Chapter 1
Paris, the city of love it was once called when humans were the ruler on the Earth. But when King Louis's reign began on earth, this city was the focal point of non-mundane rule. During the Great War fought between humans and mystical creatures this place became the symbol for the start of human's terror: the rule of mystical creatures on Earth. All the humans in the city were brutally slaughtered to send out the message to the whole world. The whole city was drenched in human blood depicting the message sent out by mystical creatures clearly "THOSE WHO WILL NOT BOW BEFORE OUR REIGN WILL BE BROKEN FOREVER".
From this very city increased the gradual power the mystical creatures held. Governments gave up knowing that they will suffer the same fate if they didn't. Mystical creatures were indestructible. Power was then lay in the hands of King Louis and Queen Eliza Blackwood for them to forever rule upon human race. That is how the future of our kind was left upon the hands of mystical creatures only to be disregarded and thrown away only to enslave us forever. Though the kingdom was then ruled upon by King Louis, everyone knew where the real power lied. King Louis and Queen Eliza were just two harmless puppets whose real strings lay in the hands of Prince Xavier.
He was the Thirteenth to be King, the Chosen One to rule until the end of the time. He was the one old prophecy spoke of. He was the Son of the Night who had blood and power of every mystical creatures running through his veins. He was human, vampire, elf, werewolves, demon, giant, mermaid, angel, dwarf all rolled into one. His powers exceeded beyond one's imagination. He could finish a whole army just with a swish of his hand if he wanted. He was the ultimate predator, one who was to be always respected and feared.
But when humans surrendered, he was still not ready to take the throne and rule. He said that he wanted to enjoy his life before taking the burden of the whole world upon his shoulder. But those who knew him also knew that it was not the real reason. He wanted to find his mate who was mentioned in the prophecy before taking the throne. He had the whole world on his feet but he was still not happy. He had always felt that void space in the middle of his chest which could not be fulfilled by any ravish luxuries of the world. He therefore wanted to find his beloved mate who mentioned in the prophecy whose love he can cherish. His mate was to fill the empty space in his heart like a missing puzzle piece perfectly and was to teach the hardhearted prince a lesson or two in love.
The prophecy spoke about all the storms and hardships they together had to face in their journey to be one forever.
He is all while she is one,
Born in two different worlds but at once,
One's heart is darker than the darkest night while one's is whitest full moon burning bright,
Will be tainted with conspiracy, jealousy, lust, anger, ego only to find love in their hearts,
Broken, betrayed and bruised uncontrollably will fall into ashes only to rise again,
Several lives lost for time to heal, bringing reddest hues,
In the game of cat and mouse, no one will see what arises,
Thrown in labyrinth together, survives the storm only to be
Bound to each other forever.
Today fifty years later, I mused how the prophecy was nearly right except for the fact that Xavier and she were not bound to each other forever. After all, he had his dearest Brianna now for whom he had betrayed her pure love.
Paris had not at all changed in these years. It was still the center of Mystical creature's power. Even though the Royal Palace was located in London, Paris was the place where so called beloved Prince Xavier had chosen his humble abode.
"I had always told him that I wanted to go to Paris" I smiled thinking about the irony of the situation. It was too good not to be a mere coincidence, nothing more than that. "He can't still love me after all the things he did. After all as he had said it was all acting." I mumbled taking deep breath to control my heartbeats which had become frantic at the mere thought of its possibility.
Paris now was called City of Death/ Destruction by humans in secret due to the way it was rebuilt just above the ruins and above the lives Mystical Creatures destroyed during the war. It was built above the graveyards of humans who are now forgotten, whose records of existence was also fully destroyed by the current government to hide their folly.
Paris now consisted of tall skyscrapers which were modern and sophisticated in their own unique way. The way the lights illuminated the whole city at night was beautiful.
But deep in my heart I knew that it was all a facade to hide the real torture humans suffered inside those cold four walled buildings. It was the beautifully carved outside mask to hide the hideous face behind it.
