Chapter Thirty

Evangeline stood at the bar with Alessandro, Alexander, Richard, and Dimitri. "Okay. I'm going to leave you guys here and wander around to try and spot any assassins that may be here." Evangeline said softly as she glanced around. "Use your earpieces and let me know if you see anything that you may suspect to be an assassin. Or even if something looks out of place."

"We get it, my angel. We're going to be careful and watchful." Alessandro said softly before pressing a featherlight kiss to her temple. "Please be careful."

She winked at him as she took a couple of steps away from him. "I always am, my love."

She turned around and walked through the room. She let a small smile slip onto her lips when she saw Jennifer. She was an assassin that she had helped so many times when she was in that camp. Evangeline made her way towards Jennifer with quiet and quick feet. She snuck up behind her as she silently drew one of the sai blades that she had fastened at her back. She held the blade to her side as she gripped her arm. "You say or do anything to warn anyone you know what'll happen." She said quietly into her ear.

Jennifer groaned as she did what she said. They walked to a closet they found in a hallway and Evangeline pinned Jennifer to the wall with the blade pressed against her throat. "It's been a long time Jennifer." She said with a slight softness in her eyes.

Jennifer sighed. "Of course. I should've known that there wasn't a different threat to Nikolai."

Evangeline raised an eyebrow. "Would you have come along to protect him if you knew it was me?" She questioned.

Jennifer scoffed. "Of course not. Most of us here would have outright refused and then found some way to find you and join you." She explained.

Evangeline took a step away from Jennifer and put her blade away. "How many of you are there?" She demanded.

Jennifer ran a hand through her hair as she let out a sigh. "There are twelve of us here."

Evangeline swore under her breath as she started pacing. "Why are there so many of you?" She wondered out loud.

Jennifer let out a whoosh of air as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "We were told that there was a major threat to Nikolai's life. That this threat was so bad he needed triple the protection for the event tonight."

Evangeline spun on her heel and looked at her with wide eyes. "He tripled everything?" She asked.

Jennifer nodded. "Yes. His assassin protection detail and the usual guard detail."

Evangeline swore again as she shoved a hand through her hair. "Who's here?" She demanded.

Jennifer, knowing exactly what she meant, responded. "Well, there's me. Then there's Joy, Michelle, Jack, Gwen, Mark, Belle, Angel, Abigail, Luis, and Isabelle."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She snapped as she walked to the door. She grabbed the doorknob and looked at Jennifer over her shoulder. "I want you to tell everyone except Angel and Belle that I'm the threat they're supposed to be protecting Nikolai from. They can either meet me by the SUVs that are parked out back or simply stay out of my way."

She walked out of the closet and walked back to the ballroom. She looked around the room as she tugged at her hair. She pressed against the earpiece in her ear and softly said. "Alessandro. We need to get everyone out of here."

"What happened angel?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"Nikolai tripled everything. The assassins and the usual guard detail. We need to get everyone out." She said as she felt a sudden panic set in.

Alessandro swore as he started heading to where he left Dimitri and Alexander. "Alright angel. Let's get everyone out."

Jennifer walked through the ballroom until she spotted Mark. He was standing by the bar with Nikolai. She waved him over as she moved to a dark corner. She leaned against the wall with her arms folded over her chest. "We have a problem." She said quietly as he stood in front of her.

He frowned. "What is it?" He asked as his eyes flicked around the ballroom for any sign of a threat.

"You know that major threat we're supposed to be protecting Nikolai against?" She asked as she moved her hair over her shoulder.

Mark nodded in confusion. "Yeah. What about it?"

She let out a small laugh. "Well, it turns out that the threat is Evangeline."

Mark's eyes went wide in shock. "Evangeline is alive?" He questioned in astonishment.

She nodded. "Nikolai lied to us."

"Why would he do that?" Mark asked as he moved to stand next to her.

Jennifer scoffed. "So that we wouldn't try to leave the camp." She said as she turned to face him. "If most of us knew that she was alive we would have gone looking for her. And we would have stayed with her. She's helped so many of us. We all owe her our lives."

Mark nodded in agreement as he looked around the ballroom again. Something caught his eye by the back door. "Look." He said in awe.

They looked towards the back door and saw Evangeline talking with Jaxon. "Something tells me that he's known she was alive this entire time," Mark said quietly. "He just couldn't tell us because he knew it would put her in danger."

Jennifer agreed as she said. "He was always in America. No one ever questioned him. He would have been able to keep it quiet to keep her safe."

"Let's gather up the others and head out back. I'm sure she's going to need help." Mark muttered.

They went around the ballroom to gather the others before heading out back to try and help Evangeline.

Evangeline started heading toward the bar where she knew Alessandro would be with her brother and father. She was stopped in her tracks by someone grabbing her arm and spinning her around. She laughed when she came face to face with Angel. "You should know better than to grab me, Angel." She said as she placed her arms behind her back, setting her hands on the hilts of her sai swords.

Angel scoffed. "You've been out of the game for years now Evangeline. I'm sure you're rusty and not as good as you once were."

