Heart of the Assassins (Academy of Assassins #2)

Big and fit, they exuded power.

If she and the men fought, they would only succeed in drawing more attention. If they ran, she had no doubt their welcoming committee would hunt them down, so she took the only option open to them. “Of course.”

The soldiers surrounded her group, and she suspected it wasn’t for her protection, but more to conceal her from prying eyes. They headed toward the largest building…a glass tower monstrosity that dominated a full city square. Pixies fluttered around the garden out front, tending to the plants. Everything had a peaceful air. No one rushed anywhere. There was no yelling, no horns blaring. No laughter.

It gave her the heebie-jeebies.

The inside of the tower was pristine, exotic flowers everywhere, granite covering every surface. Paintings were hung around the walls like it was a gallery, a couple of the canvasses were filled with bold splashes of color, while others were done with exquisite attention to detail.

And in each of them, buried in the paint, rested a sigil, hidden like 3D art. The magic was slight, but the strength of the spell deceptively strong.

And the spell was surprisingly familiar, one she recognized from the way it buzzed against her skin.

A suppressant.

No one could work magic inside the building without their power being absorbed into the paintings.

Kincade nudged her forward when she lingered too long. They were directed toward a bank of elevators. The soldiers parted, leaving her no choice but enter the elevator first. When her men tried to follow, the soldiers stepped between them and a shoving match ensued. Kincade’s elbow met a guard’s nose and first blood was shed.

The rasp of guns leaving holsters was loud to her ears, and Morgan shoved her way between the two groups, turning to face the uniformed man who appeared to be in charge. “If you want me to go peacefully, they remain with me.”

His eyes went distant, as if communicating with someone, but she detected no hearing device. Then he gave her a hard nod, his eyes focusing on her once again. “Very well.”

Morgan entered first, then the guys piled in behind her, their broad shoulders a solid wall of protection. The leader leaned into the elevator, pushed a button, then ducked back out seconds before the door closed.

Peaceful Celtic music oozed through the speakers, completely at odds with the tension in the confined space, the sound putting her on edge. The metal box shot upward so fast she knew magic had a hand in its creation.

She hesitantly touched the wall…and met cool metal.

“Expecting something else?” Draven quirked a brow at her.

She shrugged, a betraying blush heating her cheeks as she dropped her arm. “It’s so…earthlike.”

“They probably monitor both realms.” Ascher didn’t seem very impressed. “Would you want to live in squalor or modern comfort?”

Before she could answer, the cage slowed, the doors pinged open, and Morgan braced herself for the unexpected.

An ordinary office wasn’t it.

The guys exited first, a number of them reaching for weapons that weren’t there. She walked out onto the plush carpet and into a massive room done tastefully in muted colors. The first thing that caught her attention was the view. They were in the penthouse suite, the vast city spread out below them.

The awe lasted for only a few seconds before she began to notice inconsistencies. Ryder came to stand next to her, a solid, comforting presence at her back. She would always feel safe with him by her side.

No smog filled the air, no billboards flashed advertisements. Cars were uniformly parked an exact distance apart, while drivers on the road were evenly spaced. The cars didn’t appear to run on gas, but pure magic.

Hell, no one even dared jaywalk.

She tore her attention away from the disturbing scene to see mountains looming in the distance, the crisp white caps almost painful on the eyes. Tiny shapes circled the mountains, and if she squinted just right, she could make out…dragons! Patrolling the skies! She pressed her hand and nose against the glass, gazing at the creatures in awe.

A crystal-clear ocean lay beyond, and she could just make out buildings, both above and below the surface of the water.

“Atlantis.”

Morgan startled, pivoting to see a man standing off to the side with both hands behind his back, immaculately dressed in a lean, dark blue suit and a form-fitting pale blue shirt. Her men prowled around the room, not missing a detail of the mystery man or their surroundings.

The man didn’t even spare them a glance.

“We don’t get many visitors here—you’re the first outsider in over a millennium, actually.” He gave her a charismatic smile, revealing even, white teeth and a gorgeous set of dimples that made her swallow hard.

The man was beyond stunning, his hair as dark as midnight, the reflection off the window giving the strands an almost silver sheen, the sides a little shaggy, the top a few inches too long, making him appear a bit unruly. He had a pale complexion and violet blue eyes, the combination striking. He was tall and fit, his muscles not those gained in a gym, but earned through hard work.

Power poured off him, barely contained. He oozed charm naturally, like others exuded body odor, and he instantly put her back up.

“My name is Shade.”

“Morgan,” she answered grudgingly, refusing to introduce her men or call attention to them. If she had to guess, the man wasn’t a full god, but a demigod, and possibly more dangerous in his quest for power. “What do you want?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” His amicable attitude dropped away at her blunt question, revealing a ruthless, cunning man beneath. “No one travels to Tartarus unless they want something.”

Morgan pursed her lips, debating the wisdom of trusting him.

Gods were fickle creatures.

Dangerous.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice. Time was running out. “The realm is dying. I’ve come to find a way to stop it.”

“Not dying.” Shade studiously straightened the few items on his desk. “The realm is being terraformed. Groomed to remove the current residents and start over when we’re released.”

Kincade and Draven swore viciously, while steam rose from Ascher. Ryder remained stoic, but Atlas didn’t appear surprised. When he caught her looking, he just shrugged. “It’s a smart move.”

Morgan was flabbergasted, but the explanation made a sick kind of horrible sense. Can’t leave the residents, the very people who enslaved them, still running around in case it happened again. “You’re killing them.”

“What is that saying…fool me once, shame on you?” He shrugged. “The gods won’t give them an opportunity to fool them twice.”

She turned and cast a critical eye over the city, her mind in chaos over the scope of what they wanted to achieve. “Why would they want to give up this place? Tartarus was created and built just for your bloodlines, and molded to be whatever you want.”

He joined her at the window and stared off in the distance, his eyes going dark. “Every Eden has its snakes.”

Under no circumstances could the gods ever be allowed free.

If they managed to escape, they would once again descend on earth, making it their own personal playground, and she went cold at the thought of the pandemonium, death and destruction that would follow.

“Do you know what’s happening in the other realms?”

“Yes, and they’ve made a colossal mess of things. Everyone thought the gods were the monsters, but it appears each race has savages of their own.” Shade turned away from the window, then leaned his shoulder against the glass to study her. “No race is better than the other, despite what they want to believe.”

Morgan couldn’t argue.

He was right.

“You could stay in this realm, wait for the terraforming to be completed, and join the gods.” Shade spoke casually, the tension lining his body so subtly she almost didn’t pick up on it.