TheAngryDoveAndTheAssassin (5 page)

Before Grey could threaten him further, the doctor ran off to treat the rest of the wounded. Grey gazed down at Caley in concern, but he seemed to be breathing okay. He was just out for the count.

“So, when did you and Caley become such good buddies?” the Beagle asked.

“We’re really not that close, we’ve only talked a few times,” Grey said.

“Yet, you almost tore that doctor’s head off.”

Damn Beagles and their nosiness. If the guy hadn’t obviously been such a good friend of Caley’s, Grey would have told him to fuck off and mind his own business.

“Caley seems like a nice guy, and I want to make sure he’s taken care of,” Grey said.

“Funny, Caley usually hates any Wolf that he meets.”

“Why is that?” Grey asked as Caley had been nothing but nice to him.

“Well, because Wolves killed off his entire family. Didn’t he tell you that?”

Chapter Five

The first thing Caley did when released from the infirmary was go to his workshop so he could assess the damage. When he saw the mess that waited for him there, a small whimper passed his lips.

Fabric and equipment lay everywhere. Most of the benches and tables were upended. Some of them were broken and in splinters. He didn’t even want to think about the condition that his sewing machines might be in.

Alger and Hales came up behind him. Alger let out a low whistle. “This place got hit bad.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll help you clean up,” Hales assured him.

“I don’t even know if there is anything worth cleaning up,” Caley said as he brought his hand to his stomach.

“We won’t know unless we try,” Alger pointed out, ever the reasonable one. “Now where do you want us to start?”

“I guess with the fabric. We can see what is salvageable, then work from there.”

Hales and Alger began to pick through the fabric. Folding the good stuff and tossing the charred pieces to the side. Meanwhile, Caley shuffled over to one of his machines and began to look it over.

He was still as sore as hell, but he felt a lot better than the day before. At least he was able to function without pain meds. He hated how they made him feel.

He looked the machine over, pleased to see that it would be okay with just some simple repairs. Maybe things wouldn’t be a total loss after all. He would hate for Cassie and the Alpha to lose out after they had invested so much in the shop. He knew the pack wasn’t exactly swimming in cash.

“How are the fabrics looking?” he asked.

“Not too bad. Some of them may need to be washed, but overall I don’t think you lost much. The place just needs to be cleaned,” Alger answered.

“You were really lucky. The library took a direct hit, and they lost everything,” Hales added.

Caley was sorry to hear that. He’d really liked the library. It had been one of the few places where he’d felt comfortable enough to take refuge. Now it was gone, thanks to Rand and his stupid pack. And for what? Just a stupid piece of land. Wolves could be so damn stupid at times.

“At least Grey and the assassins were able to take out the bastards responsible for bombing this place,” Caley said with a bit of pride.

“Speaking of Grey, what’s going on with you two?” Hales asked.

Caley smiled to himself, it hadn’t taken long for the dog to latch on to that bone. In fact, he was amazed his friend had held out for as long as he did. Hales wasn’t known for his discretion.

“Grey and I are just friends, that’s all,” Caley said.

Alger snorted. “Nice try.”

“What do you mean?” Caley asked in his most innocent voice.

“First off, you’re never just friends with any guy, and second, when you were hurt, Grey looked like he was ready to rip somebody’s head off. So you wanna try that one again?”

Caley grinned. “Okay, we may have kissed a bit, but that was all, I swear. The attack interrupted us before we could do anything more. The only reason he was here in the first place was to order some new uniforms.”

Alger made a face. “Do you always make out with your clients?”

“Of course not. I’d get nothing done then,” Caley said.

A knock at the door interrupted them. Caley turned, and horror went through him when he saw Grey standing there with his fellow assassins, Simon and Toby. Going by the grins on the faces of Toby and Simon, they had heard at least part of the conversation, too.

“I am so going to kill you guys,” Caley muttered out of the side of his mouth to Alger and Hales.

“Hey, don’t blame me that you’re a slut,” Alger whispered back.

Caley wanted to crawl under one of his tables and hide, but they were all flipped over. Everybody knew that assassins had great hearing.

