Chapter4 – Drusilla

I awoke with a start, a scream in my throat.Cursing, I looked around my darkened chamber, listening to see if I had actually screamed or had caught myself before doing so.It wouldn't do to show any more weakness.I had already lost respect from half my people.But nothing stirred, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking of Elijah, I ground my teeth.Elijah, the witty, handsome, light-hearted jokester, and the back-stabbing, son of a bitch who had nearly killed me.So what if I had killed Micah, our other lover, first.Big deal.He had grown weak.He’d failed to kill his last assignment, though he swore to me that he had finished him.My sources indicted otherwise.It was a simple matter of who I trusted more.Considering Micah was dead, that question was answered.

All who failed were killed.It was how the assassins stayed strong: by eliminating the weak.

My shoulder throbbed as I lay down to go back to sleep.As I nodded off, I thought of the pain I would inflict on Elijah for his treachery.

*

At dawn, I got up, dressed, and walked downstairs, anger in every step.Two weeks had passed since Elijah had stabbed me and escaped.Two weeks! My fury had neither abated nor lessened in that time.And those fools who called themselves my men couldn't even find one injured, exiled fool!?

Gale was waiting for me in the front hall of my mansion.With Micah dead and Elijah exiled, I had been forced to replace them.Gale was the result.And a sad replacement at that.He wasn't nearly as interesting, or strong, as either Elijah or Micah.

My home was the largest in Nissassa, except for the home of our current leader, Lucius.A position I hoped to soon possess.

It was a loose system.There was our leader, then his five strongest.These five were judged by the number and the nature of their kills.I was one of them.Each of his five controlled a mansion, where the other assassins of lesser rank lived, about twenty or thirty per house.Small numbers, but the life of an assassin was a hard one.Everyone had to follow Lucius, but each assassin also had to obey the leader of their house.

All assassins had to check in every three months, for safety precautions.Some had been known to go renegade, killing at will, with no rhyme or reason behind it.Otherwise, all but the strongest were usually out in the field.The injured remained in their house until they were fit to travel again.As an assassin killed more people, their rank increased.The higher ranks only left if they wanted to, or if someone offered a large enough sum of money.I hadn't killed anyone challenging in over a year.Elijah, the bastard, had known that.

Elijah had risen fast in the ranks.Micah had been older, taking his time rising.Almost simultaneously, they both became my highest men.So I took them as mine.But even though Elijah was one of our best and didn't have to leave often on jobs, he still left on assignments more frequently than the others of his rank, and for less money.I now knew that he had done it to keep his skills sharp.Unlike my own, they had not dulled in the least.That had become evident when he easily pierced my shoulder.When I had scored a hit, he’d used that instant, that split second where I had let my guard down, to stab me in the shoulder and run.

I'd make sure he suffered for that.

Meanwhile, I still had to find the bastard.I walked up to Gale.He was easily six inches taller than me, and he still wouldn't meet my eyes.A spark of amusement ignited and then died, swallowed by my fury.Based on Gale's nervousness, they still hadn't found Elijah.My fingernails dug into my palms as I fought to contain my anger and not take it out on his face.I couldn’t afford to replace him, sad as that fact was.Gale nervously shifted his feet, awaiting my orders.He didn't need to tell me that they had found no trace of Elijah.I could read it on his face, and he knew it.Beginning to cool down, a thought occurred to me.

"Gale.
"Yes?" His voice showed no trace of his fear.

"Call off the search."

"But-"

I held up my hand, and he closed his mouth."If we haven't caught him by now, he is undoubtedly tucked away safe somewhere.We will resume the search in six months.Let him relax a little, slip up a few times.We will have him.But we will wait for the precise moment."

"As you command."He bowed and walked away.

I will find you, Elijah.And you will die the death of a traitor: slow and agonizing.

*