Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 152: The Assassins

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Two: The Assassins

After Xaphile was gone, Ella let out a frustrated sigh, looking at her left leg.

Even though he had already left her, she could still feel his hands on her body.

His behavior had thrown her for a loop, but it had also made her realize all over again that he was truly falling in love with her. His possessive side had come out for a little while, but he didn't know how to handle that reality just yet. It was still too soon for him to accept things.

When she put her shoe back on, she planted her head in her hands, sighing.

The look on his face as he'd been speaking still lingered in her mind's eye.

Her pulse pounded in her ears.

"Well, at least he knows what happened to him," she murmured, finally rising to her feet. "Might as well return to the others and enjoy the rest of the evening."

She hoped that Xaphile would dance with her again before the night was done. Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands as a breeze ruffled her skirt. Her hair drifted in front of her eyes in as she started walking across the cobblestone, heading towards the alley.

But then, a firework exploded in the sky above her.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her shadow, eyes twitching open wider, because another figure was casting a shadow that loomed beside her own.

She whipped around just as the shadow flashed off to the side.

"I know you're there, so come out!" she called, eyes darting across every corner of the square; she shivered as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. "You can't hide from me. Just come out and tell me what you want with me!"

There was silence for a long moment, and Ella squinted at the darkness until the repugnant smell of bread flowers filled her nose. She stiffened, alarmed, and stepped back, hand poised to raise her skirt and draw her dagger. She narrowed her eyes, calculating her exits.

The smell of bread flowers made her think of the story Sinmir had told her about his wife and son being assassinated, and thanks to what she now knew of King Osric and Duke McCarthy, she was on full alert.

As if sensing her intentions, a tall, thin man dressed in a black cloak walked out of the shadows.

"Your ability to detect people is something else," the stranger whispered in a deep, husky voice; she blinked, since it was slightly familiar to her for whatever reason. "I was sent here to discover what you really intended to do to this country, but you've already shown us all that, haven't you? Aligning yourself with Adanac and the Eastern Provinces, and wooing a Faery."

"Who are you?" Ella warily demanded, heart thumping wildly; another firework exploded behind her, illuminating the shadows within the man's hood, revealing that he was wearing the same exact mask as the Terrace; the man came closer to her, cloak shuffling along the cobblestone.

"For such a big threat, you're such a small and fragile little thing..." the man whispered almost seductively. "Such loveliness... it's a shame it must go to waste."

Ella's heart palpitated when he chuckled.

She quickly raised her skirt and tried to draw her dagger, but the man lunged forward, grabbing her wrists and slamming her against the wall of a nearby building with one hand, crushing her bones against the brick. She shrieked in anger and in pain, but the sound cut off and she gagged as the heady scent of bread flowers filled her nose, almost suffocating her.