“Remember make it simple, just hide somewhere he will be and then jump out and stab him.”
“Yes all-knowing assassin master Ky.” I nodded, plastering a look of extreme seriousness on my face.
“Stop screwing around, Elaine, this is important!” he hissed at me.
“Well I’m sorry if I can’t take you seriously when you told me that same thing an hour ago.”
“I just want to be sure you know what you’re doing.”
“And I do, Ky.” I told him, stopping him abruptly as he paced my bedroom by grabbing his arm and turning him to face me. “This is what Ash trained me for. I may not have a lot of experience with carrying through in the final act, but I know how to take a person down. Cody may be faster and stronger than me, but he’s also very predictable.”
Ky gave me a dubious look and I shrugged. “It’s true. He enjoys playing games with people, he likes to sneak up on them and stab them in the back.”
“And this reassures me how?” Ky asked incredulously.
I grinned at him. “I’m going to watch my back.”
Ky sighed, seeming pretty fed up with my joking attitude. I giggled slightly as a thought occurred to me and Ky raised an eyebrow at me.
“Sorry.” I told him quickly so he wouldn’t get upset with me again. “I was just thinking about how odd it is that you’re the serious one and I’m being all laid back and calm.”
“Because you used to be so serious all the time?” he questioned.
I nodded. “Yeah, you’ve heard Ava’s complaints about that. It feels freer somehow not taking everything so seriously, less stressful.”
Ky looked at my face blankly for a few seconds before he deadpanned, “In less then an hour you are going off to kill the most dangerous man in the world, and you’re telling me you don’t feel at all stressed? Now I’m really worried.”
I bit back another smile and instead reached out my hand hesitantly to cradle it against his cheek. He leaned slightly into the palm of my hand and brought up his hand to keep mine in place.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you more worried. I was kind of hoping it would do the opposite, actually.”
“I don’t think anything could do that right now.” Ky admitted, but he allowed a small smile to grace his face.
“Why don’t we talk about something else?” I suggested.
“Like what?” Ky asked.
“Well, you know pretty much everything about my life now, why don’t you tell me something about you?”
The smile on Ky’s face grew a bit more pronounced and he tugged on my arm slightly, drawing me closer to him so that I was leaning against his chest and he laid back down on the bed so I was cuddled close to him. I froze slightly, not sure how to take this action, but he rubbed my arm reassuringly when he felt me tense up and I relaxed against him.
“I was born in California but never really lived there, I grew up in Montana where my parents own a ranch.”
“That’s quite a change of scenery.” I remarked.
“My mother’s family lives in California.” he explained. “She worked for a time in modeling, actually, but quit when she fell in love with my father. She met him when her car broke down in Montana.”
“What was she doing there?” I asked, turning my head up slightly and resting my chin on his chest so I could see his face. His eyes twinkled slightly as they met mine.
YOU ARE READING
The Assassin's Shadow
Paranormal***Top 55 of Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write Contest*** Elaine Archer didn’t always know she was different, not until her accident in sixth grade. A fall that should have killed her left her with nothing, not even a scar to flaunt as proof o...
