Ember
Kane's bathroom reminded me of Arius. That is, the way the fae was always dressed entirely in white. From the ceiling to the floor tiles, the walls and sink, everything in the room was white. It didn't stop there either- all of Kane's bedroom furniture was the same color too. I wondered if he chose the design himself and if he did, did he realize he had something in common with Arius?
The thought made me smile.
"What are you thinking about?" Kane asked.
I glanced over at him. Like me, he was sitting on the cold floor by the huge bathtub. Unlike me who had my arms resting on the rim of the tub though, he was sitting with his back to it.
"You don't want to know the answer to that question." I grinned, amused that he was keeping his promise and wouldn't read my mind no matter how confused he appeared most of the time now.
"You won't tell me?" he pressed.
"Nope." I smiled lazily up at him, scooting over so I was leaning against his side. I haven't felt relaxed enough to feel lazy these days but being close to him was loosening me up considerably. Distance makes the heart fonder perhaps? We have been separated for several days, first because of our argument and then everyone was so busy with plans last night that we all ended up sleeping in the living room. I would've traded comfort for strategy anyway, it wasn't just about making sure we succeeded in killing Light- it was important we also had other options in case we didn't succeed.
One of those options included Kane's ring.
Needless to say, it was my least favorite alternative.
But right now having dreadful thoughts about what would happen if Rina (the mermaid assassin) failed wasn't all-consuming. It was like we were in our own private bubble, safe and sound where outside threats couldn't touch us. I wanted to wrap the moment up in my palm and hide it away for keeps, but I knew it wouldn't last long. All the more reason to treasure it while I could.
"If you won't tell me what you were thinking about," Kane said, shifting closer to cup my cheek. "I might arrive at some wild assumptions of my own."
I placed a hand over his. "What do you have in mind?"
He pointed at the bathtub which was filled with cooling water. "You were thinking we haven't had a bath together yet."
Blood rushed to my cheeks and my lips parted on an exhale, a movement Kane tracked intently-
"Ugh, can you two not do that while I'm in here?" Ian said.
I jerked away from Kane, turning around to check if I'd heard right. But Ian really was in the bathroom with us, sitting on the toilet seat on the other side of the room with his arms folded over his chest, expression extremely displeased.
"When did you come in?" I asked him.
"I've been here the whole time," he replied.
That explained the pouting.
"The more important question," Kane said, "is why you are still here?"
"Is that a hint for me to get lost?" Ian asked.
Kane nodded. "Yes. Get lost."
"So you can do something nasty where we'll all be sitting soon?" Ian walked over and squeezed his way between us. "No way."
Scowling, Kane shifted over so we weren't packed together like sardines. There was plenty of room anyway, the bathtub itself was big enough to fit several people. Good thing it was too because as Ian had pointed out already, we were all going to be gathered around it soon. When it glowed. Like the mermaid said it would.
Long story short: Rina could spy on people through bodies of water- including bathwater- and we were going to watch her try and kill the Autumn Lord from the comforts of Kane's bathroom.
If she failed Light would kill her and then come for us.
My lips thinned.
"Oh no, not that again," Ian sighed. He got up and waved Kane my way while settling himself down on the other side of the tub. "Sit together if that calms you down but don't get all lovey-dovey and make me throw up in the water, then we'll have to watch Light's assassination through a film of my vomit."
I cringed at the image, letting Kane draw me into his side. "Gross."
Ian winked. "Just keep that in mind."
"Do you think Rina can do it?" I asked Kane.
He was quiet for a moment. "I think she's our best chance," he said finally.
I traced circles on his chest. "I keep wondering if maybe she could've helped with Alpha."
His lips twitched with the effort not to frown. It was getting easier to read the small cracks in his poker faces, or maybe he was letting me see those lapses? "I've wondered the same as well," he replied.
"Hey!" Ian clapped his hands together, gaining our attention. "Sob parties aren't allowed here either."
"What is allowed here?" I asked.
"Watching a mermaid get to work," he replied, the teasing in his voice suddenly gone. He leaned toward the water and when I followed his gaze, I found the clear liquid was coming to life, images moving on its surface like a TV screen.
