Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel

that seemed out of place on an otherwise innocent-looking girl.

Most nights I felt comfortable roaming the streets of Seattle alone, but tonight something didn’t feel right. I suppose it could’ve been the cold or the wind that stole my breath. Or maybe the fact that Tyler sent Marcus to meet me instead of coming in person. We’d been avoiding each other lately, and not because of our business relationship. It didn’t matter that Ty had shorted me money for the first time in a long time. The only reason I’d threatened Marcus at all was because I knew he’d tell Tyler about it and he’d be forced to call me up. I didn’t like distance between us, despite the fact that I needed it.

I walked, my face protected by the high collar of my duster, deeper downtown and skirted two guys and a girl hailing a cab. “Dude, you’re four-oh-four if you think you’ve got a chance with her,” one guy said to the other before climbing in after the girl.

“Four-oh-four,” I whispered under my breath, committing the phrase to memory. I wanted to find out what it meant, add it to my mental dictionary. I was always careful to use the vernacular of the times.

As the cab pulled away, I thought of the many instances I’d watched from beneath lowered lashes, listening in on conversations. I have perfected the art of imitation. Mannerisms, slang, modes of dress change every day, let alone every year. I don’t miss a single trend. My looks are enough to make me stand out; I don’t need another excuse to draw unwanted attention.

The sleet began to accumulate, and I shuffled my boots through the muck, making narrow paths behind me. I tucked my fists into my pockets and picked up my pace, no longer patient with the weather. Hustling along, I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was alone in this world. I hadn’t encountered another of my kind in nearly a century, and when I had known one, I’d been too green to ask the right questions.

Azriel. As shrewd as he’d been secretive. Answers didn’t come easy. He’d kept me right where he wanted me, under the guise of love and devotion. Even as I forced the memories down, they resurfaced.

“I don’t want your kisses.” I looked into his handsome, ageless face. A face that would never change, despite the passing of years. “I want answers.”

“As long as you’re with me, there’s nothing you need to know.”

“Why do you seem like a mirage once the sun sets, and I seem more solid?”

“I am born, and you are made.” He tried to stop the questions with another kiss.

“But you can look more solid if you choose,” I said.

“Glamour for human benefit. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“You don’t need glamour during the day,” I pressed, eager for information.

“Neither do you,” he said in an offhand way.

“What about the others? Are there others like us wandering the earth?”

Azriel let out an exasperated sigh. “No. We are the last. The only ones of our kind.”

“Tell me something else,” I begged. “Anything.”

“Really, Darian, you are like a whining babe.” His dark eyes turned cold, but he softened the cruel edge by taking my hand in his. “‘Why, why, why?’ It drones in my ears. Why don’t I ask you some questions?”

“Such as?”

“Are you deadly?” he asked.

“If I want to be.”

“Are you strong and quick as the wind?”

“As strong as you and just as fast,” I replied.

“Can you pass as shadow during the night, and are you confined to corporeal form during the day?”

“I can, and I am,” I said, almost pouting.

“Then do not worry about what you do not know. We are immortal. The only weapon that can kill us is a blade forged with magic, and even I don’t know where one might be. We are alone in this world, and you have nothing to fear.” His mouth hovered close to mine. “Ask me no more.”

I broke free from the unpleasant memories and cursed myself for thinking about him. He was long gone. Though I’d never been able to prove it, I figured he’d wound up on the pointed end of a magic blade. Dead. It was the only explanation; he’d never have left me otherwise. But that part of my life was best forgotten. My focus needed to be on the money I was owed and Tyler’s absence tonight. Not a long-lost lover who’d disappeared ages ago.

Thoroughly annoyed with my nostalgic moment and chilled to the bone, I arrived at my studio apartment near the center of Belltown, the northern district of downtown Seattle. The densely populated area suited me—too many people paying too much attention to themselves to worry about me or what I might be.

I stepped from the lift that opened to the apartment and was greeted by a gust of warm air. Every muscle in my body relaxed. I kept the thermostat at a toasty seventy-five degrees, sometimes warmer.

Falling onto a chair, I drummed my hands on the armrest. I hated having my time wasted, and Marcus was a huge waste of my time. My cell phone rang, breaking the silence. Since I didn’t have any besties calling to gab about their hair appointments and desk jobs, I knew it was Tyler.

“Speak,” I said into the receiver.

“Darian?”

“Were you expecting someone else to answer my phone?” I smiled, enjoying the way my name sounded like a soft caress when he said it. “Do you have the rest of my money?”

“Yeah. I had to guarantee it, though.” His tone sounded put out, but I knew the truth: Tyler could afford to guarantee my work. “What did you do to Marcus tonight anyway? He said he’d quit if I ever sent him on an errand that involved you again.” The laughter in his voice put me at ease. He knew I’d been messing with Marcus, and he didn’t entirely disapprove. That guy needed to grow a pair if he was going to play with the big boys.

“You should have come yourself,” I said. “I don’t like meeting with your errand boys.”

A long silence stretched between us, and I couldn’t help but wonder what Tyler was thinking. “Snow’s coming down pretty hard out there.” His words were stilted—definitely not what he’d planned on saying, as if the weather were a safer topic than what was really on his mind. “I’ll bring the rest of your money over myself. Be there in ten minutes.”

I snapped the phone shut. He knew me down to the smallest detail, and the fact that he was willing to come over so I didn’t have to go back out in the cold warmed me from the pit of my stomach outward. Avoidance wasn’t going to work. Not when we both made excuses to continue to see each other.

I twisted the ring on my left thumb—wide, worn silver with an antiquated carving. I’d never been able to identify the animal; it looked sort of like a bull or maybe a buffalo. Too much like a cave drawing for me to tell for sure. Tyler had given it to me after I’d completed my first job for him—said all of his people wore one. In the event a job went south, the ring would identify the wearer even if dental records couldn’t. And if anyone happened to cross me? Well, according to Tyler, the ring would guarantee my protection. Apparently, one look at that bull . . . buffalo . . . whatever would set stone-cold killers to shaking in their boots. It hadn’t mattered to him that I wasn’t so hard to dispatch. He’d insisted I wear it, and who was I to turn down free jewelry?

I met Tyler five years ago. He’s like a temp agency for the underbelly of society—a problem solver in the basest sense of the word. Tyler makes them—poof!—disappear. He’s known in a lot of circles, and he gets paid a nice chunk of change for his services. Working for him had been a no-brainer. I’d needed a new benefactor, as my previous contact had met an untimely end at the hands of the Russian mob. Tyler needed someone apathetic and discreet. He knew I was a killer the first time he laid eyes on me, and I knew he was the type of guy with connections.

Tyler was known for his hard edge, but when his eyes met mine, they held a depth of emotion that caught me off guard. It sparked something in me I’d thought long buried. “You’re not just a good-looking daddy’s girl, are you?” he’d asked.

I laughed. I’d never been a daddy’s girl. “Nope. But I’ve got skills, and from what I hear, they’re the kind you need. The kind of skills that could earn us both a lot of money.”