Assassin, until the first moment (🇬🇧)

Naga Hitam

Magnus stood in front of the closed door to his father's study. A vein on his temple pounded as he clenched his hands into fists. His right shoulder felt as if someone had set it on fire and he knew that he wouldn't be able to endure the pain much longer without taking some painkillers, but at the moment it anchored him, preventing him from doing something rash.

The assassin took a deep breath, trying to calm his temper. Images of the day kept popping up into the forefront of his mind, making it all the more difficult for him to control his emotions. Magnus had never been a believer, but he had sent more prayers of thanks to the heavens over the past few hours than he could count. If he had been distracted for just a moment longer or reacted a tad more slowly, the knife would have found its target. Fear swirled in his gut, mixed with the anger that had caused through his body ever since he found out who had thrown the knife. His body trembled from the emotion raging inside him and both feelings intensified, the thought that Alec could have died today. If...

The door to the study was suddenly opened and his father stood in front of him. Startled, Magnus blinked a few times, unconsciously taking a step back.

"How long are you going to hang around in the hallway?" His father asked, raising one brow.

Magnus swallowed an indignant answer. He couldn't act too hastily. His father could still have a plausible explanation for the appearance of the other assassin. Magnus straightens himself, as much as it was possible with his injury.

"I need to talk to you about something important, Tuan."

"Then come in."

Asmodeus took a step aside, signalling for him to enter the room. Magnus walked past his father, crossing the room to sit down in one of the leather armchairs in front of the desk. They were made of dark leather and Magnus remembered when he was a little boy he liked to sink into the soft cushions and watch his father work. But that had been a long time ago.

The older assassin stepped around his desk and dropped into his own chair, resting his forearms on the table and clasping his hands together in front of him as if he were about to pray.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Ajan?"

Magnus couldn't remember the last time his father had used his real name, they had become more and more the Tuan and Ajan Hitam in recent years.

The younger assassin reached into his coat pocket, pulling out an assassin's blade. It was the one he had fended off with his body only a few hours earlier to protect Alec. He had secretly taken it with him, surely by now they would be wondering where the knife had disappeared to, but that was of little interest to Magnus at the moment.

Asmodeus looked skeptically at the knife in Magnus' hand. Without saying a word, the younger assassin threw the dagger on the desk with so much force and causing it to clatter across the table, it stopped just before his father's elbow. Asmodeus raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Did you send Naga?" Magnus asked his father.

Magnus didn't need to explain why he was asking. He was certain that his father had already been informed of today's events. As the leader of the Bayang Hitam, he had his eyes and ears everywhere.

"No, I didn't."

"Then who? Has anyone in the order claimed the job for themself?"

Again his father answered with no.

The anger that had been simmering in Magnus' body flared. He jumped up from the chair, grabbing the first thing he could get hold of, and hurled it against the wall. The glass paperweight shattered into a hundred pieces.