She shuddered.
“Exactly,” Dozan said.
“Don’t act like you were simply doing something altruistic,” Kerrigan said, taking a step away from him. “Everyone knows that you only act in your own self-interest. That you surround yourself with unique, magical people. I thought it was my visions that you coveted when I returned last year, but I should have known better.”
“I covet you,” he said baldly.
She laughed at him. “You want my powers. Nothing more. I’m just another instrument of the king of the Wastes.”
“Is that so bad?” he asked, closing the distance once more. His hand came up under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “Is it so bad to be wanted? For your powers, for exactly who you are, Kerrigan? I don’t want you to be anything else. You don’t have to change for me. You can be as brilliant as you are, right here, with me.”
His lips dipped down toward hers, but she wrenched back before he could finish. She was not going to fall helplessly into Dozan Rook’s arms. She didn’t want to play that game.
She slapped him across the face—hard. “Don’t you dare presume to kiss me.”
He grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I do love your fight.”
“You lied to me. You want to use me. You’re a scoundrel and an asshole.”
“I am what I am, Ker,” he whispered her name like a prayer, holding his hands out in front of him.
“I’m done,” she spat at him. “I’m just done. The fight is off.”
He straightened even further to his considerable height. He went from the supplicating man to the crime lord in the blink of an eye. “You can’t walk out on a deal with me.”
“Watch me!”
She yanked open the door to his rooms and flung them wide.
Dozan grabbed her wrist. “You’re making a huge mistake. No one double-crosses me without facing the consequences.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before you lied to me. I promise you that I am a much more formidable opponent than you want to take on,” she challenged him.
His eyes glittered with ferocity. A challenge. Oh, how he loved challenges.
“We’ll see then, won’t we?”
34
The Explosion
Isa
“You have got to be kidding me,” Isa growled as she burst into the home of her benefactor.
Her black mask was securely in place, and those she passed hastily scurried out of her way. She was a force today.
She thrust her hand out at the door, and it burst open with a jet of air. She didn’t often get angry enough to use her magic. Her greatest triumph was that she was skilled enough not to have to use it if she didn’t want to.
“Isa,” the man said, once again facing the window.
He wore a red velvet coat, long in the back, with a top hat. His pants were navy blue with a strip of velvet down the side of the leg. He looked ostentatious and ridiculous. A man who had money but no class.
“Tell me that she didn’t ruin the weapons deal with that Rahllins’ bitch,” she snarled.
“You were supposed to kill her,” he reminded her coolly, his voice frigid.
“And I would have if she hadn’t been working with that House of Shadows competitor. She never goes anywhere alone anymore.”
“I didn’t promise you an easy target.”
“Yeah, well, targeting the competitors would be beyond foolish, especially after what happened five years ago.”
He slowly turned around, and his eyes swept her. “You’re still mad that she got the better of you. I did warn you, she would be an adversary.”
Isa gritted her teeth. “Not her. Him.”
He waved his hand with a flourish. “No matter. I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.”
No, no, no. She needed that money. It would be enough to get her out of Kinkadia. Maybe not enough to set herself up well, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She’d learned that long ago.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“The deal is off, Isa,” he said frankly.
“The deal is not off. I can still get her. Plus, I helped with the weapons. Everything went fine on my end,” she spat at him.
“And then she ruined it. How did she even know it was happening?”
Isa said nothing. She couldn’t tell him that she’d lost a blade. That would damn her. If he told her father…
She shuddered. No, she couldn’t go down that route. Losing that blade was as sure as a death sentence.
“We were able to secure the weapons. I’ve moved them to a secure location, just to be sure. Since that idiotic woman had her in custody and she still managed to slip through our fingers.”
Isa wanted to be relieved. At least she wasn’t the only one who had tangled with Kerrigan and come out empty-handed. But regardless, it didn’t look good for her.
“Let me go after her one more time.”
“No, it’s too soon.”
Isa narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “I can do this.”
He let the tension stretch between them. She hated this moment. The time where she felt as if she had to beg for her chance. She had never failed before. Not like this. And she would prove herself once and for all. Then, she would claim that money and leave Kinkadia and her father and her life as an assassin far, far behind.
“Fine,” he said, a cool smile gracing his thin lips. “If I don’t end her first.”
35
The Weapons Training
Dawn came before she knew it. And strangely, the now six-mile run felt more invigorating than she remembered. She still didn’t exactly enjoy it, but by the end, she felt renewed, like she’d really accomplished something.
She downed the waterskin once they were back to the mountain. Her legs felt like jelly, and her heart was still racing.
“That was your fastest time,” Fordham said, taking a sip from his own waterskin.
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I think you’re ready for weapons.”
She straightened. “Seriously?”
“After what you did in Clare’s headquarters,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
She ducked her chin. They hadn’t talked about what had happened when they escaped that place. She didn’t know what to say. Well, mostly, she’d taken her anger about it out on Dozan.
“Are you ever going to tell me what that was?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “I don’t know what it was.”
“Our magic was dampened by whatever drug Clare had used, and somehow, you managed to knock out everyone in that house. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever done that before?”
She sighed. “Yes. Once before. I don’t know what it is. Some kind of energy blast? Some defense mechanism that my body produces when I’m in danger? I’m honestly not sure.”
“Were you in danger last time it happened?”
“I was… well, I almost died in the protests five years ago.”