"Really? He just took off like that?" Kayden asked, handing me over a hot cider. We were at Storm's Tavern, our shift having just ended.
"To all of our surprises, yes," Essmay responded, sipping her steaming cup. It had taken us a while to recoup since I had forgotten my shoes and coat inside Silver's lair, but at least I had Mr. Nightstorm's long leather jacket to protect me from the elements.
Brandon came back to the table and my mouth drooled.
"Apple pie!" I chirped happily, shoveling huge chunks into my mouth only to remember that it was still piping hot.
After they had a good laugh at me running around with my mouth open we settled down and ate. It was our favorite place to eat and it served the best pies and fish with potatoes. I was so happy to be full that I hardly noticed Brandon talking to me.
"Sorry?" I mumbled, wiping crumbs off my chin.
He gestured to my neck, "What is that?" Confused I looked down and gasped. I had changed into a wide-necked wool long sleeve and there were two large purple bruises on my left shoulder. You could even see the teeth marks. I had not felt him bite that hard. There were probably even more on my neck.
"Damn," I groaned, "these are from the masked man. I guess he thought it would look more believable and I couldn't exactly give myself hickies."
"Yeah but...That seems a bit over the top don't yeah think? It kind of looks like he was enjoying himself." Brandon gave me an odd look and I felt heat rise to my cheeks.
"No, no I don't think so. It was perfectly rational. He just wanted to make it believable." I concentrated on my second serving of pie, this one being a peach cobbler, and ignored the look that Brandon was still giving me.
"I'm jus' sayin' love. Seems a bit odd for an assassin don' it? Why didn't he, you know, just do it?"
"Maybe he's not a complete sack of shit." Essmay had overheard our argument and butted in, much to Kayden's dismay who had clearly been craving some alone time. It was easy to talk to each other since we were at a small round wooden table. We were close to the fire which was a welcomed relief from the cold foggy outdoors.
"Yeah, I'm with Essmay here Brandon. Though you do have a point. Most men in his business would have no issue with that sort of horrible activity. Remind me, what was his name again?" Kayden had clearly recovered from his rejection.
"Oh, I don't think I mentioned it. Mr. Nightstorm. That's what Dahren Silver called him anyway."
After I responded Brandon and Kayden exchanged troubled glances.
"What is it you two? Spit it out." Essmay said, curiosity gnawing at her.
"Well, we don' know for sure.." Brandon started.
"But it could be a very, very dangerous man." Kayden finished, cobalt eyes wide.
"Go on," Essmay and I urged.
Kayden cleared his throat, finishing off some crisply battered fish.
"We got a tip from a Silver District canary that Mr. Silver had brought in some renowned mercenary from an Upper City. A big bird from some swanky city who made contracts and never broke them. He's known for being quite protective of his targets-hates other people getting to them first. Said he wore some kind of mask. We tried to investigate further but, our canary had their throat cut at Night Market last week. There were no more leads after that."
"This man certainly had on a mask," I noted. I had been wondering why Mr. Silver would have needed an assassin.
"And when did he hire this mercenary?" Asked Essmay, thinking the same thing I was.
Kayden shrugged, "Maybe three weeks ago? Right around... Oh. Oh!" It had all just occurred to us in sync. He had used this assassin to get rid of his competition as he ascended to the Silver throne.
"That's a filthy rotten trick." Said Brandon, keeping his voice down. We were still in public, and this would be big news if it hit the streets.
"Aren't they supposed to fight each other themselves? This would not be good for Mr. Silver if anyone found out."
I nodded, "Anyone who wants the throne has to fight for it in the bird cages. Unless one of them submits or touches the ground, it's to the death." I remembered many a fight when I had been living with Mr. Gray and he had never once lost. He was the oldest ruling Leader for good reason. I could see my comrades shaking their heads in disbelief. It was a cowardly way to take the throne and one that could cause unrest or rebellion in his followers.
"Right, let's talk about this in a minute. I have to go take a piss," I got up and smiled at Essmay who smirked.
"How ladylike of you."
Behind the tavern it was cold and raining, making me even more grateful for the long leather jacket. After I had finished I headed back toward the door, happy to get inside before I got drenched. A figure caught my eye and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Hen's nest, what are you doing here?" I asked the masked man who was leaning against the building opposite the tavern. It was a small alleyway and nobody else was around. He pointed to me.
"Me?" I asked, confused. "You know we are really going to have to work on this you know. The talking thing. This whole broody mysterious mercenary is hot and all but I would rather like to have a conversation." I could cut my own tongue off for calling him hot but I acted as if that had been totally intentional and remained in my casual demeanor.
I noticed he had my boots and jacket in hand.
"Have you come to return those? You came an awfully long way to drop those off. How did you know I was here?" In response, he pointed to Luna and Snowball who were under the eaves in the front of the tavern.
"Ah, not very subtle I see. Still, can you actually talk? I would like to know why you helped me today and why you're killing for Mr. Silver." It might be a bad idea to frustrate an assassin, but today I had just been full of brilliant plans already so what was one more?
Mr. Nightstorm closed the gap between us with a quickness that unnerved me. He leaned forward against the wall, barring me from escaping back inside the tavern. He bent down towards me, water droplets racing down his silver mask. It was still very dark out, but it was light enough that I could see his eyes. They were dark, so dark you could not discern the pupil from his iris.
"What do you want from me?" I would not act afraid around this man, no matter how large his body count. I, too, had blood on my hands.
He opened his mouth then closed it as if he wanted to tell me something. His free hand slipped me my clothing, but he still remained, pinning me to the wall.
"Are you going to answer me?"
Wicked fast he leaned in, grabbing me up in his left arm and pulling me into him. He gave me a long, hard kiss that gave me a rush from my head down to my toes. Why was I letting him kiss me? He tasted like cool mint and I let him taste me as well. I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to stop. I breathed him in. His smell was metallic like... I pushed him away.
"You killed someone?" I tried to disguise my breathlessness with little success. He smiled and pulled me in again.
"All hail the new Mr. Silver," he whispered in my ear. I blinked and this time I glimpsed his silvery-white wings before he took off into the stormy night sky.
"What the..." Essmay's mouth dropped as she looked at me.
"So, how much did you see?"
"Enough to want to hit you over your stupid noggin."