J A K E

The closer we got to the place that Hundsen was hiding out, the more I was filling with anticipation. My body was filled with a strange jumpy feeling, like I could barely contain the mixture of triumphance and animosity I held in my chest.

I'd been waiting for this for months. Ripping out my enemy's eye had certainly been a power-grabbing victory, but I needed more. I had warned him that I was going to inflict real pain on him and I intended to deliver on that promise.

My plans of vengeance had barely even begun. So far, I'd only really taken his eye and his lair. He still had everything: his money, power, his empire, the Club and a person he loved. For now.

This time, I was about to dispatch a blow that would strike him straight through the heart.

I only wished that I could see the look on his face when I did. The expression of utter loss and destruction in his eyes would be something I'd savor for a long time after. After I was done with him this time, Hundsen wouldn't know peace. I wanted him to roam the halls of his mansion feeling devastatingly alone and wondering how to fill the empty hole I made in his heart.

But I hadn't done anything yet. I forced the flurry of anticipation down inside myself; I had to be perfectly composed for this to happen as I wanted it. The celebration would come only after victory was mine.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Tesla scoffed and pointed to the street sign as we turned down the road Hundsen's second home was on. "He lives on a road called Peace Prospect? Oh, the irony."

Behind me, I could hear Jaxon rubbing his hands together. "Are you guys ready? This is going to be fun."

"We're only here tonight to scout out the house," I reminded him. "Tomorrow night is when we make our move."

"Either way, it's better to be here than watching Benny be interrogated again."

"If you could even call it an interrogation," Tesla muttered.

I watched the house numbers get higher as I drove us deeper into the neighborhood. It seemed that the farther in we got, the bigger and more extravagant the houses became.

The address ran through my mind like a rosary. I let it repeat over and over, reminding me what I was here for.

I parked the car down the street from the house; the last thing I wanted was anyone catching a glance of it and calling the authorities because they were suspicious. This was bound to get messy, but it would be even more so if I had to take out a squad of police officers.

"Williams, you're going in first," I instructed. "Slip through a side window while invisible and head straight to the back left corner of the house. There's a small room for security there. Once you're inside, take out all the guards and leave them unconscious so that no one's watching the security cameras. Knock out the power to that room afterwards."

"Complete that task in exactly fifteen minutes or less. After that, Tesla and I will be able to walk onto the property without being spotted by the outside cameras. From there, we'll spy into the house to find out exactly who's home."

Before we left to drive upstate, I'd done some investigation into the house itself so that we could be more efficient when navigating the place. Now, I had a general idea of the floor plan and where things laid, which I could easily use to my advantage.

"That sounds extremely risky," the assassin remarked from beside me. "There are a million things that could go wrong with that plan."

"You know better than that, Tesla," I chastised. "I don't take risks; I plan everything out. This night will go smoothly."

From the back seat, Jaxon chimed in with, "If anything goes wrong, you owe me twenty bucks."

"Fine," I agreed, confident in my plans for vengeance. "And if the night goes exactly how it should, then you'd better fork over the money."

As he got out of the car and vanished from sight, Tesla crossed her arms and looked out the window. "How much do you want to bet that he messes up on purpose?"

"He won't." I knew Jaxon. He talked a lot and could say anything that he'd like, but in the end, he would do what he was meant to do. Especially after what had happened the last time we'd teamed up, he was desperate to prove that he was still competent.

I looked out my side window at the setting sun. It was dipping below a mountain ridge in the distance, a burning yellow crescent that turned the clouds several shades of pink and purple. After only a few seconds of staring out at it, my eyes felt like they were alight with the fire of the sun.

"I can't believe we're actually here," Tesla said, looking around in quiet reverence.

I almost scoffed. "I can."

With a brief chuckle, she answered, "Of course you can. How long have you been planning this?"

"Years." I'd thought of nothing else since the day it had occurred to me. Late at night, I ran through it in my mind, making sure that I had it all in order, never letting myself forget. Now, the desire for revenge practically ran through my veins. I wouldn't settle until all the power he held now was in my possession.

"All of this just because he took the Club from you?"

I turned to glance at her. The setting sun turned her skin golden and hit her eyes as she stared back at me, curiously wanting the answer. I looked away, nodding.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, absentmindedly playing with a strand of her white hair, "I think there's more that you're not saying."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Something went down between you two that you don't want to remember."

"You seem awfully sure of that for someone who doesn't know anything about what happened."