I untangled myself from Kane and rose to my knees, the discomfort of my position a secondary thought at the moment. "Someone call Jett and Tyra, it's starting."
***
The gate the Autumn Lord had chosen for his grand entrance into the human world was close to an amusement park, a decision that hadn't shocked me. Although unsettling, I could see Light stuffing his face with cotton candy while riding the merry-go-round, scaring the living daylights out of the kids and their parents.
The amusement park was also quite conveniently the perfect place for a date with a newfound love. And the last place one would expect to die.
But the place Rina planned to kill him wasn't inside the actual park- even she wouldn't shoot a man in that kind of crowd. It would be at the construction site behind the amusement park, an expansion project that was set to begin during the summer and currently barred off to the public.
Rina's first trial was getting Light away from his guards and whatever entourage he brought along.
Actually I'd jumped the gun, Rina's first task was to make sure the magic spell she'd used to conceal her scent worked. If it didn't and the fae recognized what she was, she'd get killed immediately. End of mission.
"Halt," one of the steel-clad knights ordered. The quality of sound was so good it felt like they were in the room with us, the image in the water was as sharp as the voices too- my only complaint was that we could only see what was going on from a single angle. No different camera shots like an actual television.
On the bright side, we didn't have to stare at Light's horrible person from all sides.
"Halt or you'll kill me like you killed Prince Thorne?" Rina asked, unaffected by the threatening undertones in the fae's command.
Fists clenched at her sides, she stood with her back straight in front of Light and his escort of a dozen guards, wearing an old top, ripped jeans and her unconcealed hatred for Light. (She really did hate him, him and every other fae out there for hunting down and killing her kind.) Her appearance wasn't what I'd expected, I thought she'd wear a more alluring outfit but I guess the way to succeed as a seductive assassin was not to appear as a seductive assassin on sight. Besides, dressing to the nines to lure in your prey wasn't exactly necessary when you could spellbound them by simply humming.
Good thing it wasn't something like making eye contact because Light wasn't even looking in Rina's direction...he was signaling to his guards, making a curt motion with his hand across his neck.
Kill her.
The slink of swords being drawn in unison cut right into my hopes, leaving it in shreds on the cold floor.
Ian cursed, Kane snarled.
"Run," Tyra whispered.
Rina didn't run. Instead she gave the guards and the Autumn Lord the same unimpressed look she had worn when we first met in her shop. "You can't even be bothered to dispose of me yourself?"
Light finally looked at her. "You're oddly fixated on your own death, don't tell me you were in love with that spineless fool of a prince?"
The knights had surrounded her but Rina held his gaze, unblinking. "If I did, would that bother you?" Before he could answer, Rina hummed a single note, a short but high pitched sound.
Light blinked. Shook his head as if to clear it. He spoke to his guards again, this time his attention remaining on Rina. "Put your weapons away and return through the gate. There's been a change of plans."
"Holy crow," Ian laughed, moving forwards until he almost fell right into the bathtub. "Is it working or is it working?"
"There's no way to be certain unless his guards leave him," Kane replied.
"They normally wouldn't," Tyra said. "But in this case I'm guessing they'll give Rina their blessing and leave. They want to be rid of him too."
They didn't give Rina their blessings but they did go without a single protest, marching over to a crevice inside a large tree nearby where they disappeared through it one by one.
Leaving Light and Rina behind.
This was it.
Rina only had to shoot him in the heart with her bullet, it was made of silver and iron, metals that were deadly to both his fae and werewolf halves.
"Ember!"
"What?" I replied automatically, belatedly realizing the person who had called me wasn't in the room with us.
As if he'd been the one they'd called instead, Kane leapt to his feet and began striding out of the bathroom- seconds before the shooting began.
The gunshots were coming from outside the house, loud and insistent. I hesitated, caught between watching what would play out with Light and following after Kane to make sure he had backup.
Jett placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll stay here and watch what happens. Go."
I glanced briefly at the water- Light was moving closer to Rina, his butterfly mask glittering as if it belonged in a children's book and not on the face of a monster- then I tore my attention away and ran after Kane with the shots still ringing out from downstairs.