Big Bad Claws - Michele Mills Page 0,1

know you’d be so young and frail. I can’t kill you. But she will send others in my stead and they’ll kill you if I don’t.”

“She?” Lila croaked as she rubbed a hand against her sore neck. “She who?” Who would want her dead? She didn’t even know that many people.

“Your stepmother, Daniela Garabedian, hired me to kill you because I’m the best assassin on New Earth, but I have rules. I don’t kill innocents. Others in my profession won’t have this unnatural compulsion. One of my peers will find you and complete this task.”

“My stepmother is trying to kill me?” Lila shrieked. “Daniela sent you to kill me? No, that’s not possible. You’re lying. This is all a big mistake. We’re close friends. She was here in the house this morning, having breakfast with me. Daniela was married to Dad. She loved him. She loves me. No…no…”

“Yes, your stepmother is trying to kill you. And I don’t lie,” the assassin growled. “She placed an unusually large amount of currency on proof of your death. If I leave you here alone, you’ll be dead within the next diurnal.”

Oh gods. Lila’s nose started to sting, and she gripped her hands. “You’re sure it was Daniela? Maybe you think it was her, but it was actually…”

The assassin frowned and pulled out a tiny glass tablet; she swiped the screen and tilted it toward her. “Look for yourself.” And sure enough, there was the mark of Daniela’s official code, requesting the death of one Lila Garabedian, human.

“She didn’t even bother with anonymity. She’s that certain your death won’t affect her.”

Lila stepped back and placed a hand over her chest, trying to keep her breaths steady. The woman she thought of as her best friend was trying to kill her? There was only a small group of people she was close with, and Daniela was at the top of the list. It couldn’t be true and yet it was. Her stepmother wanted her dead.

She glanced up and met the harsh gaze of the killer standing in her bedroom. “Wh…what should I do?” she asked with a rough voice. “How can I get out of this and stay alive?”

The female crossed her muscular arms and examined her with narrowed eyes, obviously calculating the odds. Then she let out a grunt, seeming to come to some sort of conclusion. “Come with me,” she announced. “I have an idea.” She grabbed Lila’s arm and yanked her out of her bedroom.

Oh wow. Her feet flew down the sweeping staircase. “Wait, my tablet,” Lila gasped. She couldn’t go anywhere without her tablet. Not even downstairs, or simply to the next room.

“Leave it. The other assassins will just use it to track you.”

Dammit. True.

At the base of the stairs they cut toward the grand foyer and stopped at the imposing front doors. And suddenly it all became clear. This assassin’s plan involved taking her outside. Out-side. In open spaces without cover. Of course it did. Of course. Why didn’t she see that from the first? Holy crap. Lila let out a squeak of dismay and dug in her heels. “B…but, what about my cats?” she asked, trying to stall the inevitable.

“You can’t bring them with you. Everyone in this domicile, including the pets, are safer with you gone. If you’re not here, then the assassins won’t come here either.”

She tried to pry the female’s iron grip from her arm. “You don’t understand,” she choked. “I’m terrified of being out there. I never go outside.”

“You do now.” The assassin pulled the heavy door open and tossed her out.

“No.” Lila cried, then bit her lip, trying not to have a full-blown panic attack. The dark sky loomed overhead, a grim reminder of how it was possible to lose her freedom in an instant, when she least suspected it. She did her best to hide her panted breaths, trembling hands and the roil in her stomach as the nameless assassin dragged her into a waiting vehicle. She sat still, breathed the fresh air and avoided looking at the boundless wide-open space as the vehicle pulled away from the house. It was the first time in over a year she’d been beyond the sprawling grounds of her own mansion. It was unbelievably scary.

But she could do it. She could. She glanced at the assassin’s profile. Snatching didn’t always come from Hurlians dropping from the sky, did it?

And this was what she’d been working toward with her virtual therapist—this upgrade from the crippling panic attacks