Chapter Three
“What?” I struggledharder, panic making my head spin. Why they hell were they going to kill me? Who were they?
Sky shushed me and held his hands out to his sides. “We will not hurt you, doll. We can’t.”
The third man with the voice dropped to his knees as well beside Sky, the one who thought he was funny. He reached out a trembling hand and brushed his fingers against my cheek. “Shit.”
Whist finally released me, but they boxed me in, leaving me no way to escape. And a part of me didn’t want to. A part of me craved their touch. With Whist no longer wrapped around me, the ache returned to my chest. A hollow emptiness, like a part of me was missing.
I huddled into myself, wrapping my arms around my middle. “W-what’s going on? What do you mean you’re supposed to kill me? Who are you?”
Whist threw more wood on my fire, making it blaze back to life. I could see the three of them better and it made my heart pound harder, faster. They were beautiful, like carved statues come to life. They could have broken me in half with ease.
I scooted back against the log, hugging my feet to my chest and waited for answers.
The three men sat in a half circle in front of me, close but not touching. Why did I want them to touch me?
The one with the voice pointed to Whist. “He’s Whistler, but we call him Whist. That one is Schuyler, but we call him Sky. And I’m Saber.”
“I’m Rhapsody.” My voice came out trembling and small and confused.
“We know.” Whist inspected me like some sort of fascinating specimen.
I sat up, frowning. “How do you know who I am?”
“We were sent by the king.” Sky tossed another branch onto the fire.
I watched the sparks dance and flicker in the air instead of watching them. “Why?”
A long silence fell around us before Whist answered my question. “We’re assassins.”
My head whipped back around to face the men, shock stiffening my body. “He wants me dead? Why? I have done nothing illegal.”
Saber sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Which is why he sent us.”
My brow furrowed, and I shook my head, not understanding. “But... if he wants me dead, why am I still alive?”
“You don’t know? You don’t feel it?” Sky asked.
“Know what?”
Whist speared me with his gaze, his starlight eyes burning through me. “We’re your kindreds.”
A loud ringing blared through my mind, my thoughts tripping over themselves. This couldn’t be happening. “No. That’s impossible. No. Sorry, but I don’t believe in kindreds.”
Whist jerked back. “How can you not believe in kindreds?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to straighten my mind, my thoughts. “I mean, I believe they’re real and all, but I don’t believe in being forced to be with them. Don’t you know why the king wants me dead? Have you not heard my songs?”
Whist snarled and ran his hand through his hair. “Oh, we’ve heard your songs. They’ve reached everywhere, people whisper them and pass them along. They have the palace in an uproar.”
Saber slid a hand up my arm. “Don’t you feel it? The heat between us? The rightness?”
I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the goosebumps rising in the wake of his hand, and shook off his touch. “It doesn’t matter.”
Saber smiled in understanding. “Oh, love it matters. Now that we’ve met you, touched you. It’ll rip us to shreds if you try to deny the connection.”
I shook my head. No. This could not happen. “I’ll get over it and so will you.”
Sky patted my knee. “We can keep you safe. When we don’t return the king will send more after you.”
I jerked away from him, trying desperately to ignore the heat his touch sent racing through my body. “I’ll be more careful, but I will not stop performing.”
Sky’s hand clenched into a fist, like he was trying not to reach out for me again. “You have to. The king doesn’t want your words causing an uprising.”
I scoffed with bitterness. “I highly doubt he needs to worry about that.”
“You’d be surprised.” Saber clapped his hand onto Sky’s shoulder and the tension bled out of him.
Interesting.
Whist kicked dirt onto the fire. “Enough. Try to go back to sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow and take you to a safe place until we figure out our next move.”
Did they really expect me to sleep? Did they really expect me to just go along with them when I’d never seen them before in my life and had no idea the type of men they were? All I knew was they were assassins, and that was certainly not a ringing endorsement.
My chances of slipping away undetected were slim. One would remain awake, on guard while the rest of us slept. How could I convince them to let me go?
Ignoring them, I curled up under my blanket, hiding my face. This couldn’t be happening. What were the chances of me having three kindreds who were also assassins for the king? I hadn’t expected to even had kindreds since my parents weren’t bonded. The other few bastards I’d met hadn’t found theirs.
I faked sleep, listening to them chat quietly.
“What the fuck are we going to do? We didn’t come prepared for this. And in a week, we’ll have prices on our heads along with hers.” Sky sounded worried and frustrated.
Saber sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t believe we share the same kindred. I never dared hope we could stay together.” Saber’s voice and words drew me to him, but I fought it off.
“We will take her to one of my safe houses and lie low for a few weeks. Maybe once she’s disappeared, the king will forget about her.” Whist sounded certain and determined, not a hint of doubt coloring his tone.
“Unlikely, if we don’t return,” Saber said.
Sky scoffed. “We aren’t his slaves, we’re his employees. We can quit whenever we want.”
“Should we run? Head to Havisam?” Saber asked.
I smothered a snort. No way in hell was I running away to another country.
“It would still be a risk. Well-known royal assassins show up there? They could declare war.” Whist said.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Most people have no idea what we look like. We have forged papers, supplies all over the country.” Sky has lost all of his humor.
“She doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere with us.” Saber pointed out the obvious. He was the only one who seemed to give a shit about my opinions.
“She’ll change her mind. She clearly doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to be kindred. Why did her parents not prepare her?” Sky certainly was confident. I looked forward to seeing his confidence shattered.
“Maybe she’s an orphan.” Again, Saber was the only one who was thinking of my feelings instead of how to control me.
Sky made a thoughtful humming sound. “Probably. She’s angry enough at the royals to have some sort of trauma in her past.”
“Don’t we all.” Whist was dismissive, focused on my safety and their next moves.
“Don’t be a dick, Whist. Three men appeared in the night to kill her and then declared her their kindred. Her entire life is being upended. It’s a lot for anyone to take in.”
“We just lost our well-paying jobs, have to leave our home, and go on the run to keep our criminal kindred safe. She isn’t the only one having to make do.” A small pang of guilt slid through me at Whist’s words.
“Yes, but we have actually been looking for our kindred. She has apparently been running from finding hers. We need to understand what happened to make her this way. Was there anything in her file that would explain it?” Sky seemed to find his empathy.
Whist cursed. “There’s precious little on her. The only thing we know is her first name, description, and the lyrics to most of her songs. They had no info on family or friends. She has no home. She just travels from village to village passing along her borderline seditious prose.”
“But look at her. She’s perfect and gorgeous and deadly and brave. Everything we could ever want in a kindred.” Saber’s voice was filled with longing.
“Other than the criminal side of her.” Sky snorted. “But you’re right. She’s everything we hoped for other than her complete disinterest in joining us.”
Their conversation wound down as they each sank into their own thoughts. It sounded like they were settling in for the remainder of the night. It was time for me to think, to plan, to escape.