Those are assassins!

Chapter 16

After some time, the meeting was over, and the waiters efficiently brought out a buffet of food and drinks. I chose a few items for my plate and noticed the lady in pink coming towards me. "Sweetie, let's have a chat?" she said, studying me while holding a flute of champagne.

Oh, no - she has recognized that I'm a woman? I said to myself that this was not good, but I had to remain calm.

"With pleasure!" I replied forcing a smile, and then we sat down in quiet corner of the hall.

"My name is Beth and I'm Theo's aunt," she began.

I nearly choked on the canape I had just put in my mouth and started coughing. What? This young woman has turned out to be Theo's senior?

"We are Lycan and can live a very long life. Actually, I'm only fifty years older than him," Beth explained said as she winked at me.

I softened my tone towards her: "Madam Beth, I am Gamma Aiden." I felt a little uncomfortable as she had not seen through my disguise and thought I was a woman, but I couldn't reveal my true identity to her without Theo's permission.

She seemed to sense my unease. "Gamma Aiden, it seems to me that Theo likes you a lot, he's never brought a woman with him," she said with a hint of a tease in her voice.

This compounded my discomfort, my face was crimson and I didn't know how to answer except by giggling like a schoolgirl.

"What are you guys talking about?" Theo walked up to us holding a glass of Semillon.

"Girls' talk, your Majesty, would you like to join us?" Beth looked at Theo, her voice as sultry and charming as before.

Theo was about to reply when a sudden burst of ear-splitting gunfire, accompanied by the sound of breaking window glass, pierced the air.

"Those are assassins!"

I heard someone scream. Another round of intense gunfire entered the hall through the windows, with bullets whizzing over my head, and I scowled. I heard a commotion and scuffles outside, and I knew there must be several approaching attackers.

Theo and Beth produced their handguns and started to shoot back in the direction the shots had come from. Theo fired while at the same time dragging me up the stairs: "Hurry up there and find a secluded place to hide," he ordered me with urgency.

I followed his orders, covered my head with my hands and ran desperately up the staircase. I soon reached the third floor, which was at the top of the castle. Here it seemed safe, and there was no sign of anyone following me. Feeling that the immediate danger had passed for me, I hid behind a pillar and peeked down at the gun battle that was raging below.

There were what seemed to be around thirty masked men in black balaclavas, holding revolvers and aiming at Theo and his counsellors.

Even wearing high heels, Beth walked as fast as if she were flying. She was proving to be a highly skilled markswoman, taking down the invaders with precision and accuracy, just like one of those cool Bond girls in the movies. I was studying her enviously.

Soon, around ten people lay the ground, half of them waiters and the other half our unwelcome guests. Worried, I searched for Theo, even though I knew about his powers and that I really didn't have to worry about his safety.

After what seemed like a long time, I spied Theo, and I let out a deep sigh of relief; however, I immediately realized that something was wrong. As it turned out, Theo was the assassins' target, and they were trying to create distance between him and the others.

A hail of bullets forced Theo and Luke into a corner, and they shielded themselves behind a tall bronze statue while they fired back, while the others directly confronted the assassins and were separated from Theo.

The attackers' bullets seemed to be no ordinary weapons, and I was horrified to see the pained expression of one of Theo's counsellors as he reacted to being hit.

Usually, Lycan are not wounded by bullets except for silver ones; werewolves are highly allergic to silver, which acts as a poison and burns their skin like acid would burn the skin of a mortal. The silver bullets kill Lycan as the silver inhibits their ability to regenerate from injuries.

No wonder these assassins took the initiative, they knew what they were doing. Thinking about it, I broke into a cold sweat. What if Theo was hit by a bullet...

Bang! Bang! Several more shots rang out, two huge crystal chandeliers hanging down from the roof smashed to the ground, and the Great Hall was immediately plunged into darkness and reverberated to the sound of shattered glass and the clatter of the broken chandeliers.

It must have been Theo's men who had shot the lights down and were stalling for time so that Theo might escape.

I suddenly felt a movement behind me, and I instinctively pulled out the dagger that had been attached at my waist and threw it in the direction of the movement.

"Aagh!" I heard a scream, and I looked behind me to see that the dagger was now protruding from the chest of a black-clad assassin, who struggled briefly and then fell backwards onto the marble floor.

I hurriedly tried to unmask the assassin to see what kind of a man he was. But just when I had exposed his face, I glanced at another attacker who was speeding towards me, pointing a gun right at me. Without thinking, I instinctively and pulled the body of my previous attacker up, using him as a shield from my adversary.

Bang! The bullet entered my human shield, and I rapidly hurled another dagger at the gunman, who collapsed in agony. I thought I was out of danger, but then I felt a sharp pain as if someone was biting me on the shoulder.

I turned around and was amazed to find that my shield was somehow not dead. His teeth were sunk into my left shoulder, and both his eyes were wide open and bulging. I was terrified and could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

his could not be right - I desperately struggled to push him away, but he stuck to me like a limpet, and I couldn't get him away from me.