K's POV*
The old gray building towered over us as we walked up its paved stone staircase. I could see that this building had remained unfazed by the modern changes that had rippled through the society in past 50 years except for all the security cameras placed all over the places and the advanced machineries that had replaced the swords which were carried by the soldiers guarding the place.
The place still reeked of death and blood that brought up painful memories that constantly haunted me. I had stopped moving forward while being engrossed in my thoughts until Spencer started to throw his arms up and down in front of my face.
"Earth to K...Earth to K", he started shouting in a very dramatic manner waving his hands all over the place. This boy never stops his act.
"Spencer....Stop it", I warned in a serious voice which hinted a threat in a very subtle manner.
"Youaretheonewhowaslostinherownworldwhenistoppedyoubutyouaregettingangryatme", Spencer started mumbling so fast that Leo and I both could not understand a word he was saying.
"SPENCER.PLEASE", we both shouted at once frustratingly at his childish behavior.
"Okay, okay I will not do it."Spencer said in a defeated tone.
Seeing him sad, I quickly went up to him and gave him a hug and whispered," Spencer, please do not get angry, it is just that it hard for me to come back here again and cope up with all of this".
He looked at him and gave one of his goofy smiles so I knew he was okay and he understood.
"Let's get going. "; Leo said in his –look at the place, we are at enemy's territory so behave- tone so we quickly started to move toward the large iron gates.
As we reached the gates, Leo came to me and said in a hushed tone, "K, they should not realize that it is you today or the plans will not go as expected. So please do not come out of your room until it is appropriate time as discussed. Spencer and I will go to meet Lord Ashton today and will come with an excuse of your absence so that deal is signed without them knowing about your identity. When they will meet you contract will already be closed and they would not be able to anything. So have patience for sometime so that from tomorrow onwards vengeance shall be yours".
"Okay Leo I understand. I will not do anything that will risk our plan, after all we are entering into enemy's lair", I said in an understanding tone as I knew this was all for my own benefit.
Then, Spencer went forward and gave a heavy knock to the door. In fact, he even left the dent on that heavy iron door but I guess, he hardly noticed it because strength was one of his gifts that he ignored.
A girl with apron on opened the door, and looked at us quizzically. She must be one of the maids working here.
Leo went forward and gave her his one of the charming smile as he informed her about Lord Ashton's invitation. Ashton must have informed her about our visit so she gratefully opened the door and ushered us in. She took to our rooms and informed us that Ashton and members of Inner circle will be here in half an hour. When she went, we changed our clothes as I wanted to wear something comfortable like pajamas and shirt I stole from Leo while Spencer and Leo were dressing to meet the circle.
After sometime the maid brought us some food and informed that Ashton and inner circle including the prince are waiting for us in the hall. After having lunch, Leo and Spencer stood up to go and meet the Inner circle.
"Leo, Spencer wait!" I said to them as they were about to go. Slowly I made my way to them and gave them a hug each and said in loving voice," Best of luck for tonight. You two are like my family, so take care of yourself and please do not mess up because those people are heartless. They will kill you at once if they even suspected something. So please be careful as I cannot afford to lose you two".
They smiled at me as Spencer said," We are not like your family; we are your only family as you are ours. So do not get worried, we promise that we will not mess up as now, the time has arrived to have your revenge. Remember our motto –One for all, all for one- to make you strong because we will need it."
After that they went to meet the circle as I offered prayers to make them successful in landing the contract.
Leo's POV*
As we entered the brightly lit hall, we were greeted by Lord Ashton Brook. Other Circle members were looking at us in a curious way.
Ashton extended his hand towards me as brought my own to shake it. "Lord Ashton, thank you for providing us with place to stay", I said, with my voice laced with sincere gratitude as we- Spencer and I- knew that this was only man who helped our dearest K when no one did.
"Ashton where is this Lady K, you were so much talking about? Looks like she did not care enough to come and meet us herself as she has sent her two assistants", someone said.
