Free Assassin's Honor by Monica Burns Page A

Lysander's scarred face as he debated asking any additional questions.
                "And the Tyet of Isis?"
                "She doesn't have it." Another quiet pause followed his response.
                "I see." Even with such a noncommittal reply, Lysander said a great deal. "As soon as I find Julian, I'll be in touch."
                His second-in-command didn't wait for an answer and broke the connection. Fingers wrapped tightly around the SUV's steering wheel, he studied Emma's well-lit front porch. Christus, when would Julian learn he couldn't go rogue whenever he got the urge. The Order didn't like it when guild members acted in an unrestrained manner. He knew that from personal experience. But it was more than that. Everyone in the guild knew he despised undisciplined behavior. Julian had the potential to be a great Legatus, but his renegade behavior was putting more than just his own life in danger. Now others were involved.
                Beside him, Phae sat rigid in her seat with her gaze fixed on the wet road. She and Julian were good friends. At times Ares thought the two of them might even wind up married, but Phae always did something to sidestep the issue when Julian pressured her to take their relationship to the next level.
                "He'll be fine, Phae," he said with quiet reassurance. "He's foolhardy, but he's got good instincts."
                She bobbed her head in a sharp nod. Although the tension radiating off her eased somewhat, her lips had thinned with anger. Suddenly he felt sorry for Julian. Phae could be merciless when it came to castigating people, and something told him his sister would have a lot to say to her friend the next time she saw him. Returning his gaze to the front of Emma's house, resignation tightened his mouth.
                He had a feeling Emma would have a lot to say to him as well. The sudden memory of her soft curves pressed into his body jolted its way through him. He didn't like the way she made him feel. It made him uneasy to discover his senses were under fire. Not even Clarissa had affected him the way Emma did.
                Clarissa. Her death might not rest entirely at his feet, but he'd failed to take appropriate precautions where she was concerned. If he had, she might still be alive. The irony of it all was that the man who'd raped Clarissa before slitting her throat hadn't even been a Praetorian. He'd been just another depraved bastard inflicting random pain on society. It hadn't taken much to hunt the son of a bitch down and rid humanity of one more blight .
                But then Clarissa's killer really hadn't stood a chance. Ares's connections had made it easy to find her assailant in less than forty-eight hours. One couldn't be an assassin without knowing people on both sides of the law. Not until the night he caught up with Clarissa's murderer had he ever taken pleasure in a kill. The man had died crying for mercy.
                At the time, he hadn't given a damn. He'd only taunted the bastard, taken his time splaying him open one piece of flesh at a time, just like a Praetorian would. But now--He dragged in a breath of remorse as the man's terrified face flashed through his head.
                He'd overstepped the boundaries of the Sicari code of honor. Not only had he failed to ask the man's forgiveness, he'd killed the man out of revenge and he'd enjoyed hurting the man who'd killed Clarissa. That was something a Sicari never did. Phae cleared her throat softly.
                "So what are you going to tell her about the Order? The guild?"
                "As little as possible. She already knows too much as it is."
                "Too much?" Although she took care not to openly confront him, he heard the note of censure in his sister's voice. "Why do I have the feeling you're not telling me everything about