As I felt his hands tightening around my neck, I pulled out my last dagger and expertly sliced down the artery of his neck, causing a shower of blood to spray into my face. This time I did not dare to relax, as I then stabbed the dagger into his stomach with my full force.

For an instant, all I could hear were his blood-curdling screams, but soon his cries were drowned out by the gunfire that was continuing downstairs.

My attacker's teeth and hands loosened from me, and I pushed his mutilated body away once and for all. I slumped to the floor and gasped for air.

As I sat, I looked around, afraid that another assassin would emerge. I didn't know how to use a gun, and I had already used the dagger I had on me. Luckily, it looked like all was clear, and that everyone else was occupied in business downstairs.

I noticed that the gunfire coming from the dark corner where Theo was hiding was becoming less frequent. Luke and he were huddled behind the statue, and the statue was riddled with bullet holes and at the point of collapsing.

Theo must have run out of bullets! I was filled with dread, hating myself for being useless and unable to help him. My mind flashed back to the scene where he saved me from Emily and held me in his arms; I felt a rush of blood and said to myself, I have to save him.

Wiping the blood from my face, I immediately snatched the guns that the two dead assassins no longer needed, pushed their bodies down the staircase and plunged down the Great Hall, and into the corner where Theo was hiding.

As I expected, when the assassins in the Great Hall noticed the bodies hurtling down the stairs, they diverted their attention to them and started shooting indiscriminately in the direction of the bodies.

By the time they noticed me jump down, I had bought myself enough time, and the bullets merely grazed the top of my head and my ears as I landed next to Theo and Luke.

I passed the guns to Theo and Luke. I had angered Theo with my actions, and he rebuked me while shooting: "What are you doing coming down here, you'll get yourself killed!"

I curled up with my head in my hands and didn't dare to speak.

Theo and Luke engaged in the exchange of fire before Theo gave an instruction: "Let's hold our position for another five minutes, Beth has just mind linked me and will be here soon."

I couldn't understand what he was saying. Beth was trapped on the opposite side by the assassins, surely she couldn't have flown over? But soon enough I saw Beth arrive from behind, supported by four combatants.

I was still wondering how these people could have made it to here when they had already begun to return fire at the assassins. The assassins, who had thought that they were fighting only Theo and Luke, were now aware that they were facing a larger adversary and started to panic.

Beth drew me back a few steps, and I saw that there was a hole in the floor. "Get down there!" Beth instructed me and led me through the hole. I followed, then Theo and the other men. When Beth was sure that everyone was present, the entry hole with a sliding board and ordered us to come with her.

We followed Beth through a maze of narrow, dark underground tunnels until exited at the opposite side of Great Hall. By now, the remainder of Theo's group had surrounded the assassins, and we joined them.

The assassins immediately turned on the defensive, as our reinforcements had arrived, and they tried to flee the scene. Theo and his men would not show the assassins any mercy and mowed them down in a hail of bullets; soon the skirmish was over, and the floor was scarlet with the bloodied cadavers of the defeated assassins.

Theo and his men unmasked the assassins one by one and inspected them carefully, trying to find some clues as to where they had been sent from. I saw Theo taste the blood of one of the assassins, before frowning and enquiring of Luke, "How come these human assassins have our werewolves' blood mixed with their blood?"

"You know, I've been careful not to kill quite all the assassins. I intended to spare a few of them for interrogation, and did not expect those who were only wounded to die as well. There's not one of them alive. " Luke reported to Theo.

Listening to their conversation, I recalled the battle I had just had with two of the assassins. On reflection, I felt that the two moved like some kind of controlled warriors in a game, with extra strength but not enough flexibility.

When Theo had finished his examinations, he called me outside of the hall, where he leant me against the wall, gently wiped the blood off my face and reproached me, "I implore you, please remember never to risk your life at any time; I am Lycan and will not be killed so easily."

"When I was in danger, you didn't abandon me and leave me alone, so I couldn't bear to see you in danger and leave you alone." I replied resignedly.

Theo gave me a peck on my forehead, "Dory, I realize that I missed out a very important part of your training, which is that of shooting. If you don't know how to use a gun, you could be in danger if you encounter another situation like today's."

He stared at me, paused, and continued, "We are not allowed to use weapons in the werewolf world, so I am going to ask Beth to teach you how to shoot here. I'll bring you back some time later."

I was a little sad to leave Theo, but nodded in agreement anyway.

Theo took me to Beth. "Beth, I'll leave her with you, please do train her well."

"Sure, your Majesty, I need some company anyway," Beth agreed, casting me a cheeky glance.

"I'll test you when I come back to pick you up, Dory." The he turned again to Beth: "I have to head back soon, I've received a mindlink from my men that Paul has been rallying some Alphas to try to stage a coup. This assassination seems to be a collaboration between Paul and the humans, I can't let this old crock cause trouble."

At that, he waved goodbye to the two of us and disappeared into the darkness with his men.