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My heart is aching and begging for Azron’s comforting presence. Alas, how does a girl convince herself that being with a man whose job is to hunt her down is the right way to live?
I know already that Azron has no clue I’m the one he’s after, but the knowledge alone that he’s after me is enough to deter me from it all. It only hurts more to think about what he might be going through, for me to disappear from his life without explanation.
Part of me wants to get him alone and divulge everything, not so he can bring me to justice, but so he can at the very least know the reason why I had to break his heart. He deserves that much, and it pains me not to be able to give that closure to him.
“Pull yourself together,” I tell myself, dashing the tears away. “I need to do this, for me and my mother. It’s far more important right now than some man.”
I do my best to relegate Azron to the chasms of my mind as I clean myself up. After taking a long, meditative bath, I suit up once more in my robes. I pick up my dagger, feeling the hunger for revenge strike me like I’m suffering from famine.
“No exceptions this time,” I mutter. “Tonight, Zephon will be mine. This blade will taste his blood tonight.”
I look at my reflection in the glimmer of my blade. The sight of me in my xaphan hunting gear reminds me of the monster I am when I’m in this mindset, only disgusting me further when I remember I’m the one that Azron wants to love.
“He deserves better than me anyway,” I say in an effort to reassure myself, failing as I sheathe my blade.
Once I am ready, I climb out my window and make my way to the nightlife district, taking the same route as before. Soon, I have my eyes on Zephon as he takes his usual route, passing by the bar.
Recalling his plan to meet an informant in a quiet place, I keep my weapons sheathed as I tail him through the city, hopping from rooftop to rooftop as I keep up with him.
Several times I have the perfect opportunity to descend on him and take his life, but am deterred by the amount of people around.
Eventually, we reach the so-called quieter area of the city. The buildings here are much smaller in height, meaning I could easily be spotted should I stay atop the roofs. I decide to jump down to ground level, emerging onto the streets from an alleyway.
There are fewer people here, meaning I’ll attract far less attention and prying eyes. I trail Zephon, being mindful not to get too close to the point where he’ll see me but at a distance where I can still track his movements.
As he progresses towards his destination, he seemingly becomes far more attentive to his surroundings, patting his pockets and casting wary glances all around him.
I pull my hood up and keep my head down. As I walk, I move around strategically so that I have a hiding place to linger behind whenever Zephon stops to take a look over his shoulder.
I make use of small groups passing by me, walking behind them to blend in as I continue trailing the xaphan. He takes a turn down a different street and I follow suit.
As I come around the corner, I spot him stopped outside a building just up ahead. With him now is another xaphan, though this one seems to be of lesser status.
Could this be his informant? What would a lower-ranking member know that he doesn't? I ought to see what they’re talking about anyway.
I lean myself against a nearby wall and turn my back to them, eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Any suspicious activity to report in this area?” asks Zephon.
“Nothing to report, sir.”
“How surprising,” sneers Zephon, sounding disgusted. “I’d have thought a poorer region of Sarziroch would have been a playground for a serial killer. Keep watch and send word to the embassy of anything suspicious.”
“Will do, sir.”
After they part, I wait a minute before continuing my tailing of him. Zephon continues on through a few different streets and soon meets another xaphan.
“How is the progress with the investigation?” asks his subordinate.
“Slow,” growls Zephon. “The soz’garoth they assigned to the case, Azron, isn’t of much use.”
The mere mention of Azron throws me off of my focus. I’m reminded of the brief love we got to share, one that I do not deserve to have forever. I glance down at my hands, knowing they belong to a crazed woman who has killed and will kill again tonight.
Clenching them, I look back up at Zephon, who continues on his way.
He should be saying his goodbyes to all of his subordinates. After tonight, he will never be heard from again.
I’m growing impatient with all of these stops that Zephon is taking. All that he’s achieving is buying himself a few extra minutes of life, but it’s pointless. He’s going to get what’s inevitably coming to him, a comforting thought for me that keeps my stability in check.
