Secrets of the Crown Assassins

37

INDIGO

The base was in utter chaos. Again.

I looked down at the Rebels multiple floors below me. A few were shouting for my death, unaware that I was watching them from above. Or perhaps they were well aware.

While the thought stung, a greater part of me was much more unbothered. So what if they don't love me? I have ones who do, and I knew who they were now.

Still, it hurt that they couldn't see me as more than an Assassin. But that's not who I am anymore.

Right?

My thoughts were broken as Cree ran down the hall, though my painting of the white rose stayed in my mind, nagging.

"You're right," he said as he passed me, walking into Wolf's office. "Nydia's missing."

Shit.

Where could she have gone?

I followed him into Wolf's room, taking in the neat stacks, color-coordinated files, labels, and perfectly positioned stationary. It was clear upon reading the labels that one side of the room was dedicated not only to his bakery but a slew of other businesses. All of them were businesses no one would care to investigate, like a toy manufacturing company. How did he keep so many of these a secret? And just how much money did he earn?

Wolf was flipping through the files so fast that papers slipped out of them. I caught brief glimpses of people's names and photos.

"I found this in a hallway," Cree said and placed a little glass pendant with two dolphins swimming side-by-side—one blue, the other purple. "I searched the entire area. There was nothing else there besides rats."

Wolf paused, looking at the glass dolphins.

"She wouldn't leave it behind on purpose." He resumed flipping through the files. "The person behind the disappearance of Eveleen and Nydia has to be the Raven mole. But who is it?"

"If someone kidnapped my mother and Nydia, they had to have left the building to do so," I said. "Unless there's some secret hiding space."

"All possible hiding spots are clear," Cree said, then added, "I think."

"So who left?"

"That's the million dollar question." Wolf fell back into his chair. "There were no reports of anyone leaving and no one's been reported missing besides Nydia."

"Well, it couldn't have been a ghost," I said.

Wolf shook his head. "It's possible the Raven mole kidnapped the two and passed them on to other Ravens outside of the base, along with any valuable information."

"So who could've snuck out of the base with two trained Assassins?" I asked.

"And," Cree added, "kidnapping Eveleen makes sense. But why Nydia? What do they want?"

"Maybe Nydia wasn't part of the plan," Wolf thought. "Nydia always snooped around. Maybe she figured out who the mole was and they took her because of it."

"But why not just kill her, like they did with the first murder?" I asked. "Why go through all the trouble of planning a kidnapping and sneaking another person out?"

Wolf's Tab pinged and he opened it, skimming the lines.

"They could've found her useful," Cree said. "Nydia is pretty well known in the Rebels and high up amongst the Assassins."

"Or maybe," Wolf said slowly, "they already had plans to kidnap someone else. Maybe she interfered with that plan and they took her instead."

His grey eyes bore into mine and it dawned on me.

"Me," I whispered.

He nodded and flipped his Tab towards us. "The spies I have in the Golden Palace sent me this information just now."

I raised an eyebrow. I didn't realize he had spies in the Golden Palace. Cree and I skimmed it over as he continued.

"They believe that you were kidnapped and taken to the Raven headquarters, which they think is the Willis Tower in Chicago. The Crown Heirs are about to infiltrate the Willis Tower personally and bring you back."

"The Crown Heirs?" Cree asked. "Alone?"

Wolf nodded.

"Isn't that risky? Sending the heirs into such an important fight?"

"They would be willing to take that risk to keep my heritage quiet," I said. "Besides, they can take care of themselves. Unfortunately."

"If my spy is right, your mother and Nydia must be taken to the Raven base as well," Wolf said. "If the Assassins get to either of them first, they'll torture whoever they found until they gave up information about us and then kill us all. We can't let that happen."

"So we get a group of people together," I said. "Attack first. Get them both back."

"But the mole could still be in the base," Cree said. "We have to be careful about who knows our plans."

"You're failing," a voice rang behind us.

I turned to find Nisa standing in the doorway and cursed myself. Why didn't I close the door on the way in?

You've gotten sloppy.

Wolf sat in his chair. "I knew you were eavesdropping."

"These two didn't," Nisa said and kicked the door shut. I glared.

"Don't be a child," she scoffed at me. "The number of people you can trust is dwindling. You need me."

"You're supposed to be someone we can trust? You forced out a secret that could kill me without my consent!"

"Your mother did that. And, you should remember, I've been with the Rebels for years and I've sacrificed more than you could ever imagine. Hurting your feelings for an evening won't change that."

"I don't think the general population would appreciate you siding yourself with the most hated person in the base," Wolf said.

"I'm not siding with her. I'm siding with the Rebels," she explained. "Sometimes, people need what they don't realize they need. We've been attacked, manipulated, and murdered by the Ravens on multiple occasions. The Ravens already marked us as targets, but Laine is blind to it. Laine might be a great leader, but you're a war general. Right now, we need you. So, I don't care if she's here too or what others will think. I'm siding with the success of the Rebels. I'm siding with you."

There was a long silence. Finally, Wolf said, "Okay."

"So, what are we doing?" Cree asked.

"We can't tell Laine, or he'll try to stop us," Nisa said. "He can thank us when we're done."

"So, the four of us are going to infiltrate the Raven base and sneak out two prisoners," Cree said. "How the hell are we going to do that?"

Wolf leaned forward, his grey eyes dancing with the relief of action.

"We make a plan."

I'm thinking about changing my username to "sweeee". Should I? And three e's or four? 

Also, my plans to finally post a video were thwarted by stupidity and technology. I managed to lose over a half-hour worth of film and quite a lot of editing, and then it randomly appeared again (don't ask me how), but I still gotta do a bunch of stuff to even try to re-edit it.

Anyways, I'll be getting that done as soon as possible.

See ya!