Page 16 of Contract Marked (Interdimensional Beings #1)
Chapter Sixteen
Cal
“P lease, I don’t have it. I swear!”
Sweat crawled down the sides of The Higher Realms’ being’s face, matting his orange curls to the sides of his triangular features. His feline-slitted pupils contracted as I took another step closer. Pink flames slithered along the paved road, venturing all the way down a winding path to the cluster of shops and buzzing beings we stepped away from. We stood in one of the most highly populated public shopping districts of The Higher Realms, and yet here, in the hidden cracks of this dimension, death and violence flourished.
My target, Manzliniolo, thought he could escape his fate by fleeing to here, but he would learn he could never be so lucky. No one escapes the Council’s orders. No one escapes me.
I nodded to a figure standing two steps behind the target. They took their swinging mace and blew out the backs of Manzliniolo’s legs. His screams bled into the night, soaked up by the chittering of animals and beings alike. The cascade of music lulling in from between the buildings, small and tall enough to compete with the sky’s three moons for space in its inky blanket, drowned out his agony. While surrounded by beings living their eternal lives, here, in the darkness, Manzliniolo was isolated.
Like all my targets before him, there will be no one to save him from his own demise.
He dropped to his knees. The chains at his neck and wrists, ensuring he didn’t warp away, rattled together. I took a step forward to eclipse his view entirely. The last thing he’ll see is me and my blade drawing life from him with the same ease I would use to brew a cup of coffee.
“I know you don’t have it. You sold it to a Lower Realms’ being,” I replied, my tone empty of emotion. This assignment had been one of the more grueling ones, leading to chasing down multiple people, both Higher and Lower Realms’ beings alike, to find the last of the magical relics at the Council’s behest.
Manzliniolo’s eyes widened and a spark of hope flitted there despite the odd angle his legs currently splayed against the stone road. The sight elicited a slow smile from me.
He licked his lips, his tongue longer than most beings and sharp at the end. “A contract. I’ll tell you who I sold it to in exchange for my freedom.”
I pretended to ponder his suggestion, twirling the handle of my blade in one hand. His gaze followed the spinning blade, the metal glinting off the pink flames and casting the surrounding pocket of darkness in strobes of light.
“Except you’ve already broken the Laws of the Higher Realms.” I stopped twirling my blade. “You’ve gone against the Council and, by extension, myself. It is time to face the consequences of your actions.”
My smile grew as panic clambered across his expression, his mouth unhinging in a silent plea. Normally, I’d draw out tonight’s events, but I had prior engagements. I was quick and thorough in slitting his neck, blood pouring down his chest as he slumped to the ground. It wasn’t long before his body began disintegrating, Manzliniolo’s essence vanishing to be reborn elsewhere into someone or something entirely new.
“Naito, tell Tatianna I’ll be late this evening.” I wiped my blade on the silk cloth I pulled from my jacket pocket.
Naito nodded. His plain features, cropped black hair, and slim build made him an ideal partner in this line of work with how he could easily blend in with his environment. The mace in his hands vanished before he did and I stared at the empty space he left behind. It wasn’t long ago that Dezmandaro had once stood where Naito had, ready with some quip to diffuse the seriousness of the situation. To pull me back from the darkness swirling my thoughts, the sinister place I dwelled in whenever the hilt of this blade touched my hand.
Without Dez, I feared I was fading more and more into that deep, dark place. It wouldn’t be long before I would no longer be able to dig myself back out.