Invictus || Book 1

Prologue

A southerly wind clawed its way through the barren docks of Port Estev, shoving aside empty crates and stray wads of old crumpled scrolls long since faded from age and the unforgiving weather.

Despite this, Mauve watched from her position atop the roof tiles of an old fishing shack as an older woman stumbled along the twinkling black cobblestones below, expensive fur coat fluttering in a deceptively soft manner.

Her target hadn't made it more than a block away from the dodgy inn she frequented and yet even from the rooftop, Mauve could see the sheen of sweat on their forehead -the glittering kohl Mauve had observed them place with precision reduced to an inky path trailing from their eyes down the sunken ridges of their cheeks.

And all because the Red Dahlia had been set upon them.

With a lazy smirk, Mauve left her position on the roof to rejoin the shadows.

"I'm embarrassed Jin, I gave you a headstart too."

Jin flinched when she felt the cold sting of a blade pressed against the skin at the back of her neck, goosebumps erupting over her body as she fought to hold back a shiver.

Without a warning, Jin spun around, left hand balled into a tight fist that she flung in the air, only to have it twisted around and pinned against her back harshly. Mauve stepped beside the woman, a red gloved hand wrapped tightly around Jin's fist.

A loud pop followed shortly after, accompanied by a sharp cry from Jin as she fell to her knees.

"Please, let me go! Whatever price they made on my head, I can double it."

Mauve froze at the request, blade now positioned at the base of Jin's throat as she regarded the trembling woman from behind the safety of her veil.

She remembered when those words would have worked - when the desperate trembling would have pulled at her heart, back when Mauve had only ever been Mauve. But the veil had long since been stained red, the brief touch from the swaying material reminder enough.

"Please, I beg of you, Red Dahlia."

Mauve tilted her head and leaned further into the cowering woman's presence, "You beg for the same mercy you've never afforded others. There is a word for your predicament."

Jin's eyes widened, and panic settled in her dark green orbs.

"I swear I didn't know they were Tyris' kids, I would never have touched them if I'd known."

Mauve's blood boiled at the admission, but the man who had commissioned her wasn't paying for righteous fury. Never mind that this pathetic being had harmed countless other children, whose names and faces had not belonged to anyone that cared.

"The thought shouldn't have crossed your mind at all," Mauve said through clenched teeth.

"Please, show mercy." Jin had resorted to tears, a sight that brought a self-satisfied grin to Mauve's face.

"Well, if it's mercy you want," Mauve finally relented, withdrawing her blade.

"Thank you, thank you, Red Dahlia." Jin made to kiss Mauve's gloved hand only for Mauve to wretch it out of her grasp and shake her head.

"You're mistaken. You will keep your life, but it won't be much of one."

In a matter of seconds, Mauve had impaled the dagger deep into Jin's spine. With a loud thud and a hollow gasp, the woman crumpled to the floor.

Mauve knelt beside Jin and brushed the silver spikes of hair falling over the woman's eyes aside. "This is the mercy you are afforded. Now let us hope someone finds you in time for my parting gift to hold any merit."