Indomitable

t h i r t y - f i v e

Remi narrowed her eyes at the tall, dark, broad-shouldered figure looming in the shadows above her. "You can't ignore me forever, you know."

He tilted his head up to the sky and blew out a long breath with closed eyes, completely ignoring her.

"Killure," Remi growled from the base of a tree, looking upwards.

His cold blue eyes peered down at her from where he was perched on a branch, so bright that they almost seemed to glow. "It's not that I'm ignoring you. I simply don't like to run my mouth nearly as much as you do, that's all."

It had been nearly two days, and he'd hardly spoken to her. It didn't seem like he was angry at her, or holding a grudge, but he definitely showed no interest in talking with her anymore.

Or in . . . doing anything else.

She wished he would open up to her. She wasn't going to betray him once he told her his secrets. At this rate, he probably never would.

Remi scowled up at him. He looked completely at ease up there, perched like a bird. "Maybe I'll climb up there and chain you to the tree trunk, then force you to speak with me."

He gave her a half smile, sharp canines protruding from his mouth. He ran his tongue across his bottom lip. "Or you could chain me to your bed. I'm sure I won't be quiet. However, rest assured, you'd be screaming so loud that you probably wouldn't be able to hear me."

Remi let out a frustrated growl. She shook away her drifting thoughts and tried to ignore the way her insides clenched at his words.

He was trying to distract her.

"Doll, would you mind moving back into the clearing? This won't work if you keep buzzing around me like a bug."

Remi gave him a heated glare before stomping back into the clearing. She pursed her lips and bent down to look at a plant with particularly large leaves, pretending to be completely engrossed and unaware of her surroundings. She let her shoulders sag comfortably, appearing completely off guard.

She heard the whiz of a knife cutting through the air this time, heading straight towards the back of her head, but didn't bother to move.

The familiar blur of black darted through the air in Remi's peripheral as silently and fluidly as the wind. She rolled her eyes and stayed still for a moment longer before getting up and turning around to find Killure lounging next to the unconscious body of the fifth assassin hired to kill her today.

Of course, she'd had to specifically instruct him not to kill anyone, since that was what he'd intended to do with the first assassin.

"Do you think that's the last of them? I'm tired of pretending to be the bait," Remi scowled deeply.

Killure tossed her a dangerously cold smirk.

Effortlessly, the Icix slung the full grown man over his shoulder, the muscles of his arm flexing, and strode over to the nearby pit, in which he tossed the body.

Remi slowly walked over to stand on the edge of the pit and look over the edge. The pit was fairly shallow--only about seven or eight feet deep, and quite wide. From the sogginess of the muddy ground and the haphazard way some chunks of grass grew slanted on the edge of the pit, Remi could tell this used to be a pond, once upon a time.