The Assassin's vow

I didn't sleep.

How could I, knowing someone else was out there, hunting the same targets, walking the same halls, watching the same people?

The masquerade had been a perfect stage for chaos. But that message wasn't mine. And the second daughter Celeste mentioned? She was real. Somewhere close. I could feel it like static in my bones.

I wasn't afraid. I was… intrigued.

But I needed to find her first.

The next morning, Vanguard was buzzing like a kicked beehive.

The message on the screen had been dismissed as a prank, but the staff were tense, and the headmistress's smile was tighter than usual. There were rumors hacking, protest threats, angry alumni.

None of it was true.

Because this wasn't random.

It was personal.

At fencing practice, I scanned every face. Brielle Vaughn was still watching me like a rival. Lila was busy recounting the chaos of the ball for the tenth time. Caleb? Absent.

That worried me.

Iris Dax arrived late to class.

Tall. Lean. Dark copper hair in a tight bun. Quiet. Too quiet.

She walked like someone trained to walk.

Not like a dancer.

Like a predator.

"Exchange student from Berlin," the instructor said. "Iris Dax. Be nice."

She didn't look at anyone. Just found a seat in the back and opened a notebook already filled with notes.

She had arrived prepared.

Too prepared.

I approached her after class.

"I'm Ava."

She looked up. Her eyes were steel. "I know."

"First week here?"

She smiled faintly. "Something like that."

Then she turned and walked away before I could respond.

Not rude.

Calculated.

That night, I trailed her.

She didn't lead me to a dorm.

She led me to the abandoned clock tower on the west end of campus condemned, blocked off. Or so they claimed.

She slipped inside.

I followed five minutes later, silent, cautious.

Inside was dust, cobwebs… and surveillance equipment.

A laptop. Cameras. Maps. Red string.

Photos of the Eight. Of me. Of Caleb.

And in the center, circled in black ink: Desmond Vale - DEAD SOON?

She was planning her hit.

I stepped back, heart thudding.

But the floor creaked beneath me.

She turned.

We locked eyes.

No pretending now.

I stepped out of the shadow. "You're her. The other one."

She didn't deny it.

"Celeste said you were chaos," I added.

Iris Dax smiled. "She wasn't wrong."

Iris had watched Ava for weeks. From the moment she arrived at Vanguard, she knew she wasn't alone. Another shadow. Another daughter. Another ghost with blood in her mouth. But Ava was controlled. Strategic. The goddaughter. The soldier. She wasn't a soldier. She was fire. And it was time someone lit a match.

Back in my room, I wrote to Genevieve:

There's another assassin. Iris Dax. She's targeting the Vales. She's reckless. Dangerous. She's me but unchained.

The reply came slow.

Observe her. Use her. But if she gets in the way… eliminate her.

I stared at the screen.

Iris wasn't an enemy.

Not yet.

But this mission only had room for one ghost.

And I wasn't ready to vanish.