Page 42 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Twenty

I only had time for a quick check of the royal bedchambers before the Dragon King insisted that I attend him more intimately. I intended to get up once we were finished, but he was exceptionally randy and then cuddly. When I tried to slip away, Taroc clutched me tighter and told me to stay right where I was.

He wanted me to sleep with him. It was such a grand development, and I was so damn tired of sleeping on that pallet, that I just snuggled back into his arms. I almost forgot about the violinist and our meeting, but, thankfully, Taroc had a small clock on his bedside table, and its ticking reminded me. I glanced at it just before I fell asleep, noted it was a quarter to two, and jolted awake.

I climbed out of bed carefully. I may have been awake, but Taroc was not. Ren got up, though, leaving her warm cushion by the fire to nudge me.

“Watch over him while I'm gone,” I whispered to her.

She climbed up on the bed, turned in a circle three times, and settled into the warm spot I'd left.

With a soft snort, I got dressed and snuck out of the room. Beyond the royal suite, the castle was just settling down for the night, but there were still Dragons on patrol, ensuring the King's safety. I nodded to one as I passed him, on my out to the south garden. He barely lifted his chin, but it was something, and he didn't try to stop me or demand to know where I was going, just to be an asshole. That was an improvement.

The south garden was lit with lampposts, just as every section of the palace grounds were now. Still, there were many shadows to hide in, especially with the large trees that grew there. My hand dove into a pocket and withdrew a lightning glove. Slipping it on as I continued to scan the area, I felt a tingle of unease go up my spine. Damn it, I hadn't bothered to get the man's name.

“Violinist?” I whispered.

The fountain was up ahead, its water gurgling as if trying to calm me, but no one sat upon its wide, stone rim or even stood to the side of it. It had to be 2 a.m., or very close to it. I stretched my neck, rubbed my glove on my thigh to charge it, and took a seat on the basin's rim.

A footstep came from behind me, but I turned toward it too late. I had one second to see a shape loom up, and then everything went dark.

When I came to, my face was in the grass and the lightning in my glove had started to disperse. It was the latter that told me less than fifteen minutes had passed. That was how long it would have taken for full dispersion of lightning. With it just starting to leak away, it had probably been around five minutes.

“Fuck!” I lurched to my feet and started running. As I ran through the palace, I called to the knights on duty. “To the King! He's in danger!”

Men fell into step behind me, and I silently thanked the Gods that they didn't question me, just pulled their weapons and ran. By the time I reached the doors to the royal suite, I had a group of over fifteen knights with me, enough to make the knights on door duty straighten in shock.

“Open the fucking doors!” I screeched.

They yanked open the doors just in time for me to go barreling into the royal suite. The sound of a dog barking echoed down the hallway.

“Taroc!” I shouted as I burst into the bedroom.

I didn't bother to pull the cord for the lights. Despite the darkness, I could see Ren across the room, lunging for someone with her steel-tipped teeth. I launched myself in their direction. One of the knights who entered after me pulled the light cord, and I had to squint in the sudden glare but kept going. Taroc was getting out of bed, and I knew simply by the way his shoulders bunched that he intended to help Ren.

“Get the King to safety!” I shouted over my shoulder as I rubbed the glove on my leg to recharge it.

Behind me, I heard the King arguing with his knights.

“Damn you, get out!” I yelled at him as I looked back. “He's after you! Go now!”

Taroc cursed and allowed himself to be herded out the door.

A whimper whipped my head back around, and I finally got a good look at my replacement. He was an Argaiv, his wings folded but ready for flight. I couldn't see his face or hair due to the hood and mask he wore, but his eyes were such a pale blue that they were nearly colorless. That color wasn't common for his race, and I wouldn't have known he was an Argaiv if he'd thought to put away his wings. Despite that mistake, I knew he was good at his job.

I knew it because he held Ren in an elbow lock across her neck, lifting her to expose her belly. The knife in his other hand was already making its descent. Even as her capped teeth snapped at him, he'd gut her. A few minutes, maybe a little more, that's all it had taken for him to overpower a trained vanrussa. But Ren had done her job and given her master enough time to flee. This was her purpose. She'd been trained to sacrifice her life for his.

So why the fuck did I launch myself between that blade and her belly?

I'd wonder over it later. If I survived. At the moment, I was too busy breaking the Argaiv's hold on Ren and taking the blow meant for her. I couldn't hit him with my glove or it might kill Ren, and then I would have taken the wound for nothing. So, as the blade sank into my back, sliding into the tender spot just beside my spine, I flicked out my gloved hand, dispersing the lightning, and simultaneously went for the dagger on my belt with my bare hand. I couldn't hold back my scream as the Argaiv's blade severed important muscles, but even though the pain was mind-numbing, I had trained even harder than Ren, and my body knew what to do without my brain directing it.

With my gloved hand, I twisted the Argaiv's wrist, breaking it and his grip on the dog. With the other, I drove my knife into his chest. The man cried out and fell back, releasing his knife, which remained lodged in my back. Just as he stumbled onto the balcony, Ren's snapping teeth driving him back, the knights rushed forward to help.

Those fuckers had waited to see if he'd kill me first. Ren and me.

The Argaiv's creepy eyes widened above his mask as he fell backward over the railing. Ren started to give chase but with the last of my strength, I grabbed the scruff of her neck and fell, face forward onto her. The last thing I saw was the knights rushing past me as the assassin flew away.

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