care about the details, is it? Or do you get off on a tragic backstory?” Half of his face pulled up, and he stepped toward me. I fought to keep myself calm.
“I do love a story,” He locked his gray eyes on mine, “But I have to admit I’m intrigued to see why you’re actually here. You say you work for yourself, have jobs lined up for me if I pull this off, but yet,” He paused his brows scrunched a bit, “But yet, I don’t know anything about you. I am a very busy man, you see.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I jutted my chin a bit, not enough to seem petulant but enough to hold my own.
“I’m not dying for contracts, I don’t need to, nor do I take every one that comes my way. I don’t need you, but it seems you need me.”
Now it was my turn to smile, “As I told that woman, I know you’re the best; if you are who you say you are, that is,” I gave him a look, “However, others can fulfill my needs.” I shrugged, “So I don’t need you either, and I never insinuated that you did. This is to decide if this is mutually beneficial.”
His eyes squinted slightly, and he nodded once, bringing a finger to his chin, “Where do we go from here?”
“I was hoping you were in the position to tell me.”
“You requested the meeting.” He parried.
“I did, but this is your expertise.” I motioned toward him, keeping up a partial smile.
He nodded once, “Tell me who the hit is, and it will happen,”
“When?” I asked.
“Do you have a timeframe in mind?”
“How long does it take?”
“Depends on the hit.” His head tilted slightly, but his gray eyes stayed on mine.
The hit, I mulled that over. It made a person seem so one-dimensional, but I guess it might make it easier to justify.
I nodded, “Do you have any people you won’t..?” I trailed off, not knowing the right word. Murder, Kill, all felt too harsh for his cryptic conversation.
“No,” he replied too soon, any inflection gone from his voice.
The blood in my veins seemed to cool, a strange feeling. Icy resolve settled through me, quelling the anger that had been flaring since I got here.
I thought of all the innocent lives taken. For what? Money?
I thought or wanted to think that everyone could be redeemed, but I remembered why I was here and what this was all for.
One life to save so many others. That must mean something, must add a coin or whatever to my morale scale.
“You don’t like that,” He commented, his lips set in a line.
“I’ve offended you?” I laughed once without thinking.
“I don’t think anything or anyone could at this point,” he admitted, his voice devoid of emotion, “But I would like to work with you.” He added a bit more playful.
“Agreeing without talking payment?” I quirked an eyebrow.
Where was Caspien?
“You said money isn’t a problem.” he countered.
“It isn’t.” I took a deep breath, “I’ll give you the name. How much do you want up front?”
“Let me ask you something,” I held my breath, his gaze changed, and I couldn’t tell exactly why “Who followed you?”