The Hunt

Chapter 15- Francis Pugh

Cecily Earnheart ran through the halls of the mansion, sticking to the walls. The memory of their final plan spiraled through her head.

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"Cecily and Magnus go in first," Zephyr had told her, told all of them. "Magnus, stick to the shadows and keep an eye on the target. Make sure he moves according to the pattern. Cecily, stay close to Magnus but let him lead you. He knows more about covert thing like this than you. If anything happens I want you to make sure both of you get out of their safe." He looked to Reiko and Alma. "Alma, I want you with me, outside. We'll stay close to the walls, the back walls, in case anything goes wrong. Reiko, you're our guard. If anyone notices us, you need to take care of them."

Of course, the foreign guard had something to say about that and the prince let him fume.

"That's it? You just want me to be you and the Saint's guard? No, I should be inside with the two of them."

"To do what?" The prince countered. "Draw the attention of the entire mansion? Look, Rei, the guards change every hour and they move in the same patterns. The doors are left without anyone looking for milliseconds. We only have enough space for barely two people to fit in there. Magnus is used to this kind of thing and Cecily's small. You? You're neither of those things.

"What you are good at is fighting. Up close and personal. For this one, I think it'd be best if you stayed with us." A smile crossed the prince's lips. "Besides, who else is supposed to have my back?"

Instead of a lion, she saw the prince as more of a silver tongued snake with golden scales that loved to flaunt his shiny color. Of course she'd already labeled the group. Alma Reebank was the rabbit. Orion Magnus made for a convincing hawk. And the foreigner, Reiko? She didn't like him much, sometimes. Other times he provided entertainment. Still, he made for a decently convincing She saw him as a type of dog, almost. Not a wolf, she completely hated those mutts. Maybe a bear? Yeah, a bear.

"Now," Zephyr said, drawing her back to the boring human reality of things, "Orion, since Cecily has less experience in this than you I need you to guide her through it. Maybe talk through the basics of what you need her to do tonight. But both of you follow need to get to Francis Pugh's study. It's the only place where he's completely unguarded. While you do that, I'll be hacking through his systems and playing all the footage on momentary loops wherever you'll be, including the study."

Her and the assassin gave a nod.

Later that night, Orion attempted to talk her through the basics of a covert operation.

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The blades that platted Cecily's non-titanium am were a comfort, along with the single sword that was tied to her waist and the two axes across her back.

She'd gotten looks of discomfort from each and every one of her team when she was arming herself, but didn't really care. She was comfortable again.

She stopped, obeying Orion's command who was an entire hallway in front of her.

She heard the footsteps before she saw Orion's signal and was already against the wall. Her breathing slowed and she blended in, not standing too stiffly that she'd twitch, but lightly so that she wouldn't move.

She watched a single maid stroll past, oblivious to the two outsiders inside, before turning the corner and following Orion to the next hall.

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Orion wasn't sure if the killer was used to things like this or just naturally skilled, but when it came to hiding in the shadows, she was verging on his masters levels.