Evangeline let out a loud laugh as she shook her head. "Some of us don't slack in our training and practice. Even if we're not in the business anymore."

Angel glared at her as she pulled out a pair of wicked short swords. "Well then. Let's see if you're still as good as you claim to be."

Evangeline rolled her eyes as Angel charged at her. She stepped to the side and dodged the attack. She easily dodged every attack Angel tried to hit her with. She faked a yawn as she parried a strike of Angel's short sword with her sai sword. "I see one of us has been neglecting our training." She said with a mocking smirk as she parried another strike from Angel's sword.

Angel snarled as fury took over and she tried to land a deathly blow. Evangeline scoffed and made quick work of disarming her and knocking her out in the middle of the floor. She grumbled to herself as she put her sai swords away and grabbed Angel's short swords. She examined them and grinned as she slid them into the sheaths at Ange's hips. She dragged her to a dark corner, took the swords and strapped them around her waist, and turned back to the ballroom.

She moved away from the corner and took in all of the faces as quickly as she could. "Please tell me that everyone is out." She said into the earpiece.

"Everyone is out now my angel." He said a bit breathlessly. "Now it's your turn." He said after taking a deep breath.

She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "I'm coming love." She said as she walked towards the back door.

She was stopped by a voice that she knew immediately. "I see you took my advice about letting him in," Jaxon said from the shadows next to her.

She slowly turned towards him with a small smile. "And I see that they brought the reaper in on this."

He chuckled as he took a step out of the shadows. "Hi, little Eva." He said with a wide smile.

She grinned right back as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Hi, Jax." She took a step towards him. "How did they manage to rope you into coming here for little ole me?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I feel that this is some type of test to prove to Nikolai that I've been in contact with you this entire time."

She scoffed. "Well, are you coming along or what?" She asked as she moved towards the door with a knowing smirk.

He chuckled and stepped to her side. He looked her over and grinned. "I see you found a new pair of swords."

She let out a low laugh. "Angel pulled them out and I fell in love with them. They're gorgeous aren't they?" She asked rhetorically.

He simply shook his head as they walked outside to the back parking lot. They were stopped in their tracks by a small army of about fifty heavily armed men.

She groaned as she looked at Jaxon. "You see those SUVs over by the treeline?" She asked him as she gestured towards them.

"Yeah. What about them?" He demanded as he studied her face.

"I want you to go over there and tell Alessandro that I'm sorry and that I'll keep my promise to him. He'll know what I mean." She sighed as she turned back to the fifty men that were slowly starting to surround them. "Tell him that it was the only way for me to end this." She shook her head. "Go now Jaxon. Nikolai will kill you if you're caught. He won't kill me."

Jaxon looked at her with wide eyes. "You want me to leave you alone against fifty men that seem to be heavily armed?" He demanded angrily.

She nodded. "Yes. You can tell Alessandro what happened and where to find me." She started speaking quickly as the men almost had them encircled entirely. "It's going to be a camp that we don't know about. It'll probably be in the forest somewhere because he doesn't have any even close to it. It'll also be somewhere close to here because he won't be willing to travel far with me. He knows that if he does he'll most likely lose me."

Jaxon hesitated for a minute before she roughly shoved him through the small gap that enclosed as soon as he was outside of the circle. "Don't worry about me." She said softly. "I'll be fine."

She turned her back to him as she drew her sai swords. She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. She knew that she needed to clear her mind and focus only on the fifty men that were surrounding her. She opened her eyes and glanced back at where Alessandro was waiting for her. She only gave herself a split second to think of him before turning all of her attention to the men around her.

She took one last deep breath before simply waiting. She stood still as she glanced at the men in front of her. After a couple of minutes, she lifted an eyebrow and quietly asked. "Are we just going to stand here gentlemen? Or are we going to start with the bloodshed?"

The men in front of her lurched towards her all at once. She stood completely still until the first man was directly in front of her. She slashed out with one of her swords while she struck another man with her other. Her mind was blank as she slashed and stabbed at any man that got close enough.

Alessandro was pacing next to the SUVs they had parked around the building in the back parking lot. He was starting to get worried when Jaxon came around the SUV. Alessandro stared at him for a minute before glaring. "Where is she?" He demanded.

Jaxon sighed heavily. "You're not going to like it." He mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Alessandro grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him in close. "Where is she?" He demanded in a deathly calm voice.

Jaxon blew out a rough breath but pointed behind the SUV to the scene that he knew lay behind.

Alessandro shoved him away and swiftly walked around the SUV, only to be frozen in his tracks at what he saw. He saw Evangeline fighting against a large group of men on her own. He reached for his gun and took a step towards her. Jaxon swiftly grabbed him and held him back. Alessandro glared at him for a brief moment before looking back at Evangeline. "Let me go." He snarled through gritted teeth.

Jaxon kept his grip on Alessandro as he said. "She knows what she's doing." He let out a shuddering breath. "She may be tiny, but she can take out an army bigger than that by herself."

