Assassination 101

Lesson 7: Knives

Lesson 7: Knives

3 years later

It had taken a lot of time to gain MI5's trust, a lot longer than I had anticipated. I was twenty-one now and hadn't seen my family in almost four painful years but the plan was working.

With my help, Luca had managed to avoid capture twice and had changed the main hideout location because I'd discovered how scarily close MI5 were to finding our original one. I was doing my part for the mafia even being so far from home so at least I had that knowledge to comfort me at night.

"Prescott, think fast," Miles — or rather Kole — said, throwing a perfectly aimed knife at my face. I ducked, the blade narrowly missing me, instead catching a few of my dyed platinum blonde hairs. I wasn't as big of a fan of this look as I was of my original thick dark brown hair which I had inherited from — what I assumed were if my name and skin tone were anything to go by — my Indian roots.

"Fuck you, Kole," I smirked, throwing my own knife at him which he expertly dodged. I'd found out about a year into my 'training' that his name was not Miles. What was even worse was that Miles wasn't even his regular code name. He'd made it up on the spot that day and let me call him that for over a year before Celine had finally corrected me.

"You're going to have to try harder than that," he taunted, hurling another knife in my direction. I dodged right and scoffed at the weakness in his throw.

"Says the guy who throws like my grandma."

He scowled, throwing three more my way in rapid succession, each of which I dodged with ease. "Correction, a guy who throws worse than my grandma."

"Oh fuck off, Jaia," he whined and I smiled, slipping the final knife free from my belt and lobbing it his way.

Instead of dodging, he chucked his final knife directly at mine, both of them clattering to the floor. I had to admit, despite his arrogance, Kole had great aim.

Clapping from the door of the training room caught our attention, both of us simultaneously snapping our heads to Celine who was watching from the doorway with a slight look of satisfaction on her face. She had never been one to outwardly express emotion so even a minor display was a rare occurrence.

"Good job you two," she said, no longer leaning on the door frame. "Jaia, you pick things up remarkably fast. I'm most impressed. You're over a year ahead of where I thought you'd be in training by now."

"I think that's thanks to her amazing teacher," Kole butted in, looking smugger than ever.

Ignoring him entirely, I smiled at Celine. "Thank you. Guess I'm just a quick learner." That was true but of course wasn't the reason for my far above average skills.

"I suppose so. Either way, I have a last-minute mission for you two tonight. Please freshen up and then head straight to the briefing room. Robert will be waiting for you there."

Without another word she was off, leaving Kole and me alone to quickly shower and get dressed. We gave each other a sly look before heading off in opposite directions to get ready, both of us already scheming in preparation for later tonight.

~*~*~

Robert was a wrinkly man with thin grey hair, beady blue eyes and a permanent scowl on his face. He was often the person who briefed Kole and me on missions.

I'd only had a handful of solo missions since joining MI5. I usually had to work in groups or at least with Kole because I was annoyingly still in 'training' but I couldn't wait for the day when they'd finally let me go completely solo. Partners slowed you down and I also had to be extra cautious around Kole so he didn't get suspicious. It was getting exhausting pretending to be Jaia — even if I technically was her — and not Blair.