The Assassin and His Boy (BxB)

Chapter Two

Averie's POV

I laid on the couch wide awake that night. I know Lucas pinky promised me, but I had a suspicion that he would be trying to leave regardless.

Especially with my luck with apprentices lately. With in the last year I've had six apprenticeships. And those six died. The longest lasted seven months, but one only made it two weeks before getting killed.

I groaned quietly, rubbing a hand over my face and sighing deeply. There were actually not a lot of hitmen in this city, despite the reputation of high crime rates. Just five or six of us that did a lot of work. I only knew one of them, the man who taught me. But the others I had no clue about. So it's not like anyone would be worried about competition.

And who would want to kill my apprentices anyway? Why not go directly for me?

Cause you're harder to kill. A little voice in my head reminded me helpfully.

I stood up, quietly walking over to the window, my socks muffling my already silent footsteps there. I stared out to the city, my mind turning as I chewed on my lip.

Someone who killed them had to have first of all known I had them. Then they have to have had followed us around. Which baffled me, as I was always making sure no one followed me. And, finally,  they had to have known when my apprentices were alone, without me to protect them.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, going to check on Lucas to try and occupy my mind instead of murder mysteries. I laughed quietly to myself. I should be the one murdering, not solving them.

I opened the door to the bedroom, glancing inside, looking for Lucas's sleeping form. The feeling of cold air hitting my face told me that I wouldn't find him in the covers.

The window was wide open, and I could hear the creaking of the fire escape. I cursed, rushing over. Lucas was crawling down the escape, moving slowly to try and stay quiet.

"Where are you going to go if you leave?" I asked, startling him. He jumped, cursing.

"Away from you, psycho!"

"Back to the cold streets where you barely get enough to eat and probably have to sell your body to random old guys for, hmm, lemme guess. Thirty dollars?" I offered, resting my chin in my hand. He glared, but I could tell at least a few of my words were getting to him.

"If I stay here I'll most likely end up dead, like your last one." I sighed.

"I'm not going to let you die like him." I tried to assure him. "I promise."

"You're a murderer!" He spat. "Why should I believe you?!"

"Hmm, I dunno, maybe because I'm offering you a place to live for work purposes instead of sex?" I suggested. My words did nothing to move the scowl from his face, but I realized happily that he was moving up the escape. I moved out of the way so that he could climb into the room and I shut the window behind him. "Aren't you cold?" I asked, referring to his clothing choice of a t-shirt and shorts.

"I'm fine," He growled. I sighed.

"You should've at least chosen a better outfit to run away in."

"You should've made sure your last apprentice didn't die."

"I did my best. It was just fate." I said, thinking back to the way that kid was always arguing with me about everything. And I mean everything.

"Will it be 'Just fate' when I die?" He snarled.

"Had anyone ever told you how grumpy you are when you don't get enough sleep?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Cause your attitude is terrible."

"I have as much sleep as I need!" He shouted, snapping. "And I don't need you telling me what to do!"