School of the Crown Assassins

28

The table taking up the side of the cavern was cluttered in bloody weapons, black armor, and numerous files. I sucked in a breath as Chance leaned over the table flipping through the pages.

I was rooted in place, unable to react. I had expected it to be Chance, but now that the confirmation was staring me in the face, I couldn't believe my eyes. Chance Dayholt, the boy who had cared more than the rest of us, tore Knox's body apart to put on a show. The boy who was an ever-loving older brother tried to kill me.

I blinked as I watched Chance, who hadn't spotted us, sharpen a knife. I took a deep breath, trying to get myself to think of a solution when Axe stepped forward.

"C-man!" he called, his voice light as if casually greeting someone during lunch.

Chance jumped as he looked his friend in the eye. "Axe?"

"Hey man!" Axe replied with a half-smile. "What are you doing here?"

I gaped at Axe. What the hell is he doing?

Chance looked between the two of us and replied, "What are you doing down here?"

"Indigo said there could be a serial killer down here so we were just looking around. You?"

I glared at Axe, trying to get him to stop talking, but he avoided me, his wild eyes focused only on Chance. Chance tilted his head, grey eyes inspecting Axe. Axe maintained his casual expression, though his shoulders were stiff, waiting for what would happen next. Chance turned to me, scanning my expression as if to see if I was onto him. I tried to keep a poker face, but he found an answer.

Chance grabbed a gun and pointed it straight at me. I whipped out my daggers, their weight bracing my hands.

"Woah, Chance, buddy." Axe held his hands up in a surrender. "What are you doing?"

"You already know, Axe," Chance spoke, his voice smooth and soft. "You're just denying it."

Axe let out a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah, well what I'm thinking about is impossible so—"

"I'm the killer," Chance interrupted. "I murdered all of those kids."

Axe let his hands drop as the light was drained from his eyes, his half-smile fading. He didn't make any move to reach for the gun at his waist. All he did was utter a single, "Oh."

"Why?" I asked Chance. "What made you go on a killing spree against the other assassins?"

Chance turned back to me. "Why anyone does anything: revenge."

"Did the Crowns kill your parents?" I asked. "Set fire to your home and let you live with the pain?"

"They did," he said, his eyes far away. "You know why?"

I shook my head. "Why?"

"Because they knew a little secret about the Crowns. So did your parents. And we were the evidence. That's why they had to pay and we had to live with the consequences."

I blinked. "I don't understand. What do you mean by my parents?"

"Have you heard," Chance began, his voice low, "that the Crown Fortier was a very unfaithful man?"

I thought back to the statement Arielle had let slip in her spite and nodded.

"He had numerous affairs right before his wedding to the Unassailable Queen. One was with Eleanor Kavinsky, my mom. Another with Eveleen Sharpe."

My mind whirled.

Eveleen Sharpe.

My mother.