Caley plastered a smile on his face. “Can I help you guys with something? I can take your measurements if you need new uniforms, too, but it may take me a bit longer than usual to get the orders finished since my shop is in a bit of disarray.”

“A
bit
?” Toby echoed. “It looks like a bomb hit it.”

“Well, that’s because one did,” Caley deadpanned.

“Be nice,” Grey warned the Leopard.

“I am. I never mentioned anything about the slut comment,” Toby retorted.

Grey let out a sigh. “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s lacking in people skills.”

“That’s okay. It seems to be catching today,” Caley said, shooting Alger and Hales a look.

Alger and Hales had the gall to smile at him. Caley made a mental note to give them both a kick in the can later on. That was if he could catch them, as both of them could move fast when they wanted to.

“We do need new uniforms, but we came to see if we could help with the cleanup. We also wanted to meet you,” Simon said as he brushed past Grey and walked into the shop.

“But you already met me,” Caley replied.

The situation was getting crazier and crazier with each passing moment. Caley decided that it wasn’t a good idea to mix his and Grey’s friends. They were just too crazy.

“Yes, but you were hurt and all drugged up then. We want to meet the Caley that Grey talks about,” Simon said.

Caley blinked in surprise. “Grey talks about me?”

“Yes, he does—alllllllllll the time. It actually gets to be a bit tiresome.”

“Don’t make me have to kill you in your sleep. Tabitha would be upset since she’s so attached to you,” Grey growled at Simon.

Simon ignored him. “I don’t share a room with him, but I bet he even talks about you in his sleep.”

Hales let out a laugh. “Are all assassins as fun as you?”

“No,” Toby answered. “As a general rule, most of us are assholes and all around general jerks. It’s in our makeup, so we can’t help it. It comes with the uniform.”

“I like you,” Hales said.

“I’m so flattered,” Toby drawled, like he couldn’t give a damn in the world.

Grey just looked at them and said, “Leopard.” Like that explained it all, which it really did. But that still didn’t seem to deter Hales at all. He kept looking at Toby as if the guy had hung the moon. Toby, on the other hand, just looked annoyed as hell.

“Why don’t you let us help you clean up in here?” Grey offered.

“Are you sure?” Caley asked. “I don’t want to keep you from your own duties.”

Actually, he was thrilled at the prospect of spending some more time with the Wolf, even if he had to be around Toby to do it. As for Simon, he was actually kind of nice for an assassin.

Grey gave that smile that did all kinds of funny things to Caley’s insides. “We don’t have anything to do until tonight, so it won’t be a problem. Will it, guys?”

“No problem at all,” Simon said with a grin. “Can I have fun and chase around the Rabbit after? I promise not to eat him if I catch him.”

“I already have a mate, thank you,” Alger said.

Simon made a tsking noise. “All the cute ones are taken. Oh well, I’ll just have to find another small creature to chase around for fun.”

“You are a strange creature,” Alger said.

“This coming from a bunny that lives with a Wolf pack?” Simon shot back.

They began to work, the assassins doing most of the heavy lifting, while Alger and Hales continued to go through the fabric. Caley kept looking through his equipment to see what was salvageable and what was going to have to go to the trash heap. When he got to his favorite pair of scissors and found them a bent mess, he let out a cry of dismay.

“What’s wrong?” Grey asked, rushing to his side.

When Caley held them up, Grey winced. “Let me guess, they were your favorite.”

“How did you know?”

“I would act the same way if it was my best dagger.”

Caley gave a small smile. He should have realized Grey would understand. “So, you don’t think that I’m overreacting?”

“No, not at all.”

“I hate this stupid war,” Caley said as he kicked at broken stool. “And what is it over? Just some stupid piece of land.”

“Land is a big deal to Wolves. It’s all we have at times,” Grey said.

“That’s what they killed my family for. They wanted the land that our house was on.”

Grey reached out and brushed away a lock of Caley’s hair. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Dove. Do you want me to hunt them down and kill them for you?”

“You would really do that for me, wouldn’t you?” Caley asked, a little breathlessly.

“Of course he would, it’s what he does for a living,” Toby called out with an irritated voice.