I felt angry at that man's accusations so I looked up to see the frustrating face of the person who had just questioned K's working habits. It was none other than so called Lord Rayne Lain who had spoken in such harsh tone. I guess being prince's best friend has its effects on person's ego: that is why it was so high up in the sky.
Before I could come to K's rescue, Spencer replied in the nastiest voice he could muster, with his fist clenched," Sorry Lord Ashton, K won't be able to attend this meeting because we are the one who always sign the contract on her behalf. We do this for every deal she gets, so you can see that it is within our job description and therefore no feeling of disrespect towards all of your presence is intended". We were humiliated and it was clearly shown in our face and Spencer's reply. Ashton quickly took a hint and was about to say something.
Before Ashton could say any, that wretch of man again spoke with a smirk on his face," Can I ask your relationship with Lady K, on whose behalf you two are signing the deal?"
Before Spencer could say anything, I replied in a very proud tone," I am her brother and he is her betrothed, if that is what you are asking Lord Rayne. So you see we have all right to sign this deal on behalf of her. We want to know the details of work she will be performing before pushing her into any kind of unwanted mess"
Hearing my reply, they were shocked. So we wasted no time and quickly signed the deal before some things comes up. After signing the deal an awkward silent fell between all. Just then Ashton broke the silence by asking the question, I had thought he would ask.
"B. Betrothed....Brother....But I thought that she had no family. So how can I never come to know about it before?" Ashton said in a very perplexed tone.
I smiled inwardly to myself as Spencer replied," Aah, it is because this knowledge of her having a brother and betrothed was never said to anyone before this. Moreover K's a very private person and she did not want anyone to know about it. So she asked our decision on that matter so we said yes. After all she saved our life so at least we could lie to the world about our relation for a while for her couldn't we?"
"Saved your life? Can you explain that?" Prince Xavier asked. This was the first time he spoke when I noticed him sitting at the end of the table with that sad excuse of girl, Brianna McLeod on his lap. He had leaned forward to hear our answer. We could tell that he was already hooked by hearing about K's working style. Of course, he is interested after all, K is hell of a girl but I guess he already lost her chance with her. I mean, why K would want to go back to him even if he wanted her to return. Tsk! Tsk! Xavier, you already lost you chance.
"Well, sorry but that's not our story to tell. That is K's. I guess you may hear it if K would trust you with that secret. And for that trust to be earned there is lot of time as we are all going to be together for more than 2 years as deal is already signed.", I replied in a very formal tone so that the asshole of the prince and his circle from hell will not be offended by our refusal. But who cares? We are only doing this for K.
Xavier and members of inner circle shot me incredulous look. I guess prince's order has never been rejected. Well, I guess there is always a chance for first, isn't it? But then someone took our rejection very badly and all hell broke loose.
"How dare you to discard Xavier's order like that? I guess you need to be put to your place dog? He ordered you to tell us the fucking story then you will tell him whether you want or not" Prince's slut Brianna screeched in her annoying high pitched voice.
"They have every right to cast off Prince Xavier's request as they have sworn the sacred oath of assassin's secrecy to me. May I have to remind your Lady Brianna here that we are not her fucking slaves to say yes to every shit that come out of her petty mouth. We are assassin that have already signed the deal with you so it is expected that we are treated as your equal otherwise we have our own way of getting the right treatment", K shouted from our behind. Every members of Inner Circle looked stricken and that bitch Briana looked pale. Smirk made its way into my face as I turned to face her.
*******
K's POV*
I was literally fuming seeing the nerve of that ........ that fucking whore. How dare she insult Leo and Spencer? I will show that bitch her rightful place.
I was in my study when I felt something wrong. That only happens when Spencer gets really angry (don't ask me how that happens, it's just that we have this weird connection) so I knew that someone was insulting him. Well I know this because Spencer is guy who literally does not get angry at anything except when he feels really humiliated. So I knew that I needed to go down there before something very bad happens. As I reached the door, I heard someone insulting them. Hearing the voice I could make out that it was none other than Infamous Briana McLeod. She had given me lots of scars before, so how could forget that bitch? So before she could insult Leo and Spencer any more, I quickly intervened.