Alessandro grunted as he tried to break free of his hold. "She's not alone though." He said furiously.

Jaxon kept his hold on Alessandro as best as he could. "She won't be able to concentrate on the men attacking her if she thinks you're in danger."

Alessandro felt his heartache as he was forced to watch his saving angel fight against the fifty men. She was slicing and stabbing at any man that got close to her. The men were falling left and right as she stayed focused. He spun on his heels as he heard several people approaching from behind them. He had his gun out again before anyone could blink. "Who the hell are you guys?" He demanded as he felt his anger coursing through his veins.

It was a small group of about eight people. They were all armed to the teeth and he instantly knew that they were assassins. Yet they stood in front of him with their hands in the air to show that they meant no harm. "I promise you we mean no harm." A young woman said. She was around Evangeline's age, perhaps a bit younger. "We're friends of Evangeline." She said with a softness in her light brown eyes.

He recognized the look in her eyes as adoration and gratitude. Yet he wanted to be sure. "How do I know that for sure?" He demanded as he kept his gun aimed.

The young woman smiled as Jaxon stood next to him. "Why don't you ask the reaper there?" She said rhetorically.

Jaxon chuckled. "Hey, Jen. How've you been?" He questioned as he folded his arms over his chest.

Jennifer smiled brighter. "Hey, Jaxon. I see Evangeline got to you as well."

He scoffed. "I got to her, Jen."

Jennifer laughed. "Of course. How could I ever think otherwise?" She rolled her eyes as she looked around. "Um. Where is Eva?" She questioned when she didn't find her.

Jaxon sighed heavily and simply pointed behind him. "She said that she didn't want anyone to be caught along with her. And that she'd be able to handle it herself."

Jennifer and the others moved to stand next to him and frowned. "She always preferred to do things alone." She muttered. "Always said that she was able to stay focused more than when someone was with her."

Jaxon nodded in agreement as he stood with a frown on his face. "She's always said that it also made it easier to turn off her humanity and focus on staying alive."

Alessandro watched as the back door opened and a man walked out with a woman on either side of him. As the two women stopped the men from fighting and attacked Evangeline themselves he took a couple of steps towards them. He wanted to help his saving angel more than anything else but he felt two sets of hands hold him back. "Let me go!" He yelled out in anger.

"She wouldn't want you to be captured along with her," Jaxon said quietly to him. He kept his grip as tight as he could without hurting Alessandro. "I know how you're feeling but they won't kill her. Nikolai wants her alive."

Alessandro let out a grunt as he tried getting out of the two iron grips that were holding him back. "I have to help her."

"You will, but not right now," Jaxon said.

Alessandro looked at him with suspicious eyes. "She told you to let her get caught, didn't she?"

Jaxon shook his head. "It wasn't her plan. She simply didn't want anyone else to get hurt or worse because of her."

Alessandro practically growled as he shoved the two men off of him and paced towards the SUVs. He turned back to the fighting scene and watched helplessly as the two women managed to pin Evangeline to the ground with the help of five men. They tied her arms behind her back and one of the women kicked her in the face. "Fucking bitch. Stole my damn swords." She said as she furiously yanked a sword belt from around Evangeline's waist.

"Make sure you tie her feet up as well." The other woman said calmly. "Trust me she is just as deadly with her hands tied behind her back." She scoffed. "Psh. She's still just as deadly tied up completely like that but that's the best we can do for now."

"I have a taser in the van." One of the men muttered.

The calm woman nodded. "Let's go then. Get her loaded up."

He glared at Jaxon as he shouted. "Richard! Bring me the tracker!" He kept his eyes on Jaxon. "Who are those two women?" He demanded.

Jaxon ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the scene unfolding with tired eyes. "The furious bitch queen would be Angel. She's always been jealous that Evangeline is better than her. Always has been. The calm one would be Belle. She's also jealous but she tends to be deathly calm in any situation." He sighed as he rubbed at his face. "They are both extremely violent and enjoy this killing lifestyle."

Alessandro swore under his breath as a couple of men shut the doors of the van and hopped into the cab. He aimed for the hood of the van and took his shot. As soon as the tracker hit the van he went to the SUV where Richard was standing. "Track her." He demanded, leaving no room for argument.

Richard nodded and turned the tracker on. "We got her."

He nodded and turned to Jaxon and the other assassins. "Introductions Jaxon." He said as he kept his hands clenched at his sides.

Jaxon nodded and pointed to each one as he introduced them. "This is Jennifer, Joy, Michelle, Isabelle, Mark, Jack, Gwen, and Luis." He shook his head. "Evangeline looked after them like they were her family."

"She's gone to hell and back for each and every one of us on more than one occasion," Mark said as he let his hands hang over the handles of his short swords.

"We all owe her our lives," Isabelle said softly. "It's not just us though. Almost every single assassin in almost every single camp owes her their lives." She explained.

Alessandro knew that he needed to learn more but they had to get home first. "I want to know more but we have to get out of here. So load up and let's head out."

He didn't wait for any responses. He climbed into an SUV and simply waited.