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“I’m saying this is our last job.”
Her mind spun at the same time that a sense of betrayal settled in her chest. This was to be the legacy she inherited. Odette had trained for this life, and knew how to do little else. She was to lead the assassins once her mother retired. But not this soon. And after everything her mother had made her do… of the blood already on Odette’s hands…
She glared at the older woman as her ears and cheeks began to warm with anger. “And if I don’t want this to be my last job?” she spit out as she clenched her jaw, nearly grinding her teeth.
“This life is dangerous. The longer I do it, the more I see it is only a matter of time before one of us gets caught or killed and… forgive me for being a mother for a moment, but I’ve realized these last four months that I want better for you.”
Odette considered her mother’s words. Was she rethinking killing the sorcerer’s family? Well, she couldn’t. Odette rubbed her wrist. Terna herself had seen to it personally that this job would be completed.
“And what about the others? Are we to abandon them like they mean nothing to us?” Odette asked.
“I’ll turn over leadership of the assassins to Elna. I will tell her tonight. After the job is finished.”
Odette stepped forward, initiating a fighting stance, preparing to battle her mother. “I’m supposed to lead.”
“You are too inexperienced.”
“You can’t just discard everything you’ve raised me to be. This is my life.”
Sadness glistened in her mother’s eyes. “Fine, Odette. I’ll leave the decision up to you. But after this job, I am leaving. You can come with me, or you can stay under Elna.”
She couldn’t believe this. Elna was supposed to become Odette’s second in command, although she couldn’t stand the woman.
Now she’d replace Odette.
She turned her back on her mother. “Let’s get this over with.”
Terna sighed and reached for the little brass bell sitting on the ornate table next to her chair. She rang it as if calling the maid for tea.
Instead, Yessly and five other women entered the room, dressed in the same ebony clothes as Odette. Terna reached into her pocket and drew out a white bean. Odette’s eyebrows raised. Only certain sorcerers had access to portal beans. Where did she getthat?
Terna threw the bean and a huge circular entrance opened wide where the fireplace had once sat. On the other side, surrounded by the deep lushness of the forest, stood a vast estate protected by an immense wrought-iron gate that was twisted in the design of a large lion head.
Terna smiled at the other women and lifted her mask over her face, the red hawk symbol marking her as the killer she was. “Sisters, it is time.”
They crossed through the portal and found places to hide among the trees and plants. The smell of wet grass and soil filled Odette’s nostrils. She huddled in the foliage along with the seven other women, waiting for their sign to come from the front gate.
A flashing light winked from the lantern through the bars.
“There’s Lina’s signal,” her mother said. “Come.”
They crept out of the trees and across the small space to the gate. The long grasses whispered a deep shushing noise as Odette and the other women slunk through them. Yessly snuck up next to Odette’s mother and gave her a bottle. She drank from it and then Yessly waited as each one of them passed, offering the same brew to each woman. When Odette reached her, she accepted the bottle and took a sip, forcing down the sour elixir. The potion would let them slip through any protective spells set on the premises. But that didn’t make this mission any less treacherous, for if the sorcerer had time to use his magic, they all would be in danger. That was why Terna had taken upon herself the responsibility of killing the sorcerer father.
They moved as a perfectly trained unit. Each person had a task for this evening. None were dispensable. Odette ran over each role in her mind. She and her mother would take the parents. Elna and Yessly were assigned to take out the daughter. Lina, the youngest, would let them in and then wait at the gate, while two others patrolled the perimeter to make sure their escape was clear. The last two women would keep a look out inside the house and monitor the separate servants’ quarters.
The gate cracked open, splitting the gaping jaws of the lion in half. Lina stood there. Her auburn hair and freckles marked her as Yessly’s younger sister. At seventeen, this was also her first job. She wasn’t assigned any assassination duties like Odette or some of the others. Over the past four months, she’d worked in the home, gathering the information they needed. The information that would lead to their success this evening.
Lina twisted her hands as she gazed at Terna. “We have a problem.” Her voice trembled when she spoke. “The sorcerer’s son arrived barely an hour ago. He’s staying the night.”
Odette’s mother frowned. “Tell me about the son.”
“He’s a man in his mid-twenties, named Rothbart. He’s already skilled in magic, and set to take the position of High Sorcerer to Her Majesty after his father,” Lina said.
Elna pushed her way to the front. “Let me take him. He’s much too dangerous to be left alone.”
“Another sorcerer makes this job even more perilous.” Her mother pressed her lips. “Odette and Elna will take care of the son. Yessly and Lina, the daughter. Reyna, you will help me with the parents.” She nodded to a stocky, dark-haired woman near the rear of the group. “Everyone else keeps their same roles.”
Elna and Odette began to protest at the same time, but Terna held up a hand, signaling the conversation over. “I have spoken. You have your assignments. Let’s go.”
