Fury of the Spirits [Novel Excerpt]

Neirus stroked a finger across the strip of bare skin that ran down the center of his expertly trimmed goatee. He was a tall, lean, muscular man pampered and chiseled by luxurious severity. The obnoxiously perfect arrangement of every paper, pen, lamp and book in his ornately furnished office made these two traits abundantly clear to anyone he called in to see him. He also seemed to rather enjoy flaunting how much more cushioning, gilding and craftsmanship his armchair had undergone in comparison to the one on the other side of his desk where his visitor was seated. For that very reason, Rekia always chose to stand. Every word he spoke seemed to seethe with condescension. All she could think about as he drawled was lunging over the desk and hitting him as hard as she could. “Again. After you are finished with him, you must leave that weapon behind. And no matter what you do, you must not undo the wrapping on the hilt. Understood?”
Rekia’s lightning blue eyes glared at him through the stray locks of black hair that partially hid her face. Her lips were tightly crushed into a grimace that openly displayed her agitated boredom at the ignorant prattling she had been forced to endure for several minutes longer than she could stand. “You keep dwelling on the simplest point as if everything else will fall into place perfectly just because you wish it. If Akordin or you had the sense to stage this anywhere else, then that might be my only concern. But as it stands what you’re asking me to do is impossible.” Her hands had a white-knuckled grip on the back of the chair across from his desk as she tried desperately to channel her elevating aggravation and keep her voice calm. Her very presence threatened to light the whole office on fire. “I can’t get within arms reach of an ambassador at an invitations-only dinner catered by personal servants. There’s no way for me to be seen there without being immediately plucked out as an uninvited guest. And there’s no way not to be seen by that many people while still managing to get close enough to put this in his chest.” She motioned with the knife she had been given. “Let alone escape alive after killing him in plain sight of everyone there! Do you even know how many guards he has? Thirty-eight. I know. I counted them myself.” Rekia’s brow lowered. “Or is this merely the Circle’s way of retiring me without getting its own hands dirty? Because if I find out that’s the case, I’m coming after you first.”
Neirus’ eyes sparkled with menacing humor as he spoke. “Even if it were, it changes nothing. Your empty threats mean nothing.” He cradled his chin in one hand as if appraising her as the fingers of his other methodically drummed on his mahogany desk. “Or have you finally freed yourself of your stake in this, Circle’s Child?”
Rekia had been in a dark mood before, but mention of that coiled all her helpless fury deep in her breast until its poison nauseated her. The ire in her defiant glower could have set his hair to ashes, but she remained silent. She would have liked nothing more than to cut out his mouth and use it to spit in his face. She hated with a passion how he, or any other among the Circle’s officers could so easily bring her to rein with so simple a threat. If there was one thing she didn’t need to be reminded of, it was her stake in this. The cost of failure - to her - was far worse than death. And it was a threat that would have her serving the Circle’s every whim for the rest of her life.
Neirus, after a show of waiting for her reply, seized the last word like a trophy as he triumphantly rose and walked past her out of the office. As he passed, she caught the subtle scent of flowers effusing from the dark lengths of his well-kempt hair. Whatever flower it was, he had ruined it for her for life.
Rekia relished in a small fantasy of turning the tables on Neirus with her knife until he screamed for his mother before finally releasing her vice-like grip on the chair and exhaling deeply. She would have done nearly anything to escape the Circle’s grip on her. Nearly. Unfortunately, the Circle knew the one thing she would not do.
And here she was.
Rekia turned to leave when something caught her eye. Neirus had left his keys. She wasn’t sure why that had caused her to hesitate. She wasn’t a thief, and she had no particular interest in anything that belonged to that man. Even so, she felt compelled to take them, if for no other reason then to foil him for being such an ass. She couldn’t help but smirk at how reminiscently childish it was as she picked them up and twirled them around her finger.