205

I switched off the lights in our suite and stepped out onto the patio, closing the door behind us softly. I morphed my hands into claws and saw Milo’s eyes turning black as his claws emerged as well. We scaled the walls up to the roof and I surveyed the area around us.

There were no warriors at the back of the palace where the King’s private gardens were located. Milo grabbed me in a hug and he jumped down the four story palace and landed soundlessly on the grass. He zipped forward and stopped just before we hit a tree.

“Good boy!” I patted Milo’s head as he glared at me and he pushed me to the ground as I turned my back on him to head to the nearest clearing.

“Asshole.”

“Where are we going and who are we killing?” He gave me a secretive smile and pulled his phone out, tapped on it a few times and then handed it to me.

“Are you insane? Is Clark insane?” I looked at the picture of Gustav de Haviland, Prince of Dragons and the King’s youngest brother.

“The kill order’s been given. Nobody’s to be left alive.” Milo had gone into hunter mode now and his voice was as serious as it could get.

“Even the children?”

“Yes, Wynter, even the children. They’ll grow up to be tyrants, I was with the Seer when she showed us her vision.”

“How is this a kill order when the Unit doesn’t exist anymore?” I had never before killed a child and I didn’t want to start now. Killing rogues and enemies were one thing, but children?

“The Unit still exists, just underground.”

“And when were you planning on telling me this?” We had reached the clearing and I stopped walking as Milo avoided looking at me. “You weren’t planning on telling me.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d been turned.”

“Seriously? Screw you, Milo.”

“You want me to bend over right here?” I couldn’t help the smile that formed and Milo placed both of his hands on my shoulders.

“We eliminate the enemy, no matter who they are. The Seer doesn’t lie, Wynter. We have a duty to all supernatural beings. These children will start a war one day, a war where the majority of us dies.”

“Fine, let’s get this over with then.”

Echo separated from me and we climbed onto his back. The woods stretched for miles on either side of us and Echo soared through the night. Milo had given me his phone that showed the location of the large estate where Prince Gustav resided with his wife and four children, all boys.

Echo landed in a small clearing a few hundred feet away from the estate and merged quietly with me. Milo used hand signals and we moved in single file towards the estate. There was only one guard near the front gate and Milo incapacitated him quickly.

The estate was remote with no neighbours and I doubted anyone would hear their screams. We made our way through the garden on foot. At the front was a rounded building that looked a bit worse for wear and we circled the house to the back.

Another guard stood just off to the side of where the patio began and I threw my knife in his throat and he stumbled forward onto the grass with a soft thud. Milo opened the back door that opened onto a vast kitchen. I was surprised that their door was unlocked; they had gotten lazy with two guards and probably because nothing ever happened here.

I signaled to Milo to go ahead and he moved swiftly through the downstairs area as I stood by the stairs with my gun aimed at the darkness. He gave me a thumbs up and I started up the stairs slowly, listening for any sounds to indicate that they were awake.

We moved soundlessly down the hall and up the stairs to the third floor where Gustav and his wife, Annamaria had their private quarters. The door was slightly ajar and it made no sound when I pushed it open completely.

Milo and I stood on either side of the bed, our guns aimed at the sleeping pair. Milo nodded at me and we squeezed off one round each, simultaneously. They never stood a chance and their bodies had jerked only once as the bullet tore through their skulls.

We went back down to the second floor and started at the last two rooms and we each killed two sons. I felt the disgust rise as their bloods painted their pillows a crimson red. It left a sour taste in my mouth when I shot the last boy. He was perhaps twelve; there were baseball posters against his walls and on his desk a glove and ball.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered in the dark and left his room. Milo’s eyes held the same guilt and we walked downstairs and out of that house without saying a word.

Milo and I stood in the clearing and sprayed our hands with the acid solution as Milo cursed loudly. “Holy shit that burns!”

“Beats the gun shot residue if anyone decides to look.”

“Yeah, Clark said to drop the guns in the well in the back yard. Even if they’re found they’ll never trace it.” I nodded and handed my gun over to Felix. It was better this way. Nothing to point fingers at us. There was a chance that the King would suspect me, being a hunter put me in the cross-fire.

The flight back to the palace took less than ten minutes and Echo dropped us on the roof. Neither of us had said a word as we climbed pack onto our patio and Milo muffled a scream as Ryder put the light on in our living room when I closed the sliding door behind us.

“Holy shit, Dad!” Milo clutched his heart and I could hear it beat erratically.

“Where were you two?”

“Assignment.” My voice held no emotion and I grabbed the brandy bottle and filled my glass and emptied it in one swallow.

