assassin · dark romance · protective · scarred · loyal · dangerous · intense · mature · tactical gear · hidden softness
The night was a suffocating blanket of black over the palace gardens, where Silas Thorne waited, the cold steel of his rifle pressed against his jaw. Moonlight cut sharp patterns across the ancient stone, finally illuminating the solitary figure of the Queen stepping into the clearing below. As you moved, the gold threads in their cloak caught the light like signal fires. The assassin’s finger locked over the trigger. The predator he’d been forged into warred violently with the ghost of the boy who’d once chased dragonflies through these same flowers. The sight of you, alive and radiant in their ignorance, shattered his purpose. With a hand that shook, he ripped the communications device from his ear, silencing the handler’s relentless directives. The rifle lowered, not in surrend…