BLOODHOUNDS #5: THE MONSTER

Chapter 7 - LEAVE HER

Anastasia Creed

"If you flinch, you'll lose." Asher gave me three knives, and I immediately knew what kind of game he had in mind.

"How many rounds?" I asked as I checked if the knife was sharp or not. I cut myself to check, and it's so sharp that I don't need pressure to see blood dripping from the edge of my pinky.

"Five." He said as he stood against the wall, "Ladies first."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. I have three sharp knives, and I can quickly kill him by throwing them to where his heart is.

"I'm sure." He said confidently.

"One knife is enough for me to—"

"I know you won't kill me. You need me." I rolled my eyes and threw the first knife. I threw the blade next to his neckline, and he smirked. He didn't even flinch a bit.

"Don't blink," I warned and threw the knife right beside his ear, and it grazed him. He didn't even blink, and I was pissed already.

"One more, Ana. Surprise me." I walked towards him and casually threw it between his legs. It cut his pants, and if I threw the knife a little higher, I would have cut his balls.

"Too easy." He said as he pulled all the knives from the wall. I walked past him and stood against the wall. Without any warning, Asher threw his first knife, and he cut the side of my thigh.

"Do you have to make me bleed?" I asked, and he threw another knife towards the side of my stomach, where I instantly moved away.

I had a small flashback where I quickly ran to the bathroom and threw up. Asher pulled my hair away as I kept throwing up again and again. I sat down and leaned my body against the wall.

Asher grabbed a new towel and wrapped it around my thigh, where it was bleeding.

"What just happened?" He asked, and I slowly looked up to him.

"You won. That happened." I casually said it, hoping that he would accept his victory.

"You know damn well that I was not talking about me winning."

"You caught me off guard." I got up slowly and walked out of the bathroom. Suddenly, Asher picked me up and made me sit on the kitchen table, where he grabbed an emergency kit. He treated the cut on my thigh.

"Red Dog killed my uncle who raised me and took everything from him." Asher looked up at me as he finished treating me.

"I've been diving into the underground world since I was eleven because my uncle was a drug lord. Red Dog was one of his right-hand men who turned greedy and killed him in his sleep."

"You got your revenge," I said, even though I hated that he killed Red Dog. Red Dog or Rave, he saved my life after my brother dropped me to him. He turned me into an assassin so I could help him kill people and steal from them.

"We are both looking for the same person. She was the one who told Red Dog to kill my uncle. I want you to tell me everything that you know, and we can work together to kill her." I stood up and shook my head.

"I'm trying to move on. Even though I want to kill her so badly, things changed, and I rather—"

"She has a twin somewhere in Europe. We've been tracking her since last week, and if we get to her twin first, we can lure her out easily." We both looked at each other, and he stood up, towering over me with his height and muscular body.

"I want you to think about it." He said as he slipped his hand to my cheek, caressing it with his thumb.

"No." I pushed his hand away from me. I walked to the living room to grab my bag when my phone rang, and it was my mom. I answered it.

"Yes, mom."

"Where are you? Everyone was worried about you." I turned to Asher and turned to the time.

"I'm sorry. I was just strolling around. I'll be home in thirty minutes."

"Okay." I ended the call and put my phone into the hoodie pocket.

"I'll give you a week to think about it, Ana. I know that you're trying to move on, but you know damn well that you still have skeletons hiding in your closet. We both are looking at the same person, so if we work together, we can kill her easily and move on with our lives." We stared at each other again, and I shook my head.

"You can't change my mind, Asher. Good luck finding her, and I'll be coming to your funeral soon." Asher nodded and gestured for me to go. My head told me to walk out, but my body betrayed me by gluing myself.

"If you stalk me again, I'll kill you," I warned him, and he nodded. I walked to the door and opened it. My body tried to stay for whatever reason, but my head won.

I walked out and never looked back.

Asher Serano

"Did it work?" Ares asked me.

"No."

"Why didn't you kill her?" Kayden asked as he grabbed a can of beer from my fridge.

"Not yet."

"Not yet?" Ares asked, knowing damn well that I'm not the type to leave traces.

"He likes her," Clyde said as he left the bathroom. I glared at him, and he turned to the kitchen, avoiding my eyes.

"She's not the only assassin that Red Dog has. We should find another one and ask them." Mason said as he sat on the sofa, taking his laptop from his bag.

"Kill her, and let's find another one," Ares said, and I shook my head.

When I threw my knife to the side of her stomach, she immediately flinched and threw up. I knew Ana was not an ordinary assassin right away from the get-go, but for her to show her weakness in front of me made me believe that she had a lot of stories to tell.

"For now, let's leave her alone."