The Assassin's Ghosts

Untitled Part 10

A/n: Guess who y'all get to meet!!!

 Kyros walked into his bedroom, feigning calmness until the second his door closed. The moment Kyros was enveloped in privacy, he lost it.

"God damnit! Fu- ugh! Son of a- Saints, I'm gonna kill her!" he shouted, slamming his hand into his wall until he could practically feel the bruises forming already. His head hurt and he squeezed his eyes shut to ward off anything as ridiculous as tears. He hadn't cried since he was fifteen years old and running from home for the last time, so he wasn't going to start now.

Kyros sat down on the edge of his bed and placed his head in his hands. He had been so close. What he hadn't told Adira was that there was a traitor somewhere in his ranks. Kyros had always suspected that a great deal of his people were not loyal; it came with the territory when your staff consisted of criminals. The problem with that was that it was hard to figure out who was betraying him and who wasn't. He knew that some of his closest members –like Euphi, Akoni, Neo, and Rae– were not likely to be working against him. They were all somewhat indebted to him for various reasons.

But many of his less important employees were likely to follow wherever the money led. If someone were willing to pay more than Kyros was, and they could prove it, he was sure that the majority of his people would switch sides. Thankfully, they were all expendable. The problem was that someone in his ranks was feeding information to the Queen of Bloodshed. And that was very inconvenient indeed.

It was needless to say that Kyros' anger at being beaten may have affected his judgement slightly. The next chance they got to go after the queen, he took it. This time, it was even less planned-out. This would prove to be a critical error.

Kyros had gotten word that the Queen of Bloodshed and her associates, who had been calling themselves 'The Queen's Men', were going to be at a pub not far from where the safehouse was. Immediately, Kyros decided to use the opportunity. The other gang members agreed to it as well. Everyone was eager to get rid of this girl. But even Neo, Euphi, and everyone else, were a little concerned about how Kyros was planning to move forward. Kyros paid no attention to their concern. Nothing was going to take this from him.

That night, Kyros and the rest of their gang went to the pub. Raelyn used a rope to scale the wall; it was her job to watch from above and alert them of any trouble. Neo had two beautiful guns strapped to his hips, Adira had knives stashed everywhere, Kyros had an abundance of guns and daggers, Mavis had two guns, and Euhpi kept a bow and arrows close, as well as a knife or two. On the roof, Rae and Akoni were also heavily equipped. Akoni had vials of chemicals and cases of explosives tucked under his coat, and Rae had a series of knives strapped in her belt. They were all efficiently prepared as Kyros, Neo, Euphi, Mavis, and Adira entered the pub. Kyros felt his entire body buzzing the moment they stepped inside. There were quite a few people around, but they quickly cleared out of the way when they saw him. Kyros and his gang were well known by pretty much everyone in the city.

As the space cleared, one group of people standing near the bar didn't move. One girl in the group, who looked to be about Kyros' age, set down a tall mug of liquor and looked up at him slowly. Kyros knew it the moment he saw her. This was her. This was the Queen of Bloodshed.

"Right, everyone else clear out. My gang, stay with me," she called, and all of the customers except for the group who hadn't moved left the pub. The girl walked up to him. She had blonde hair that had been braided into a crown around her head as the remainder of it spilled down her back. Her eyes were a light brown, but they were not inviting. "Hello, Kyros. So good to finally meet you in person."

"Skip the goddamn pleasantries. Let's get to the good part."

"And what part is that?"

"The part where you die."