I refilled my glass as Ryder watched me intently and Milo poured a drink for him as well. We sat there in silence and then the tears started rolling down my cheeks. Milo looked at me and cursed under his breath as his own tears spilled over his eyelids.

“What kind of assignment has both my sons crying?”

“Children, four dead children.” My voice sounded hollow to my ears and my throat constricted as I remembered the last boy. I had taken his life and his dreams because someone had decided that he needed to die.

“You’ll be okay. I’m sure there was a good reason for that kill order, nobody sentences a child to death for no reason at all.” Ryder squeezed both our shoulders and then poured a drink for himself.

I stood up and stripped off my clothes until I was only left in my underwear and I walked to my room. The clothes went into the hidden compartment at the bottom of the duffel bag and I pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I knew Ryder was only trying to help. Talking about things helped, not for me though. This would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“No. Milo’s the pillow talker.” Ryder smiled at that and Milo came back from his room sporting sweatpants and a t-shirt.

“You love my sweet talk, Wynter.” He placed a kiss on my cheek and Ryder laughed when I pushed him away and rubbed my cheek.

“You two are worse than Felix and I ever tried to be.” Milo and I both smiled at that and Ryder chuckled. “It wasn’t necessarily a compliment.”

“Where you and my Dad were concerned I’m sure there were no compliments.” Milo and I laughed as Ryder smiled.

“There weren’t any complaints either.”

“Okay, okay, let’s not keep score here.” I looked at Milo because if we had to keep score he’d beat the best of the players out there.

“He would’ve been proud of you, Milo.”

“I know, Dad.”

“He’s not referring to your extracurricular activities 'Daddy'.” Ryder laughed as Milo threw his pillow at my head and finally smiled.

“Shit, that night Shae told Cali ‘who’s your daddy’, I nearly died I was laughing so hard.” We all chuckled at that memory because Shae could always be trusted to embarrass us.

“What’s up with Ally going to Greece?” I finally asked Ryder.

“She’s taking a gap year. Said she wanted to get to know her father’s family, spend time with her cousins and the Fae King. He’s a nice guy, I’ve met him.”

“That’s good, she should get to know that side of her family.” I nodded my agreement at Milo’s words, although I would’ve wanted to see her. The selfish part of me needed to see her.

“Thanks Dad, we needed this.” Ryder looked at me and nodded his head and a light knocking started on the door just as Ryder stood up.

I opened the door and Maya flung herself at me, her face splotchy from crying and I just held her as Milo and Ryder looked at us. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s horrible, Wynter, just horrible.” Her sobs were audible and I pulled her into our suite and Milo poured her a drink.

“What happened?”

“We don’t have all the details yet but Uncle Gustav and his family were murdered tonight.” I didn’t react but I caught Ryder looking at Milo questioningly.

“You’re okay, Maya. I’m here.” I rubbed my hand over her back because shit, I had no idea what to do to make her feel better.

“Daddy asked me to get you, he wants you to go with him to the estate.”

“We’ll all go.” Ryder’s voice was firm and I hugged Maya again and kissed the top of her head.

“Milo, go get Abby.” He nodded at me and understood that I couldn’t leave Maya alone when she was this distraught.

“They’re all dead, my aunt and cousins too. I can’t believe it, who would want to kill them all?” I didn’t have any answer for her, well, not any she’d like, so I just kept quiet until Abby and Nova appeared in our living room.

“I’m so sorry, Maya. Come with me and I’ll order us some tea, you’ll feel better in a bit. Let the men go to work and help your father.” Nova took charge and Maya nodded her head as she stood up and took Nova’s hand.

Abigail followed them and looked back at me and Milo and her eyes said that she knew it was us. We all retreated to our rooms and got dressed in warmer clothes. I didn’t go to see Maya again because I already felt like shit.

I was glad now that we had taken precautions because if I were the King, I’d check the hands of the hunter in my house. Ryder offering his help to go to the estate was a good thing. The King didn’t know about his history.

The Palace was buzzing with activity as we entered the foyer. The King was dressed casually and the guards had been doubled. The King would smell the scotch on our breaths and Maya would tell him that she had interrupted our drinking time.

I put a mask of concern on my face as the King turned towards us. He nodded his head and I saw Sorin was there as well, dressed in a suit and I wondered if he ever really slept.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your family time.” The King didn’t look sorry at all.

“How can we help?” It was Ryder that had spoken first but Milo and I nodded as well.

“We don’t have all the details yet. The one guard that wasn’t killed raised the alarm. The police haven’t been contacted yet. We need to get over there while the scene is still fresh.”

“The sooner the better.”