Chapter 9 - Raven

'Sad birds still sing.'

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Bella had yet again found herself in Lucas' office, though this time she had Jace with her. The mafia leader had called them earlier, saying that he had something to tell the two. Jace yawned from beside her, as they waited for their Lucas to speak.

The two had been sitting in silence, staying put as Lucas continued to hold the same angry look he had when the two entered his room. Had they done something? The guy was basically glaring at his desk like it had killed his family.

"Kingston?" Bella asked cautiously, not wanting to anger the man further. She had yet to eat her breakfast, the last thing she needed was a gang leader who seemed to have a stick up against his ass.

The man snapped out of his daze, as if he had just realize the presence of the two assassins in front of if.

"You called for us?"

Bella had seen this exact instance before. One second Lucas acted so carefree, the next he seemed to be loathing everything that had existed. The woman was no stranger to the Kingston heir's mood swings. 

"Yes, I did. It's about the Sicilian mafia." He replied, rubbing the creases of his forehead.

Bella clenched her fists at the mention of the mafia. "What did they do?"

"They bombed up one of my casinos at Vegas. The damage was estimated to be over a hundred million."

"Shit." Bella heard Jace mutter.

"Well, fuck." The woman spoke as she processed the amount of money Lucas had lost because of what those Sicilian scums had done.

"Then why did you call the two of us here if it was about a casino?" Jace asked.

"We have to do something about it."

"We? As in the three of us?" Bella clarified.

"Yes, I want the two of you to come with me to Vermont. We're going to give the Sicilians a taste of their own medicine."

"A taste of their own medicine? I'm guessing we are going to be blowing up something in Vermont that's of the Sicilian Mafia's property?" Jace asked.

"Exactly. We leave this afternoon so pack your bags enough for a day. That's all." He finishes, before shooing the two assassins to leave.

"Wait, wait. We're assassins not some kind of bombers!" Bella exclaimed, throwing her hand into the air.

"Don't tell me you're scared?" Jace asked the woman. Unlike her, the man felt rather thrilled of their upcoming mission. He had once done a mission of the similar kind, one where he had to blow up something.

"As if."

"As I've said, we're blowing up one of the Sicilian's drug labs in Vermont. I heard it earns them billions." Lucas finished for the second time. "Now go."

♤♤♤

The female assassin went downstairs, her backpack filled with her necessities was hung on her shoulder. Like Lucas had instructed, she had packed enough stuff to last her a day. Vermont was not that far from New York after all, assuming that Lucas would have them ride a plane.

Bella sat by the couch as she observed everyone. Most people had smiles on their faces as they huddled close to the door, leading the woman to wonder if they were waiting for someone to arrive. She spotted Jace going down the stairs with his bang in his hand, looking as confused as she was.

"Jace!" She called out. The man met her gaze, before making his way towards her, plopping himself beside her. "Do you know what's happening?"

"I'm as clueless as you are, mate."

Just as he replied, a woman entered the building and was immediately greeted with hugs. Bella observed the woman, noticing her features that seemed familiar to her: Platinum blonde hair that reached her shoulders, her skin was pale, freckled dusting her cheeks. The way the people greeted her told Bella that she was respected in the Panthers.

"Where's Lucas?" Bella heard her ask, her british accent evident.

"Missed me?" Lucas asked, popping out of nowhere with a wide grin on his face. The two immediately ran to hug each other, both of them laughing happily.

Bella glanced at Jace who had the same question she had. 'Who was this woman?'

Though the way they treated each other lead the female assassin to believe that they were lovers. Which was a surprise for both Bella and Jace, since they never heard of Lucas being in a relationship. Not that it mattered much.

"So glad to see you back, Keira." Lucas said, before pecking the blonde girl on the lips.

Bella smirked, feeling slightly proud that her assumption was right.

For a couple minutes, Lucas and Keira were drowned into conversation. Until Keira had caught Bella's gaze, much to her surprise. Keira seemed to look at her with a hint of recognition. Had she met her before?

"Do you know her?" Jace whispered.

"As far as I remember, no." Bella raised a brow as Keira headed towards her. 

"Hi! Bella right? I'm Keira." She says, holding out a hand for Bella to shake.

The brunette stood up, shaking her hand as she sent her a small smile. "Nice to meet you, Keira." She said, scrutinizing Keira with a look.

"Oh, is there something in my face?" Keira asked, wondering why Bella was looking at her the way she had.

"Oh, sorry. You kind of look familiar, if I'm being honest."

"You probably recognize me from a mission few years back?"

Bella widened her eyes. Then that must mean she was also an assassin. As far as Bella can remember, she had only worked with other assassins whenever the job she needed done required the presence of multiple people. They were truly living in a small world. Who would've thought she had once worked with Lucas' girlfriend before. 

There are times Bella was offered missions together with other assassins. Whenever that did happen, they would only acknowledge each other with their aliases or codenames if they did not have one.

"Umm, you remember Raven?"

At the mention of the codename, Bella's eyes lit up. She had faintly remembered of a woman working with her side-by-side in a mission two years ago.

"Wait, you're Raven?!" Bella exclaimed, her mouth breaking into a wide grin as she pulled the woman into a tight hug.

"Yep. Name's Keira Lei Pierce, nice to meet you!" Raven greeted.

The woman had once been Bella's partner in a Russian bombing mission. A year before she moved to America, Bella was offered a mission to retrieve a bio-weapon from a facility in Russia. The facility had a couple nukes, gas bombs, and more bio-chemical weapons one could think of.

A handful number of assassins were invited into the mission, two of them being Red and Raven.

"It's been what? Two years?" Bella chuckled.

"Yep, time flies by so fast, how have you been lately?"

"Been here, been there." The brunette answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"You must be pretty busy, I mean, you're the Red!" Keira gushed. Red was one of the people she idolized. Red was one of the most respected in their industry, after all.

"It's nice to finally know your real name! Back on the mission all of us only knew you as 'Red' and it's tru-"

"Woah, calm down." Bella cut her off.

"Sorry. I'm just a big fan."

"That's okay." Bella smiled, before Lucas managed to slip into their conversation, wrapping an arm around Keira's waist. 

"I guess you two are already acquainted?"

"Yes, we met years ago. I didn't know you two were together?" Bella raised a brow, giving the two a questioning look.

"Wait, you didn't tell her?" Keira asked Lucas with a glare, expecting her boyfriend to have told her about them already. Lucas was aware of Keira being a fan of Bella, though he never really thought it was that important.

"Umm, it n-never came up." Lucas stuttered.

"I'm going to-" Keira says before Lucas cuts her off.

"Let's go, Bella." He quickly says, looking down at his watch before adding: "We're going to be late."

"And where do you think you're going?" Keira asked him, making him gulp.

"Bella, Jace and I have something to do at Vermont."

"Alright then, we'll settle this when you come back." Keira smirked, sending me a quick wave before walking away.

"Let's go."