Galeb Grey cast a last look down to the ground four meters below, the red glow that announced to the world that the building was a brothel lighted the side of his black-clad body. He pulled the hood lower on his face, then climbed through the window into a dark room. Hiding himself behind the heavy velvet curtain, his eyes saw through the darkness, travelled over the loveseat flanked by two living room chairs and the low, fragile looking table between them, then zoomed on the big, canopied double bed that ruled the other side of the room. He moved along the wall, his steps silent, his body just a shadow, until he drew parallel to the head of the bed. There, within the light fabric that hung down from the bed-frame and danced in the light breeze from the opened window Galeb had used as an entrance, lay Galeb's target, the assignment his master had given him and the Oracle stones had approved.
He slipped out between the curtains and went toward the bed. He leaned over the target, his violet eyes on the exposed skin of the throat, a knife in his hand, and then a slash of the blade so fast that the movement couldn't be seen with the naked eye.
He frowned when the sharp side of his slightly curved knife stopped a centimetre above the throat, and though he pushed down on it with all his weight, the blade didn't move. Magic? Why would be a whore protected by magic?
With a smooth, oft-repeated move he slid the knife back into the sheath buckled on his belt, and he looked for the first time at the person he had been sent to kill. It was a man. A very beautiful man.
Galeb's eyes were gazing, enchanted, at an oval face with a strong chin and pouting mouth. He might not be able to distinguish the color of the long, slightly curly hair that framed the sleeping man's face, but he could see the beauty in the narrow nose, in the elegant arch of the brows, see how pure and unblemished the man's skin was.
The man lying on the bed opened his eyes and transparent green words mixed with white symbols pounced on Galeb.
Galeb was thrown across the room. His back slammed against the wall and he would have slid to the ground, but transparent greenish ribbons wrapped around his body, pushed him against the wall and held him there. It was strong, this man's magic, and even though he hadn't expected to encounter a wizard – damn his good-for-nothing master for giving him false information – he never left his little, dark corner unprepared. Galeb had a Red star in his pocket, a stone that could cancel all magic up to the seventh level. He wrapped the fingers of his right hand tighter around the knife that he had pulled out sometime during his flight toward the wall . He just had to get the stone out of his pocket and press its dragon scale-patterned shell in the right sequence. If he could just get the stone– he focused all of his strength into freeing his left hand.
The man on the bed sat up; the sheet slid down and pooled around his pelvis, revealing a toned chest and abdomen. The man stretched his arms above him liquidly like a cat, then with a swing of hand he removed the sheet from his lap and stood up. He yawned, politely putting his hand over his mouth.
Galeb stared at him; he didn't want to but he couldn't help himself. The man had some kind of aura that just demanded attention and he was also very well built, and not to mention, naked. There was also the mass of waist-long hair that fell in wild disarray over man's shoulders and back that gave additional charm . Or was it just the fact that Galeb had had a thing for long hair since he was a little boy ? Galeb could hear his breathing accelerate and he didn't know if the rush that ran up his spine was adrenaline because of the danger in which he found himself or because of the sight that was before him. He tried harder to pull his hand out from the hold of the ribbons.
The beauty took two steps, and never taking his watchful eyes from Galeb, he took the velvet robe that lay at the foot of the bed and put his arms through the V-shaped, almost floor-length sleeves. After drawing the long robe together he closed the distance between them, he lifted his hair out from the confinement of the robe and pulled it forward over his left shoulder, and started to comb them with his fingers. "You woke me up and I was having such a wonderful dream," his voice broke the tense silence, rich and refined, and for somebody who had just woken up, surprisingly clear. . "I do hope you intend to make it up to me."
Galeb wetted his dry lips. He had never been nervous before. The twelve-year training in the famous Grand Academy for bodyguards and assassins had thoroughly prepared him for almost anything that might come his way, and it was not that he was afraid of death, death was a good thing. So why now, under this wizard's scrutiny, his heart loud in his ears, did he feel like a mouse before the snake? He discreetly moved his right hand around, tugging at the ribbons.
The man stopped a step before Galeb, tilted his head and reached out to pull the hood off Galeb's head, revealing his short black hair and round face. For a few minutes he stared at Galeb, then his fingers touched his face and a small smile appeared on his face. "Who would have thought?"
The fingers were warm and gentle and Galeb had to resist the urge to lean into their touch. He turned his head away from the hand. Somehow he managed to free his wrist from the magic threads that still restricted his body's movement and now he only had to loosen the ribbon's clutches around his forearm to be able to reach into his pocket. Just a little more.
"You are quite pretty." The man leaned closer, his nose touched Galeb's cheek and he inhaled deeply. "And you smell good too."
Galeb frowned, up close he could distinguish that the man had the same shape pupils he did. Only a few people had the ability to change their eyes into a cat's to see in the darkness. There were only a handful of people like that in the world and they all came from old, rich and powerful noble families. Except Galeb, and this beautiful wizard and whore whom he had to kill.
"Ah, you noticed it, too." The man cupped Galeb's cheek and turned his head toward the weak moonlight that managed to sneak through the rift between the thick curtains. "How can a small-time assassin like you be in possession of a rare ability like that?"
