CLAUDETTE BANKS has seen many things in all of her twenty-one years.
Things that have scarred her, changed her, molded her into the person she is today. But she's never seen someone die right in front of her, so brutally. Dead bodies weren't an uncommon sight in the slums but those people were already gone, lifeless, and most of the time she didn't know them.
A scream rips from her throat, overpowered by those of the crowd, and she stumbles backwards, away from the edge of the stage. Her eyes refuse to leave the royal's body, particularly his chest, and her entire body is shaking, trembling so frantically she can barely stay upright. Arms wrap around her, pulling her away, and she tries to fight them off until she realizes it's just Aiden.
He's yelling something in her ear — she thinks she hears the word Mauve — but everything is so chaotic that nothing makes sense. He drags her off the stage, following after Hunter and the other ladies, and she finally comes around once they're on the ground.
"Maisie!" Aiden shouts, trying to get the brunette's attention, but she's still standing on the stage, looking ill at ease.
There's an odd little smile on her face, so similar to the smug look Aiden adorns after he wins a fight.
"Maisie!" Claudette pulls out of his grasp and moves back towards the assassin, ignoring Aiden and Hunter's protests. "Maisie, come on!"
The girl gives her an exasperated look once Claudette reaches her side. "Why? We're not in any danger."
"What? Someone just got murdered!"
Maisie rolls her green eyes, so bright with amusement, and gives her a wicked grin. "I realize that. He's still down there, you know." Her eyes dart down to the royal and she lets out a loud laugh. "Mauve strikes again."
"And how do you know she won't kill anyone else?" Claudette demands, angrily pulling at her hair. "This is the first time she's killed someone publicly..."
"I wonder why," Maisie says but doesn't look all that curious. Instead, her eyes are focused on something in the distance, although Claudette can't tell what.
Before either of them can say anything else, the sound of pounding feet up the stairs to the stage has Claudette turning around, expecting to see Aiden and Hunter. Instead, she sees police officers.
"Shit, what are we — " she begins to say to Maisie, only to find that the assassin has vanished, leaving her alone on stage.
As the police lead her off the stage, gripping her arms tight, her eyes find what Maisie must have been looking at.
A light purple cloak, barely noticeable in the shadows of an alley across the square.
And then, a flash of red orange hair as the figure turns and disappears.
✦ ✦ ✦
WHEN SHE ARRIVES home several hours later, exhausted from the relentless questioning by the police, Claudette falls straight onto her couch, face first.
She doesn't know what to think. About her first time seeing Mauve in person, about the man who died on her stage, about the general failure that was their first rally. It had started off great, the audience's response was exactly what she had planned it to be, and then...
And then Mauve happened. The assassin she's been searching for suddenly appears at her rally and murders a royal.
It can't be a coincidence.