“How is it that you guys became assassins in the first place?” Hales asked.

For the first time ever, Caley was glad that his friend was so nosey because that question had been nagging him for a while as well. It wasn’t like there was an assassin academy or anything. Or was there?

“We were all sold to the same master when were young. He raised us to be assassins, so when we were older he could make a profit off us,” Grey explained in a matter of fact tone.

Horror went through Caley. He couldn’t imagine any parent that would willingly part with their child, let alone make a profit off it. His own parents had died protecting him.

“And did he make a profit off you?” Alger asked.

“For a while,” Toby answered before he gave a smile that was so cold it sent chills down Caley’s spine. “Then we decided to go freelance.”

“So he just let you go?” Alger said.

“No. We killed him,” Toby said in a perfectly calm voice.

“You…what?” Alger stammered.

Toby blinked at him. “Oh, don’t looked so surprised, bunny. The bastard asked for it and then some. He wasn’t fatherly toward us while we were growing up. Do you want me to strip down, so I can show you the most interesting scars he left on my body? Or should I just leave it up to your imagination?”

“What Toby is trying to say is that our master wasn’t very kind,” Simon interjected. “So we kind of turned on him.”

“There’s no kind of about it, Simon, as we ripped him to shreds and enjoyed every second of it. I’m just the only one who is willing to admit it,” Toby said before he turned around and walked from the room.

“Is he always like that?” Caley asked.

“Like I said, he’s a Leopard. They’re not known for being very social. Sometimes I wonder why he even stays with us,” Grey said.

“I think in his own way, he cares for us,” Simon answered.

“If you say so,” Grey responded.

“I think he’s neat,” Hales piped, a look of worship on his face.

“Sorry, doggy, but you are literally barking up the wrong tree with that one,” Grey drawled.

Hales frowned. “Why? Is he straight?”

“No, but Toby doesn’t do relationships. He doesn’t feel anything inside. It’s like he’s a dead man walking.”

Hales shook his head. “I don’t believe that. Everybody has the ability to care.”

“Not Toby,” Simon said firmly.

“So how did you guys end up together?” Grey asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Zaid,” Caley answered simply.

“Who’s Zaid?” Grey demanded, a sharp bite of jealousy in his voice.

Caley bit back his smile. If Grey only knew that there had never been anything between Caley and Zaid. To Caley, Zaid had never been anything but a surrogate big brother.

“Zaid is the one who found us and took us in. He didn’t find us all at once, of course, but one by one,” Hales explained. “He found me first. I was wandering around, acting like a stray, after my pack was all killed off by a Hyena attack. I was only fifteen at the time and starving. He gave me a place to stay and fed me.”

“And he didn’t ask for anything in return?” Simon asked in a suspicious tone.

“Nope, that’s the way Zaid is. Zaid is an African Wild Dog, and he lost his pack, too, so he knows how it is to be alone and hungry,” Alger said. “So he made a vow to help others in the same situation, no matter what breed they are.”

“So if he’s so helpful, where is this Zaid right now?” Grey asked.

“He’s with the pack soldiers, helping to clean up the mess outside. As soon as we came here, the first thing he did was join up with Chris’s pack. He’s determined to earn our keep here,” Caley explained, quick to defend his mentor.

To him, Zaid was more than his savior. He was the replacement to the family he’d lost. The same could be same for Walsh, Hales, and Alger. Although, Caley didn’t even want to think of where Walsh could be at the moment. He was withdrawing from them more and more. To the point days would go by when they didn’t see him. When they did get a glimpse of him, he looked like crap. Zaid had been trying to intervene but with little success, and Caley was beginning to worry that they were going to lose their friend to his drug addiction if something drastic wasn’t done soon.

He had thought about going to the Alpha with the problem, but he feared that if he did, it would get Walsh exiled. He’d heard of other packs doing that to drug addicts. While he didn’t like to think Chris would be the type to do that, Caley was afraid of taking the risk.

“We better get going, it’s getting late, and the bars will be opening.” Simon said.

Caley was confused. What did the bars have to do with the mission the assassins had to go on? He decided not to ask. The less he knew about that end of the business, the better.