Galeb managed to loosen the threads around his left forearm and as discretely as he could he reached into his pocket. His fingers touched the rough surface of the stone. There were four scales the size of a thumbnail on each side of the square and narrow stone. "How can a whore like you be so good at magic and even have the ability to see in the dark?"
"That's because, my darling," the man said, putting his hand against Galeb's chest, "I'm not a whore. I'm what you would call a courtesan, a very expensive one, but not a whore. And I would appreciate it if you never again associated me with a foul expression like that."
"It doesn't really matter what you are." Galeb's fingers pressed first the left upper scale on the stone, then the right, lower one, left upper and then the left, lower one. His skin started to glow red and the green ribbons that held him withered away.
The man leaped out of the Galeb's range, the fabric of his robe following his movement in an elegant arch. "Oh, but it does. If you think that you and that jack knife can hurt me, think again." He lifted both of his hands, one before the left side of his chest, the other before the left side of his face, his palms facing Galeb. "If you had any brains in that cute head of yours, you would even now be out the window and on your way home."
Galeb pulled the stone out of his pocket and pressed it against the handle of his knife. It melted into the knife which, like Galeb's skin, started to glow red. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"You are a bad boy. Very bad boy." The wizard gave Galeb a sly smile. "First you wake me up, call me names and then you even withhold the thrill of the hunt from me." He pushed his palms toward Galeb and green ribbons of numbers, letters and symbols attacked Galeb. "You are no fun at all."
"I'm not here for your entertainment." Galeb jumped sideways and slashed the ribbons with his knife. The cut pieces floated toward the floor, dissolving into the air before they could touch the wooden surface.
"Then why are you here?" The wizard wiggled his fingers and the ribbons of magic spread and circled Galeb.
Galeb brandished his knife, preventing the ribbons from wrapping around his body. "You insulted my master."
"That stupid, smelly, old goat wants revenge for my rejection?" The wizard stepped closer, with a circling motion of his fingers, he made ribbons multiply and twirl in a circle around Galeb. ""Has he even seen himself in the mirror?" He shuddered. "He's revolting, I wouldn't touch people like him even with my threads." He pulled on the ribbons, which started to advance on Galeb, spinning around so fast that they looked like a green blur. "Small fish are so sensitive. Small in significance, big in pride. What a bother. "
Tell me about it, Galeb thought. He bent his knee and sprang up in the air before the ribbons closed on him. His focus on the man, he aimed a kick into his direction.
"Not bad." The wizard grinned and at the last moment ducked out of the way. With a wide swing of his arm the fabric of his sleeve lashed in Galeb's direction. "Not bad at all. You are quick. With a little more experience and practise you could be on the top ten list."
Galeb's feet touched the ground. With his knife aiming for the man's gut he lunged forward, simultaneously blocking the hit that was aimed at his head and sidestepping the threads that were reaching out for him. He wished that he had brought his katana or at least his forearm long blade with him; fighting with either of those would be so much easier.
"How did a small-time crook like your master get hold of you?" The man moved to Galeb's left side and with a jerking motion of his hand sent a wave of words and symbols in Galeb's direction.
Galeb ducked, the chairs and the table behind him flew against the wall and landed overturned on the floor. He leaped right; even managed to graze the wizard's side with his fist before the man was out of his reach and the fabric and green ribbons were lashing at him. "I was a reward for a good performance." There was nothing wrong with telling the man that -- actually he could spill his guts to the man, tell him how much he hated his slimy master, how he couldn't wait for his seven years of service to end, to get away from those eyes that looked at him like he was some kind of meat --because at the end of this fight, one of them would be dead.
They circled each other in the middle of the room, their hands striking out, blocking and punching through the air, with swishes of the robe's fabric and the green threads twirling with them in a dance of blood and violence.
"Are you on the contract? With the Grand Consul's seal?"
"Yes." Galeb bypassed the bed, then lunged forward and with a wide brandish of his knife, cut through the layers of ribbons. Why was the wizard so interested in his master's hold over him? "And regarding the contract, if I don't complete the task given to me, he can demand compensation." Knowing his master, he knew exactly what that old pervert would demand from him. His body -- not the use of his body, which would indicate a one-time thing, but that his body would become his master's property and, as such, at his disposal, to use as he pleased. At least now, if the dirt bag made advances and put his clammy hands on him, Galeb could beat him and threaten him with death, which he had already done. If he did something like that as his master's property, the old goat would ensure that death would become his greatest wish; he had seen how his master treated his property.
"I see. But to your misfortune, this is the one task you won't be able to finish." With his hand curled, the wizard pulled back his right elbow and a green tornado crushed Galeb. "Because, even the best ten assassins together can't overpower me. If you would pay any attention to your surroundings you would know that, and even know why."
Galeb frowned, his knife cutting through the green fog, his eyes zooming in on the ribbons that were swirling around him closer and closer, and now he could see thin silver threads at the ribbon's edges. The tenth level magic? Wasn't that only a myth? Damn. "You could overpower me from the very beginning?" Galeb tried not to pout, but it was hard not to. Damn bastard. The green and silver ribbons wrapped themselves tight around his body. "All this time you were just toying with me?"
"I'm sorry." The wizard stepped closer, not looking sorry at all. He reached out and his finger touched Galeb's forehead.
Galeb's eyes fluttered close and with ribbons supporting his body, he descended down on the floor.