Into the Heart of a Killer: Memoirs of an Assassin

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was overcrowded.

That was the first thing I noticed as I entered the Ashdown mansion. There were dozens upon dozens of people wearing fancy suits and dress. The women wore jewelry everywhere—around their necks, in their ears, on their wrists, fingers, and even in their hair. It made me feel horribly dull in comparison. I'd bought the raspberry-colored dress, which was plain enough to begin with (but wasn't that what I had wanted?), but didn't have much jewelry. I had two hairclips that had fake pearls on them, and I wore a fake pearl necklace that came nowhere near the neckline of the dress. In fact, the necklace barely grazed my collar bones. But I had no other jewelry, and I felt naked compared to the other women.

As Ceseth and I had discussed, as soon as we showed our invitation and got through the front doors, he left me. He had said that it didn't matter if the invitation was for the both of us. He didn't want to be around me that evening, and I couldn't say I didn't feel the same way. I was already going to hate everything about this night, it would at least be marginally better if I didn't have Ceseth breathing down my neck.

I sighed as I made my way further into the building. Every person in there gave me a distasteful look, but none of their gazes lingered. It was as if I wasn't important—or well-dressed—enough to be worth anyone's time. Although I hated being looked down upon, I didn't mind being able to disappear, even in a crowd so plush and loud. It seemed everyone knew everybody, and every couple I saw could be seen talking with a different set of people every few minutes. Despite the busyness and apparent polite friendship, Ebenezer and Amirah Ashdown were nowhere to be seen.

She invited me so we could talk, I thought sourly. And she doesn't come downstairs?

I was left to my own devices, completely. Not only was Ceseth off likely flirting with some girl he was twice the age of, the very woman who had invited me seemed to not care about having the decency to show up. The irony was not lost on me. I had never counted on my mother before; why had I thought to start doing so now? I had done it almost instinctually, and it had nothing to do with familial ties. Wasn't it simply proper etiquette to show up to a party you yourself were hosting?

I thought about leaving. Ceseth likely wouldn't notice I was gone until the party was dying down, however many hours from now. He'd be furious, perhaps, but I could always lie about how long I'd been gone, and he would be none the wiser. But as I made up my mind to leave this awful place, I heard someone call my "name."

"Liliana!"

I turned and found myself dismayed to see my mother there. She was dressed in a beautifully elegant cream dress that offset her slightly tanned skin and dark hair. Her eyes were alight with enthusiasm that furiously rivaled my loathing. And despite the perfection of her outfit and jewelry, I noted immediately her hair was slightly mussed and something seemed off about the set of her dress on her body. It didn't take me long to reach a conclusion, as Ebenezer followed right behind her with his shirt untucked on the side. His jacket hid it well, and he likely didn't know his shirt was untucked at all. I nodded at him, then pointed. He didn't seem the least embarrassed as he tucked in his shirt, kissed Amirah on the cheek, and moved into the crowd.

"I was almost afraid you wouldn't show up," Amirah said, smiling. I wanted to smack that horrible expression right off her perfectly dimpled cheeks.

"I almost didn't," I replied curtly. "But unfortunately Ashdown invitations aren't optional."

"Don't be silly," Amirah said, obviously missing the veiled insult. "We don't force people to come to our parties. People come because they're fun—and we provide fantastic entertainment and food."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She looked younger than when I had first seen her at Ebenezer's rundown home in the slums. She exuded a confidence I didn't remember her having, and whatever mental instability she had when she'd sold me seemed to have evaporated completely. Had she been pretending that entire time, or was she pretending now? Was she as broken as she had been ten years ago? And how did she look like she hadn't aged a day?