The Prince's Assassin

Chapter Fifteen

My fingers begin to tremble like chittering teeth.

"Aren't you going to even say hello?" He smiles. I look around him to see two other people from our gang standing leisurely outside.

I slide my back up the counter wall until I'm standing up straight.

"Why are you here?" I look at him warningly.

But I already know why he's here...

To kill me.

"Just thought I'd pop by to see how you're doing out in the world all alone."

"I'm not playing games with you, Snake. How did you find me?"

"I have connections everywhere. People talk, you know. The underground is a big network."

"Leave now, and I won't hurt you." I growl.

My eyes are still tired, despite my nap, and my reflexes slow. How I'm going to win this fight is a mystery to me.

Snake chuckles and looks back at his men, then back at me. "Only one of us is leaving here, Raven. It's three to one, so you might as well just surrender now and save us all the bullets."

"I'd rather die fighting than surrender to you." I hiss.

"Fine. Have it your way."

As soon as he stops talking, bullets start flying at me. I leap behind the counter for cover as the three men take cover outside the shop door. Glass shatters and falls to the ground around us.

My body is weak and unprepared for battle, making it even harder to think of a plan of attack. I look up at the round mirror in the top corner of the room that allows me to see the shooters outside.

This is it. What have I really got left to lose?

I pull off my hidden-blade sleeve that's strapped on my forearm. I count to 3 before jumping up and throwing it at one of the shooter's necks, hitting a bullseye as he drops to the ground in short lived agony.

Snake now pulls out his gun too and they both direct their aim at me again. I look around me for some sort of shield or weapon so I can get closer. A small plank of wood lays beside me along with a hammer and a few rusted nails.

I grip the hammer tightly in my hand and breathe calmly while bullets whistle past my head. I grab the piece of wood under my arm and count to three again, like I always do.

As quickly as my body lets me, I stand up and spin around, launching the hammer at the gang member's head. Blood sprays as he falls to the ground. As soon as my brain catches up, I haul myself on top of the counter with the plank of wood and raise it above my head. Snake only just registers what's going on and looks up, but it's too late. I am already leaping down at him, forcing the plank of wood straight on the top of his head.

I somersault over his body and roll to the ground outside the shop. I look over at Snake, who isn't moving.

I slowly ease myself up and walk unsteadily over to where he lays. Blood covers the top of his almost hairless head and his eyes are closed softly.

I killed him.

I killed Snake.

I puff out a breath I didn't know I was holding and turn away from his body, taking a few steps and wiping the dust from my eyes. I sigh, unsure if it's a sigh of relief or one of shame.

The sound of a gun followed by a piercing pain through my shoulder knocks me to my knees.

I fall on my side so I can see who shot me. Snake is rising from his feet, wiping the blood from his face and stumbling over to me.

"Thought I was dead, didn't you?" He chuckles devilishly through heavy breaths.

I feel the blood on my shoulder seeping through my clothes and soaking them crimson. Tears fall from my eyes, even though I'm forcing them back so I don't seem weak.

But I am weak.

"I think I should tell you the truth before you die, Raven."

I cough and heave as the pain in my shoulder continues to get worse. I can't find the energy in my body anywhere to even lift my hand and punch Snake.

"The truth is that I didn't actually find you abandoned in an ally way as a baby." He sits down on the cement beside me and plays with the gun in his hand as I bleed out. "I was doing an unplanned drug deal, and had to quickly find a meeting point. There was a house nearby and it was night time so I just decided to use their backyard." He pauses and looks at me then says. "You know what, I'm going to try and give you the short version in case you die before I get to the point."

"The owners of the house woke up and found us in the backyard." He continues. "A newly married couple, they were. The husband threatened to call the police if we didn't leave immediately. But me and the other gang decided they had already seen to much. So I took the pleasure of going into their house and shooting them both in the head. But as I was about to leave, I heard this strange noise coming from down their hallway. I followed it and came to a room with a crib in the centre. And there you were, little baby Raven. So weak and helpless."

My eyes widen and my stomach aches inside and out, and not just because I've been shot.

"I was going to shoot you too, until I decided I could use you to protect me. And it's not like you would know any different."

I let out a groan of both physical and emotional pain.

"You killed my parents." I cough.

"Exactly. And I always knew this day would come. It's a real shame that skills like yours are going to be wasted." Snake stands up and aims the gun at my head.

"Go to hell." I force the words from my throat.

I close my eyes, preparing for the darkness that awaits me.

*~*~*~*

Flynn P.O.V

"Raven? Raven can you hear me?"

Her eyes blink slowly until they open and stare straight back at me.

"Flynn?" She croaks.

I smile at the sound of her voice. We sit uncomfortably on the concrete ground, me holding Raven's top half of her body in my arms. Her face is stained with blood and tears and sweat all mixed together but I still can't think of another woman more beautiful than her.

"It's going to be ok, the ambulance is on it's way."

"What happened?" She whispers, her head falling back against my shoulder.

I look over at Snake, who lays lifelessly on the ground with a bullet hole in his head.

"It's over, Rave. You just stay alive for me now, ok?" I sooth and stroke her knotted hair.

I hear the sirens in the distance and silently pray for them to hurry up.

"How did you find me?" She looks up at me with her sapphire eyes.

"You seriously didn't think I wouldn't come after you? I convinced the Duchess to let me go as soon as I climbed into that car."

She smiles weakly and closes her eyes gently.

"Raven. Open your eyes," I tell her, "C'mon, stay awake with me."

She hums in reply and continues to smile. The sirens seem to only be faintly getting louder.

"Look at me, Baby. I can't have come all this way only for you to die in my arms. You're mine and I'm not leaving you. " I desperately speak to her.

She opens her eyes drearily and says, "I love you, Flynn. I loved you all along."

I smile and force back tears of my own. "I love you too, Raven."

The ambulance finally pulls into the abandoned service station just a few meters from us.

"They're here. You're going to be ok." I whisper and kiss her forehead gently.

But her eyes stay closed and her lips are no longer smiling. Her face is expressionless. Lifeless.

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