Page 10 of Daddies' Little Assassin

She lunged at me, but before she could close the distance, Karel stepped in. He was like a force of nature, his blade flashing through the air in one smooth, deadly motion. Sapphire barely had time to react before the blade sliced clean through her neck.

Her head hit the floor with a sickening thud, her body collapsing in a heap beside it. The glow in her eyes faded, leaving nothing but a lifeless husk.

For a moment, there was only silence, the weight of what had just happened settling over us. I stood frozen, staring down atthe body of the succubus who'd wreaked so much havoc, the adrenaline still coursing through me.

"We need to take care of the escort," Henry's voice broke the silence, calm but firm. He was already kneeling by the couch, checking the woman's pulse.

Lang joined him, his expression grim as he examined the victim. "She's weak, but will survive."

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Relief flooded through me, but it was tempered by the weight of what had just happened. I'd killed before, plenty of times, but this felt different. This time I didn't do it alone.

Karel wiped his blade clean, sheathing it with a nod of approval. "You did good, Little bunny."

I swallowed, the adrenaline fading as exhaustion crept in.

"Thanks... but you did most of the work."

Henry gave me a soft smile, his hand resting on my shoulder. "We're a team now. You don't have to do this alone anymore."

I blinked up at them, the truth of those words settling deep inside me. I wasn't alone. For the first time in my life, I had someone with me, someone I could rely on. And that thought, more than anything else, gave me strength.

Chapter seven

The Aftermath

The aftermath of the fight left a strange quiet in the room, the energy I'd felt before draining away along with Sapphire's lifeless body. I leaned against the wall, my breath coming in shallow bursts as I tried to process what had just happened.

"You okay?" Karel's voice was gruff, but there was a softness behind it that pulled me from my spiralling thoughts. His blue eyes searched mine, concern lacing his features.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, just... It feels different. I'm not used to this."

Henry knelt next to the unconscious escort on the couch. "We'll need to get her somewhere safe." His rainbow-coloured tattoos shifted as he moved, the ink catching the dim light. "She's lucky we got here in time."

"Luck," Lang mused, stepping closer, his black hair falling into his eyes. His voice was soft but sharp as a blade, each wordprecise. "Seems like we're rewriting the script on that, aren’t we?"

I gave a small smile, grateful for the banter, even if it was brief. "Maybe. I guess I still have a little of my Lucky Foot left."

Karel chuckled, but there was something deeper behind his laugh. Something protective. "We'll make sure you don't have to rely on that anymore."

Karel moved around the penthouse with an ease that spoke to his experience. There was no hesitation in the way he checked Sapphire's body, ensuring she was truly dead, before turning his attention to the room. He was methodical, almost calculating, and I couldn't help but feel like I was seeing a different side of him.

He wasn't just the easygoing Kraken shifter who knew how to race through the streets. There was a depth to him, a coldness when it came to necessary violence that excited me.

"Are you always this thorough?" I asked, trying to keep the mood light as I watched him pull a phone from Sapphire's belongings.

His eyes flicked to mine, a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. "I don't like leaving loose ends. And this isn't my first rodeo, Little Fluff."

I swallowed, feeling a strange warmth at his words. I've always wanted to be someone’s Little Something. And now in one night, I belong to two people. I’m someone’s Little Bunny and Little Fluff. I couldn't wait to find out what my third... mate would like to call me.

"Anything interesting?" Lang asked, moving to Karel's side to inspect the phone. His eyes gleamed in the low light, sharp and calculating.

Karel scrolled through the phone, his fingers moving deftly over the screen. "Nothing concrete. There's a list of recent calls and a couple of messages that seem to be in code. I'll needtime to decrypt them, but I've got a feeling there's more to our succubus than meets the eyes."

I bit my lip, tension settling back into my shoulders.

Of course, there was more to it. It wouldn't just be a simple job, my first time out for the Guild.

A faint moan from the couch snapped our attention back to the woman. She was starting to stir, her face still pale, but there was colour returning to her cheeks. Sapphire had nearly drained her to death, so Henry must have used some more of his magic angel woo-woo to heal her.

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