{Note that, true to its title, this story will have some rather brutal scenes and violence.} Beware the assassin. She may fool you, she may tame you, she may even like you. But in the end, she will still kill you. ++++ Locked deep in the dungeons of the kingdom of Helios... ... There is a dark, dangerous creature. They call her the Shadow Assassin. The most feared creature in all of the four kingdoms. But she hides a secret that could destroy them all. She hides their fates and their deaths. She hides the downfall of their world. A bored prince brings her out of prison, thinking her to be his entertainment, his amusement, against the wisdom of his High Advisor. But with the angry son of the captain of the guards thrown into the battle, everything becomes far more dangerous. This is not a child's tale. This is not a story. This is a tale as old as time about the treacheries and dangers of trusting somebody who has a heart colder than ice itself.

• Highest Rank #2 in supervillain • "Do you trust me?" he asked, still staring at the gray door. "Of course not," I said, as if the idea were absurd. A ghost of a smile crept at the corner of his mouth. His hand latched onto my arm. Panic started to pool out of my nerves. I glanced back and forth between his gloved hand and the concealing hood upon his head. Curiosity never hit me so deeply than it did at that moment, as I wondered who was under the hood. Who it was that I was supposed to trust. "Who are you?" I timidly reached my free hand up to his head, fingers tingling all the while. He didn't try to stop me. There was a brief second when excitement exploded inside me, propelling my hand all the more quicker, millimeters away from touching the black cloth. Ghost grabbed my hand mid-air, his reflexes acting lightning-fast. I started. Drums began to pound in my ears. My heartbeat rose about ten notches. He had his entire hand wrapped around my wrist, and he slowly eased it down until it was parallel with my body. "A villain can choose to reveal his identity, but not knowing is the beauty of mystery," Ghost said lowly, his right hand coming up to push back a loose strand of hair from my face. "Now close your eyes." Reluctantly I shut my eyes, but not because he had commanded the action. It was more out of fear of what was going to happen next.

Nova can't escape the rich town of Riverside, where a tragedy follows her every step, but she can work to uncover who's been lying to her all these years. ***** When seventeen-year-old Nova Nightingale returns to her late mother's hometown the last thing she expects is to be public enemy number one, but the rumors surrounding her mother's sudden disappearance fifteen years earlier follow Nova everywhere she goes. And to top it all off, the local rich boy, Isaac Royal, is adamant about making her life hell. Surrounded by rumors, lies, and a secret keeping the town on edge, Nova has to figure out why she's hated and why the boy hell-bent on making her suffer seems to be the only person she can trust. Content/Triggering Warning: this story contains themes of suicide and violence [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]