Page 71 of Their Fierce Little Monster

I pass a young couple who are laughing, reminding me of Corvin and Dawn back at Glimhall. And irritation cuts through me because it should have been me with her.

Before I know it, I’m approaching the compound’s front gates, and the guard swings the door open for me, waving me inside.

“My lord,” he says, and I simply nod.

I make my way straight to Dawn’s room, stop at her door, and knock. She doesn’t answer, but I swear I hear a groan inside her room, and a scorching bite of jealousy seizes me by the heart. Is Corvin fucking her again?

I’m going to murder him.

Asshole!

I shove against the door, which pushes open, and charge inside. No lights are switched on, so it’s dark. But I march straight through to her bedroom, where only the silvery moonlight reveals a large bump under the covers, making that groaning sound again.

“I’m sleeping,” a female voice says, sounding nothing like Dawn.

I pause for a moment, convinced it’s not her and Corvin under there. But the assassin comes to mind. They always send them in groups, so where there’s one, I’ll find half a dozen more.

Shoulders stiff, I reach down and collect one of the blades from my boots.

I creep closer to the side of the bed. “Dawn?” I don’t wait for a response but rip the blanket back.

A girl about Dawn’s age lies in her bed, dark-haired and wide-eyed. Something looks odd about her, but what the fuck is she doing here? Waiting to jump out on Dawn and kill her?

She lunges straight at me, a knife in her hand, and my heart slams into my rib cage.

Instincts take over.

I raise the blade and bring it down in a fast sweep just as she swipes her weapon, the edge biting across my chest.

I hiss as it stings, but I drive my own blade down hard, fury propelling me. It strikes her just above her heart and sinks easily right into her chest down to the hilt.

She collapses onto the bed, groaning, her eyes rolling back until there’s nothing but white. I flinch away.

The odd thing is that there’s no blood from her wound.

Suddenly, she’s convulsing. Sparks burst from her body like tiny firelights.

What is she doing?

Her skin darkens to a blue as though she’s morphing into a corpse before my eyes.

“What the fuck is this!” I rub the cut across my chest, my hand coming back bloody.

Someone screams behind me, and I whip around, already reaching for another blade.

Except, I find Corvin and Dawn in the bedroom doorway, mouths gaping.

“Of all the fucking shit you can pull, what did you do?” Corvin barks, marching over, eyes blazing with death, staring at the dead woman with the knife in her chest. “You killed my aide, you lunatic! She was on hire.”

I blink at him, unsure what he’s talking about, but I’m guessing she’s not an assassin, then.

“To be fair, she did lunge first,” I say, which only gets me a scowl.

Chapter

Eighteen

DAWN