Secrets of the Crown Assassins

21

XAVIER

It's quite astounding how idiotic Streeters are.

Dominic waited further down the driveway as Damien and I walked to the front door of the Streeter house. The moon shone down in the night, glowing from even inside the house's windows. I motioned to Damien who took out a few lock picks and got to work on the front door. After a few moments, the handle clicked.

He pushed the door open without a sound. We stepped into the dark house and shut it quietly behind us. From the white tiled floors and the open layout of the house, it was clear that the residents were middle class. Hushed voices came from the family room, though they gave no indication of knowing our presence here.

We slipped down the hallway, passing the living room and choosing to inspect the house for ourselves instead of questioning them right away. We entered the kitchen in which the lights were still on. The scent of sweet desserts drifted through the room and I stepped closer to the stove where the contents in a pot still sent up fumes despite the stove being off. Someone was just cooking. Tall glasses sat next to the pot, ready to be filled.

I stepped forward to check what was in the pot only to hear the crunching of glass under my shoe. I looked down to find one of the glasses on the ground shattered across the floor. I narrowed my eyes. It was possible they dropped the glass themselves, but then they would've cleaned it up by now. Perhaps they were in a hurry, but they were clearly home now and from the hushed tones they were speaking in, something disastrous just occurred.

The residents had to have been attacked, but the Governors of Indianapolis said they didn't interfere and came to us first with the information. So who attacked? I leaned forward and looked into the pot.

Inside was some freshly cooked hot chocolate.

I looked up at Damien whose face flashed from curious to hurt to annoyed.

"What did she do here?" he whispered.

I said nothing, only looking around the area to find clues to answer that very same question. She was here not long ago and had enough time to cook some hot chocolate. Most likely, the residents attempted to fight back when they spotted her and dropped the glass in the skirmish. And then she left and now they were speaking in the living room about what they were going to do since they were just visited by an assassin.

But what did she do in the middle? Why was she here? How did she find this place? And what has she been doing the past few months since graduation?

She was one of the very few people I'd never been able to track down. Indigo I knew had hidden in Arrow Livingston's old Streeter apartment until graduation in which she disappeared with Nydia after the funeral. She was only able to stay off the radar because of Nydia's skills and I never found the two again, even after searching vehemently. There were only two other people I'd never been able to find like that: Phoenix we found in the last week and the other I was sure was dead, though I never found a body.

So where the hell is she? Looking at Damien, I knew the question irked him as much as I.

I was still inspecting the kitchen for clues when my eyes landed on a door across from the hall which was propped open ever so slightly. I could make out the shape of a little kid in the doorway peeking out.

I looked over at Damien and tilted my head in the door's direction. He caught my message and looked at the door before rolling his eyes and walking over to the room.

When the child noticed Damien stepping towards the room, there was a small gasp as the door started to swing shut. However, Damien reached the door just in time to push it back open and reveal the little girl spying on us. She was carrying a half-empty glass of hot chocolate, the other half either in her stomach or spread across her cheeks in a messy array.