All the members of Inner Circle were looking at me with their eyes widened and mouth agape. I was having fun looking at their stricken expression. Xavier was looking at me with unknown emotions swirling in his dark mixed eyes. It looked that he was in all his forms at once. I believe I even saw his human side out at one point. Brianna looked real pale. Jason, my so called blood brother looked sallow and seemed very shocked to see me. Only people who looked little happy was Ashton. Leo and Spencer were smirking at their expressions.
I continued to walk inside the room ignoring their piercing stares. " Lord Ashton, I suppose no one has any right to disrespect my companions, do they? After all, your circle had clearly requested our presence in this matter. I think it was Prince Xavier who wrote that letter of request himself as it had his seal while all the members of circle had approved it. You were the one to request my own presence in this matter. That is why to pay respect to your request Lord Ashton I came this far from my camp. But this is not how I expected Circle to treat my companions. Do you want the deal with us to be canceled? If it is your wish then we shall leave at once. Leo, Spencer let's go! It seems that our presence here is not at all appreciated. I don't have any further wish to be insulted more than this."
Listening to my word, everyone seemed to come out of their trances. As I was about to turn back, Ashton quickly replied, "No Kayla it is not like that. We don't want the deals to be cancelled. I apologize from Brianna's side. We did not mean to offend your brother and betrothed."
Before I could accept his apology, Jason intervened, "Didi, is it really you? How are you alive? I mean, we thought that you died from that fall. What do mean that this man here is your brother? We never had another sibling. Are you that famous Lady Assassin "The K"? And you are human but still haven't aged a day, how is that even possible? It's unbelievable!" he said in a very hasty manner. It was as if he wants know all the happenings of my life of past 50 years at once. I smirked at him.
"Sorry Lord Jason, I do not understand what you are trying to say. You must be mistaken because I am not your sister Kayla. I am K. I had a brother named Jason but he died 50 years ago along with my parents. Only family I know consists of my brother Leonardo and the love of my life, Spencer. As for your other questions I do not think it relates our deal so let me remind you, that my visit here is purely for business purpose nothing else than that", I looked at him in the eyes as I said it. When I told him that my brother had died, I could see him cringe as hurt was seen in his eyes. But it was incomparable to the torture I felt years ago which still had left visible marks in my soul, so it was totally worth it.
Other circle members were trying to comprehend the things I was saying to them. After all, it would pretty difficult to see the person who once could not hurt a fly standing in front of them as a best assassin in the country. Add hot and confident to that list, I suppose it made it look like fate's cruel joke was being played.
The moment of heavy silence and tension was broken by Ashton as he spoke, "I guess it settles that deal is not closed and you three will be working with us from tomorrow. Don't worry K: I will make sure that our all meetings will be purely business and nothing else. Such incidents that took place will not be repeated and you and your companions will get the respect that we promised you will get. You can go to your room. You all have been allocated separate chambers. My maids will help you to reach it. If you need something you may ask to maids, they will make sure that you all are taken care of."
"Sorry to interrupt Lord Ashton but it is against our code to remain separated so we won't need separate chambers. We will manage with one." Spencer said.
Xavier growled at Spencer making me raise my brows at him. What the matter with him anyway? It seemed as if that my so called dearest mate still felt jealous because of me. Even though it was due to him that I suffered all the torture that nearly killed me.
"If that is the reason then you can share one chamber. I will ask my men to put 2 more beds in one of the chamber then." Ashton replied not before glancing at Xavier who visibly relaxed when hearing his reply.
"Okay then, Leo, Spencer let's go. We will meet you tomorrow at breakfast then Lord Ashton" I replied as I walked out of the hall with Leo and Spencer behind me.
Finally the games have begun and I have started to like the thrill of it. After all this time they are the prey and I am the predator.