The Reluctant Assassin [PREVIEW]

Prologue

Prologue

The man I was staring at through my binoculars had no idea what was about to happen.

It was an easy job, this one. In and out. There was no way the smug man eating pasta and leering at every waitress who passed his table could know I had my crosshairs aimed straight between his eyes.

You could say it was cowardice: if I was going to kill someone, at least give them the chance to put up a fight, but my line of work didn't require bravery and it certainly didn't require morals. I was an assassin. Effectiveness was the only required trait.

And snipers on rooftops were certainly the most effective.

I spied the mark on the back of his neck through the scope. The mark of the Fae. To the naked eye, it was just a leaf. If you knew better, it contained all the elements, wrapped up in that black image. Our heritage. We'd been able to bend the elements once, but now their inclusion in our mark was the only sign of it.

I'd never killed someone from my own race before. It was completely forbidden unless someone strayed so far from their morals as this man had. He had been deemed more of a liability than an asset. Still, the doctrine that the survival of our race was paramount put a slight dither in my hand. He deserved it, he absolutely did.

One didn't break the Fae's rules and get away with it.

It was a lesson I was sure every Fae was forced to realise at some point in their life. I felt like I'd been realising it for the past seventeen years; I'd grown up without a family because my parents had broken the rules of the Fae.

I adjusted my hands on the gun. Being effective also meant arriving excessively early just to make sure I didn't miss my chance to end the man's life and so my shoulders were beginning to ache unbearably. I just wanted to get it over and done with by now, so I could go home and try and rid my conscience of having yet more blood on my hands.

I sighed when my target finally stood up, following his relaxed movements with the barrel of the gun.

I was ready when he left the building. When he was getting into the car would be my best time to strike, there'd be a delay as he unlocked the door. He was with another man, but that man was of no concern to me. I'd be off the building before he even realised what had happened.

Being Fae had some impressive advantages, two of which were increased speed and strength. Carrying this gun up the side of the warehouse had been a piece of cake and scaling back down it before anyone could find me would be equally as easy. It was nothing superhuman, but there was certainly a noticeable difference. I could outduel a human in every scenario. I was the perfect assassin.

Of course, the entire race couldn't be paid to kill people, there'd be no one left. Most used the increased memory we had to go into real careers. Lawyers, politicians. Things that would give us enough power in the real world to protect our race without us becoming known to the general public. Being an orphan, I was left with the dregs of assassination.

I stretched my body against the roof, wanting this to be over and done with as soon as possible. It had rained a few hours ago and the water was seeping in through my skin-tight black clothes. Even my hair was black, currently plaited and out of the way. I just wanted my pyjamas and my bed.

He'd reached the car, so it was time. I got his forehead in my sights and fired the shot, resisting the urge to close my eyes.

The shouts reached my ears from where I was on the rooftop and that was enough confirmation for me. I didn't want to double check. I'd seen enough dead bodies to last me a lifetime.