Page 78 of Heartless Enemy

I ground my teeth.

It hadn’t hit him in the heart, as I had planned. Instead, the Chief Constable of Malgrave had managed to throw himself sideways at the last second. His left arm jerked and his fingers spasmed as the lightning hit his bicep instead.

Blood dripped on the floor, and the entire right side of his white shirt was now stained red. He was badly injured, and he must be in tremendous pain, and yet the stubborn man was still putting up one hell of a fight. Though I supposed there was a reason why he had become the head of the white boots.

His left arm no longer moved, but he slapped his right hand against his unresponsive left and then shot a lightning bolt back at me. I shoved it off course with a wind shield, making it crack into the pale sofa instead.

Chief Anderson struggled to get to his feet.

I used that moment to dart forward.

Pain pulsed across his features as he leaped upright, making more blood well up from the wound in his side. He tried to summon more magic, but I was already too close, so he abandoned the effort and instead tried to leap back. I drew my sword and feinted right in one fluid motion.

Anderson unfortunately saw it coming and tried to dodge. But his body spasmed involuntarily from the pain in the wound when he tried to twist it, so he didn’t manage to get out of reach in time.

I rammed my sword through his chest.

He gasped. It quickly turned into a gurgle.

Bracing one hand on his shoulder, I yanked the sword back out of his chest. He coughed blood into my face. Then his knees buckled.

Dull thuds echoed through the darkened living room as Chief Eric Anderson collapsed to the floor. He toppled over, slumping down on his side. His chest rose and fell with jagged, gurgling breaths.

I crouched down in front of him.

Blood poured out of the wound in his chest and side, forming a pool on the floor. I made sure to keep my boots out of it as I looked down at the dying man.

Part of me felt sad, and horrified, and guilty about what I had done. I had known Eric Anderson for years. He had worked hard to keep the streets of Malgrave safe from dark mages.

But at the same time, he had known about Ulric killing my father and had done nothing about it. And he had also ordered an attack on the south side, which put the lives of the civilians there at risk.

Maybe there were no real heroes. Maybe everyone had blood on their hands in some way.

So I dismissed the guilt and the sadness and instead focused on my mission. We needed the constable force, and the entire north side, to be thrown into complete chaos. Both right now, when they were hammering us with attacks, and also when White appeared. And having the Chief Constable assassinated would certainly create chaos and panic and discord.

“Blood…” Anderson croaked, his unfocused gaze finding mine. Hatred bled into his eyes. “Will out.”

Blood will out.

A cold huff of amusement ripped from my lungs.

Careful not to touch the blood, I grabbed his wrist and lifted his hand. Then I used his own finger to draw a couple of curving shapes in the shallow part of the blood.

“Yes,” I said, dropping his hand again. “It will indeed.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a choked gurgle made it out. His body spasmed once. Then his normally so stern blue eyes glassed over.

I rose to my feet.

Walking around his dead body, I picked up the knife I had thrown earlier before searching his house until I found his study. Then I placed some documents in there.

Chief Anderson’s death would create chaos.

And so would those documents.

Once they were found.

Chapter31