"So tell me," she implored. "What did Hundsen really do to you? What could he have done to make you angry enough to do all this, to want to kill his wife?"

I wasn't answering that question. "It doesn't matter. What matters is what I'm going to do to retaliate."

The assassin was quiet for a moment and I could feel her gaze on me. "Just make sure it doesn't destroy you in the process. He's not going to take this lightly."

"Oh, I know," I said, getting out of the car, as it had been fifteen minutes. "I'm betting on it."

We walked up the street together until we got to the driveway with the number 56 marked on the curb. It was a long, winding road up, rimmed with tall hedges that helped conceal the house. Neither of us said a word as we walked up the driveway.

When we reached the front lawn of the house, I had validation that Jaxon had done his job. Had the security cameras still been manned, we'd have been shot already. But everything was going smoothly so far, just as I'd expected.

After surveying the front area, I noticed that there was only one car parked in the driveway. That could mean that Hundsen wasn't home, granted, there was also a five car garage that his main car could have been stored in. I knew that he was often away dealing with problems in his other areas of business and had counted on that for this plan to work.

Not wanting to stay in the front of the house for too long, Tesla went to the right side of the mansion and leapt over the metal gate. A few seconds later, it squeaked open for me to enter through. I closed it behind me without a sound and followed her along the wall of the house. The side yard opened up into the backyard, a grassy area so large I couldn't see where it ended. I had to admit, this house was even more luxurious than his other one, most likely because it was bought with all his blood money.

As we edged around the house and ventured into the darkening backyard, I peered into the windows to see if I could find anything to use against him. So far, there was nothing but expensive, well placed furniture and shiny valuables. Robbing him would be amusing, but all those things were too materialistic to really mean anything. I needed to hit him where it hurt.

I could see a bright light shining through the windows up ahead; someone was most likely inside that room. Creeping up under the windows, I prepared to spy inside to see who it was.

It was a kitchen window that had a perfect view of the entire area: the kitchen itself, the dining room and a smaller table against another window. A woman stood at the counter, looking down at a cookbook as she struggled to make dinner. She pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and rested her elbows upon the granite countertop, showcasing a shiny wedding ring that I could see even from where I was standing.

"That's her," the assassin whispered next to me. It was the woman from the picture. Hundsen's wife.

"It is," I agreed, keeping my eyes glued to the woman, thinking about how satisfying this was going to be for me.

I felt Delphinium's gaze on me. After a moment of quiet, she asked, "Are we really going to do this?"

"Are you asking about something in particular?"

"No...I just- I mean all of it."

I glanced over at her. "Cut the shit, Tesla."

Even in the dark, I could see her eyes narrowing as I threw the words she'd said to me a few days ago back at her. "Tell me why you brought me here."

Easy enough. "I needed a fighter, a warrior."

"You needed an assassin," she corrected quietly to herself and looked back at the woman inside.

"I suppose, yes."

"She doesn't deserve to die. I think she's an innocent person who got caught in the middle of a war that isn't hers." She turned back to me, almost desperately. "Jake, please don't have me kill her."

The thought had crossed my mind when I'd been planning this night, but I'd quickly decided against it. I hadn't brought Delphinium here to kill Hundsen's wife. But she didn't know that...

"Okay," I said, hatching a plan to make a deal out of this. "I owe you a favor. My favor to you will be not having you kill Hundsen's wife."

"Thank you," she muttered, looking back through the window at the distracted woman.

Suddenly, I was aware of a presence to my left. When Jaxon appeared out of thin air next to me, I didn't even flinch.

"Hey guys," he said, sounding slightly out of breath, "I did what you asked and knocked the security guy out. I even made it look like he slipped out of his chair so no one would suspect that I was the one who actually did it."

"Good. Did you find out anything else?"

"Yeah, the fact that Hundsen's not even here. I heard two of the guards talking about it when I was making my way back out of the house. Apparently, he's away for business somewhere." I already knew that; yesterday was the day after I'd gotten the address. In that time, I'd called in an old friend who owed me a favor and told him to cause some problems in one of the establishments Hundsen owned. That way, he'd be lured away from his wife and home. "He's not home? That's lucky," Tesla remarked as we sneaked back down the side yard.

I resisted the urge to gloat about how I'd tricked Hundsen. "There's no such thing as luck.

They both watched me for a second too long, wondering if I'd had anything to do with the odd coincidence. "I'm not even going to ask."

When we were back in the car, I took one last look at the house and began to drive away. Today was just so that I could gain more information on the house and who was inside it. Tomorrow, I would strike.