Smoke and Mirrors : Royal Angels I

Dirty, broken or both?

~Xavier~

"I'd call this a rat hole." Daniel said. "But I think the rats would take offence."

I rolled my eyes, glaring at him. Okay, my apartment wasn't exactly The Ritz, but it had four walls and a roof. (Yes, they had holes and they were grimy. Bite me.)

The beauty of this place was that this was a neighbourhood that literally gave zero fücks about you. While nobody would come running if they heard gunshots, at least they didn't nose around your business.

Plus, the landlord had thrown in a slightly clean pillow.

Wasn't that good enough?

"On second thought, your highness should wait by the door." I said, tossing fake IDs into my backpack. "We wouldn't want to get your nails dirty."

Danny punched my arm. I half expected him to say "I did have them manicured today" and with Danny, nothing was ever ironic.

I didn't bother taking the few clothes I had left. I honestly didn't care about my stuff here - everything was dirty, broken or both.

Well, there was one thing I really needed.

Daniel was now examining the broken lamp, sitting cross legged on the mattress. "Love the decor. Shîtty is very in this season."

"Move." I just said, ignoring him.

"On the upside, you'll never need wallpaper. Dust bunnies got you covered." He said, trying to unscrew the bulb. "Why should I move-?"

There was a loud shattering of glass as the only window in my apartment broke. Coincidentally, the lights gave out, plunging the neighbourhood into total darkness.

I thought I saw a shadow slip through the cracked glass into the room. I rubbed my eyes. I must be imagining things.

"Xavier." Daniel's voice was deathly quiet. "Where are you?"

Shît. I'd forgotten Danny was scared of the dark.

I kept an eye on the shadow just in case, moving to where the mattress was on the other side of the room. It was so still, I convinced myself it was just a trick of the light. Nothing more -

A bullet whistled past my ear, leaving another hole in the wall behind me.

Great. Another gun wielding maniac blowing holes in my apartment. Because why the fück not.

"Danny, get down."

I moved quickly dodging bullet after bullet, ducking just as I reached him. He seemed to be plastered to the ground, almost blending with the mattress. I knew he could see me, so I just put a finger on my lips.

I took out the pocket blade in my jeans and ripped the corner of the mattress.

All the while shots echoed around me. By now, I knew whoever this was hadn't come prepared for a blackout. They were just blindly taking shots.

See, Danny. I thought, smiling. Shîtty is always stylish if it saves your äss.

A moment later, I found what I was looking for in the feathery down of the mattress. Something cold and hard met my fingers. Palming it, I took out another one.

I smiled as I heard the sound of an empty gun click.

My turn, cupcake.

Metal sliced through the air and there was a muffled scream, just as the lights came back on.

The assassin was pinned to the wall. They were dressed in black head to toe with a bullet proof vest and a mask. One of my throwing blades pierced the fabric over their right shoulder. The other cut through the left thigh, leaving a deep gash.

With a growl, quick hands tugged the blades out. Their eyes were fixed on Daniel who still hadn't recovered from the blackout.

The assassin advanced toward him. I stepped in the way, trying to get a punch in. It was easily avoided though, and in one swift move, I got kicked in the gut.

The air whistled out of me.

Wow. I saw stars floating around me. I was way out of practice.

I threw a series of jabs and kicks. My opponent kept dodging me, managing to cut me more than once.

Soon we were both breathing heavily, and I saw an opening. I managed to land a kick on the left shin and trip their balance.

I pinned the assassin to the ground. Much to my satisfaction, they were trying not to scream from the pressure on the injured leg. It was odd how much power they'd packed, considering they weren't as muscular as I'd assumed.

"Who do you work for?" I asked, calmly. I knew the lines - I'd been through this multiple times.

There was no answer.

"How did you find us?"

Nothing.

"Who are you?"

Nada.

"Look, you better start talking." I ripped off the mask. "Before I -"

Forest green eyes stared up at me, wine red curls spilling all around her on the floor. She was covered in sweat and her skin was decorated with bruises. She had a cracked lip and she spat blood in my face.

I blinked.

God, she's beautiful.

No, she's not, dumbfück. She tried to kill Danny.

Damn it, why did he always have to complicate things.

As I just stayed where I was in shock, Daniel finally chose to come around. He decided he had to do something about our situation.

The future king calmly got up and hit our assassin on the head.

With the fücking lamp.

*****

Daniel : "Hit that vote button before I hit you. Yes, with the lamp."