The Assassin's Heart

Chapter 2

My POV

I saw Striker standing outside the hotel room, a frown on his face as I looked away. How long was he there? Turning back to the horses, I sighed, closing my eyes as I gained composure before going back to the room. I saw Striker now laying on the bed, fiddling with his gun, as he looked at me for a moment before going back to his gun.

"I see you met bombproof." Striker hummed as I raised an eyebrow.

"Bombproof?"

"My horse. I saw you over there with him and I suspect your own." Striker simply stated as I nodded.

"Will say I am impressed with what you did to that fool, too." The striker looked at me as I shrugged, swinging my legs over the armrest of the chair, trying to get comfortable to nap.

"So, what's the plan for our job? Because I'd like to get this job done and be on my way." I asked, not wanting to bother with small talk.

"Well, I was going to find a family in town and pose as a farmhand, but I don't think any family will need two." I suppressed a growl, glaring at him.

"Great, so no plan?" I asked, as he glared right back. I tipped my hat down as I got comfortable, deciding to sleep.

"You're gonna sleep with a dagger in your hand?" Striker asked and I only hummed in response as I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take over.

*Dream*

I stood in my family home looking around as I called out, tears falling as I held my arm in my hand, blood dripping on the floor.

"Momma?! Pa?" I called out, only to see two shadows looming behind me before I was kicked to the ground.

"What have we said about crying?" I grimaced, wiping my tears away hastily.

"Not to."

"What the hell happened?" Pa grumbled, grabbing my bleeding arm.

"I fell..." Another Kick to the ground.

"You need to be better. You need to do better or else you're going to be a pathetic, weak imp who won't go anywhere in the world and will just die. Sad and alone." Pa grunted, and I nodded slowly, standing as I winced at the pain. "You need to also get it through that thick head of yours, not to flinch at the pain. It's another sign of weakness."

*Dream*

Waking up, I looked around, dagger at the ready, as I breathed heavily. Damn nightmares. The room was dark as I noticed the time, 3 am. I shifted, cracking my back, seeing Striker on the bed sprawled out. A soft snore could be heard as his tail rattled every once in a while. I yawned as I stared at my dagger, seeing the faint reflection of my glowing eyes. I made my way to the bathroom, closing the door behind me as I flipped on the light. Staring at my reflection, I gripped the sink. Don't be weak... I frowned, running my hand up and down my arm, seeing all the healed scars from previous jobs. I'm broken... My mind replayed that as I took off my shirt, seeing my body covered in scars as I looked away, disgusted with myself. I turned off the lights and held myself tight in my arms.

"Don't be weak. Don't show emotions." I said over and over as I fought control over my mind. Once I gained composure, I stripped quickly, showering in the dark as usual. I'm broken...

Once I finished, I maneuvered my way to dry off and get dressed before leaving the bathroom. I saw Striker had shifted and was now curled up, one hand stretched out as if he was reaching for something. I stood by the edge of the bed as I narrowed my eyes at him, giving a slight nod as I made my way back to the chair, propping myself back up. 4 am. Great. I sighed, tapping my fingers, keeping myself busy as I kept quiet enough for Striker to sleep. An hour later I heard groaning as Striker slowly started waking up as light shone in the window. Our eyes met and held each other's gaze for a few moments until we both turned away.

~

I sat next to Striker as we poured ourselves a drink. Over the day, we had decided to both suck it up that we would be working together, and each promised not to get on the other's nerves. Striker and I had gone out to formally introduce each other's horses and each other.

"So you know my name. Gonna ever tell me your name?" Striker asked as we took the horses for a ride, trying to figure out how to go about the job.

"Liz," I stated, unsure why I was even giving him my name. He would need to know it for the job? Well, we could be just strangers, we don't have to be side by side. No... I wanted to tell him.

"So how long have you been in this game?" Striker asked as I looked at him.

"Why do you do that?" I asked as Striker raised his eyebrow.

"Do what?"

"Small talk with me." I frowned as we slowed down. Striker frowning.

"Just getting a feel for you is all. Don't confuse it for being nice." Striker snapped as I nodded.

"I was born and raised like this, my first kill was when I was 13." I frowned, looking down.

"Damn. That's impressive." As we headed back to the hotel, we slowly were passing a bar as Striker looked at me for a moment.

"I need a drink. Are you coming or going head back?"

"A drink sounds amazing."

As we both nursed on a bottle of whiskey, I looked at Striker for a moment, taking in his appearance. I slipped slowly now, feeling Strikers on me.

"Siblings?" I pondered, and he shook his head.

"Doubtful, but it's a better idea than trying to do the job as strangers. We've got about a day until the equipment comes in, and then it's a few days' travels, so we have about two days to come up with something." Striker tapped his finger as I nodded. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned around, seeing an Imp grinning as I frowned.

"Can I help you?"

"What's a beautiful imp-like yourself doing here in a place like this?" The Imp said and I looked him up and down.

"Dealing with fucking creeps all the damn time. Look, I'm not interested." I turned to take another sip of my drink as I lazily took out my gun, aiming it at him, "I suggest you leave."

"A pretty thing like you know how to use a gun?" The imp grinned as Striker piped up.

"I believe the lady here is kindly asking you to leave," I looked over at Striker, who was still facing forward as he slowly sipped on his drink, barely a glance to either of us as the Imp leaned in closer.

"What are you, her boyfriend?" He smirked, eyeing Striker as I shrugged, firing a shot at the Imp's dick, watching as he crumbled to the ground.

"Ah! You fucking Bitch!" I rolled my eyes.

"Look. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you're completely stupid and that's why you're in a shitty bar trying to find a hookup. Trust me Darlin', you don't want to hook up with me. I've got too much baggage and I don't have much of a heart either." I frowned, unsure of why I was going on this rant. Maybe the booze? Maybe I'm tired. It's all the same. "Now I suggest you leave if you value your life. If you don't, I can end it for you." I aimed the gun, pressing it against his head, right between the eyes. Seeing the Imp reach for the knife on his body, I shrugged, pulling the trigger, watching the body drop as I finished my drink standing up. Feeling Numb. Tired.

"And don't call me beautiful. You don't see what I see." I hissed, firing another shot as I made my way out of the bar and hopping on Nightmare. Not caring what Striker thought, I whipped the reins as Nightmare slowly moved, making our way back to the hotel.

~

Striker POV

"And don't call me beautiful. You don't see what I see." She hissed, firing another shot, and stormed out of the bar, my eyes following her trail. She is beautiful. But I get it. This kind of life doesn't have a happy ending. Only surviving day to day. I threw some bills on the counter as I stood up, following her outside, seeing she was long gone as I hopped on Bombproof.

"Come on, boy. Let's head back."