Secrets of the Crown Assassins

49

XAVIER

I should've been more concerned that I was facing Ace Kingston for the first time in years. I should've been concerned that he was pointing a gun at my head. I should've been concerned that the look he gave me in those silver-gray eyes was near feral. But I wasn't concerned.

I was delighted.

I knew Ace was still alive, biding his time, creeping around the edge of the delicate, royal game we were all trapped in. I knew he would walk onto the game board eventually. I knew he could finally be an offensive force that could truly challenge me. I looked forward to the day that I could finally find my match.

And that day had come.

With my gun still aimed for his forehead, ready to shoot, I let myself smile a little. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it Ace?"

His jaw twitched, though he said nothing. He was baiting me, trying to see if I knew of his alternate identity, the street name he had donned all these years and therefore everything he had been up to ever since he escaped Cressida.

Fine. I'll bite.

"Or," I added, "perhaps I should call you Wolf Reznor now. I don't believe you quite deserve the Kingston name anymore."

"I don't believe I want it anymore," he scowled.

"I assume this means you want to kill us." My smile grew wider. "Good. I was starting to get bored."

He scoffed, slowly moving to the right, trying to circle around me, gun still pointed at my head. "I can't believe I was just like you when I was younger."

"That's not how I remember it." I started shifting along with him, heading in the direction of the door at the end of the hall.

"No?"

"No. I recall a little boy who flaunted at my side, trying to gain some of the light shined on me, trying to learn how to be me. You were more like a knock-off Damien, but without any friends."

"Is that why you came knocking on my door every morning?"

"I have to admit, your presence gave me quite the ego boost."

Ace let out a bitter laugh. "You haven't changed one bit, have you? What a relief."

"Why? Feeling nostalgic?"

"More like motivated."

"To do what? Run your little group of vagrants and play at war? What do you guys call yourselves again? The Rebels?" I smirked. "Your creativity has certainly diminished, that's for sure."

Ace tilted his head. "I like to get to the point. It's a freedom I've had the benefit of experiencing ever since I left. I don't have to skirt around my true purpose, to hide my goal like the Court. I can simply state my purpose. And, most importantly, accomplish it."

"My, my, my. How delusional you've grown. Wishing to lead a rebellion against the assassins and win?" I shook my head. "All the compliments your new friends shower you with must've gotten to your head."

I stopped moving, my back facing the door down the hall. I added. "Congratulations, by the way, on finally making friends. Though, if you don't mind me saying, they're not a particularly impressive crowd. Really the only one that catches the eye is my old friend, Indigo Fluor."

He laughed. "Oh, do you miss her already? Sad you don't get to add her as one of your assets in the coming war?"

"Sad isn't quite the right term. Disappointed is more like it. After all, she experienced such impactful betrayals with her mother, Echo Aldridge, Chance Dayholt, and everyone in between. I really thought she would finally learn from her mistakes. And yet, there she goes again, blindly following a man who claims to be a protector of the disadvantaged but is truly a Royal himself." I shook my head. "Her heart is going to shatter when she finds out."