Page 72 of Nocturne

Eero doesn’t even flinch.

He grabs Cody by the back of the neck and slams his face down on the desk, over and over, until Cody’s face is a mangled mess. Burke cries out and tries to protest, but nobody stops Eero. When he’s finished, Cody is a pulp, and Eero steps back with satisfaction.

There is a reason why people stay the fuck away from my enforcer. He is always one second away from unleashing his bloodlust. And I have no qualms to control that beast, not when I have been wanting to do the same.

“Take care of it,” I say, dismissing the bleeding pile that was Cody.

He’s dragged out of the room along with complaining Burke. Nico hands me the file he’s brought, and I focus on the contents.

“Five kills in two weeks. That seems too many. For someone in hiding,” he muses out loud.

“They have been here for more than two weeks,” I say as I thumb the paper.

The execution of the kills was precise. Clean. Showing the expertise of the killer. Either a clean slit of the neck or a bullet to the forehead. Nothing too different to draw any attention.Happened at non-decrepit places, in neighbourhoods where next to no crime could be found. The killers must have followed them at least for a week to establish a schedule before the kill.

“Who placed the bounty?”

“Anonymous, as usual. It was an open bounty. The interesting thing is that the price wasn’t high. Nowhere near the level of the top Cruxis assassin,” Nico answers as he goes to lean on the wall beside the table.

“They must have issues with the funding. Maybe they are unable to access their bank accounts,” Iblis thinks out loud.

“Who would block them? Cruxis?” Nico frowns.

I shake my head once, and the other two snap their attention to me.

“The organisation wouldn’t let someone as important as them go. They will want them back, but only after they are done with whatever shit that they want to do.” I explain.

Iko explained how the organisation worked. If one thought I or the Dark Accord members had no qualms about ethics or morality, Cruxis takes it to a whole new level.

The only things they care about are their anonymity and the bounty prizes. So far, these assassins aren’t a threat to any of them. They would want them back as soon as possible. They are their prized assets. They wouldn’t waste the manpower and training go to a waste. So they wouldn’t hinder their path, even at the cost of the rift between Cruxis and us.

“They are broke. They must be. Why else take random contracts?” Iblis questions.

“Or they want us to think so,”

I recall the mail from Cruxis.

The warning to deal with extreme intelligence. If I knew that they were in my territory, they would’ve also known that I was on to them. They must have information on me as well, something much easier to get with the position I hold. Meanwhile, they remain elusive. Ghosts that I’m to chase.

“Why?” Nico frowns.

Fuck if I know. There is no pattern. Other than the kills happening at random-

My focus snaps to the file. I reopen it and skim through the information again. Out of five, three of them were in random states, but the other two were in Walius. One at the location of Ara’s previous apartment and the other at a neighbourhood close to her university.

I lean back, mulling over the information. I don’t believe in coincidences, and I’m not above accepting that my fixation on Ara might be making me see things that aren’t there.

I could be seeing patterns that I want to see so that I have more reasons to follow her and know more about her. I need to accept that both these neighbourhoods are also homes for hundreds of others, and there is no reason why any of this would connect back to her. I shake my head and turn to pin both Nico and Iblis with a serious look.

“They know that we’re searching for them,”

“They’re trying to throw us off their trails,” Nico nods.

“According to the report, we could send more men to the city of their last kill. But if this is an upstage, they could be anywhere,” Iblis frowns.

“They are here. In Walius or someplace close by,” I conclude.

They must be watching me.

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