Secrets of the Crown Assassins

27

INDIGO

I looked down at the street far below as the wind wisped my hair, the sun bracing my cheeks. A bird swooped by and I smiled. It had been such a long time since I felt free, as if I would float away in the wind.

In just an hour, the city morphed. The previously empty streets were bustling, the dreary clouds parting for the bright sun. I had to be careful not to cast a shadow.

The Ravens plan was simple. They would navigate my mother through the streets and onto one of the underground trains. From there, they would carry her across the nation to wherever they needed her to be. The mercenary they hired would work as security, watching over them from the moment they stepped out of a stolen Assassin pod to the train.

I still didn't know why they would detour all the way south from Cressida to go through Orleans. There were times when I myself thought we were too close to the Cárcel del Muro, and we were barely on the Assassin's radar, as far as I knew. The Ravens were taking a risk by passing straight past it while being one of the most wanted people in the nation. Assassins would be walking out of the prison day and night. Someone could easily recognize them or my mother.

My mother.

It was strange to be thinking of her again as someone still living. I only ever thought of her in my nightmares, a shadow haunting the memories of the past, not the present. But here she was, still in the center of the massive game of murder and lies. And, if we succeeded, I was about to thrust myself right back in with her.

The clock tower struck twelve and bells chimed throughout the city.

Here we go.

The Ravens would be unloading her out of the pod now and, eventually, passing through this street. Cree, who's posted two blocks away, will throw up red confetti into the air when they're beginning to arrive. My job was to take care of the mercenary guarding them. Wolf, who was somewhere further down the street selling cakes, would accidentally crash into Trevor, distracting him while slipping a note to Trysha.

If Trysha was truly on our side, she would follow our instructions and lead them into a small alley, away from the attention of the masses, and Nydia would take care of the rest. If not, things would start to get a little messy.

It didn't take long for red confetti to burst into the air from another roof. The people below laughed and clapped, writing it off as another spout of celebration for the Blood Battles, despite it not being the winning team's colors.

I waited before moving from my perch, watching the roof for any further signals. After a pause, two consecutive blasts shot into the air.

The mercenary isn't on Cree's side.

The mercenary was on my side of the road, which meant I didn't have to cross the street, but I still needed to find him. Looking down the street, I found no silhouettes moving across the roofs. He must be slipping through the buildings.

I crouched down and grabbed the edge of the roof before lowering myself into the open window I crawled out through. The window led to a dark and warm stairwell. I sighed as I crouched on the windowsill and pressed my back against the wall, doing my best to blend into the shadows.

The window I sat upon opened to the street, but the mercenary wouldn't be coming through there. He would be jumping from one building's windows to another, following the Ravens below. Due to my position at the corner of the building, I could expect him to crawl through the window adjacent to mine.

I shut my window, allowing the tinted glass to block out the light and cover my position. I would allow the mercenary to slip into the stairwell and then render him unconscious. I squinted through the distant window, waiting.