The Prince (The Florentine 0.5)(7)

“Put down your swords.” The Prince paced like a lion, herding the men toward the edge of the roof.

The leader cursed, spitting on the ground.

“Vincenzo, see to the others.” The leader addressed the man next to him, gesturing to the corpses and heads that littered the roof, their blackish blood shining like tar in the semidarkness.

The leader attacked, hoping to give Vincenzo the opening he needed. The Prince evaded the leader’s strikes and kicked Vincenzo in the chest, forcing him to his knees before taking his head.

The Prince pointed his bloodied sword at the leader.

“Tell me to whom I owe the pleasure of your visit before I kill you.”

The leader gripped his weapon more tightly. “You’re still outnumbered.”

“Not for long.”

The leader jumped over the side of the roof, his two companions following after.

The Prince calmly looked down at them.

They landed next to the hotel, poised to fight.

He glanced around, ensuring there were no other raiding parties nearby. Then he flew to the ground, landing several feet away from the remaining attackers.

“Tell me who sent you and perhaps I’ll spare you.”

The leader and his companions moved forward in a line. “We don’t need your charity.”

“Then you, would-be assassin, are dead.”

The Prince ran toward them, driving his sword into the leader’s chest, skewering him through the heart. It was not a mortal wound but it felled the man. The Prince heard his heart stutter and grow silent.

The remaining two men approached him on the other side, coordinating their attack.

The Prince retrieved the leader’s fallen sword and fought the others simultaneously, swinging a sword from each hand.

The two fighters were stronger than the others. The Prince slashed and parried but he would not retreat, forcing them to take defensive positions.

All at once, he dropped the sword from his left and grasped the remaining sword with both hands. He leapt into the air and swung with a great cry, slashing through the necks of both men.

They fell down dead, their heads spinning through the air until they finally smashed to the pavement.

He stepped over to the leader, still carrying his weapon.

“How did you know where to find me?”

The man swore in Italian, clutching the seeping wound in his chest.

The Prince delivered a swift kick to his ribs, the sounds of splintering bones filling the air. “Tell me!”

“May the Prince of Venice live forever,” he gasped.

The Prince pointed his sword to the sky.

“I’m going to send your head to the Prince of Venice with a note: Next time, send an army.”

He placed a foot on the man’s chest and lifted his sword, before bringing it down on the man’s neck.

Chapter 5

“I see I’ve missed all the fun.” A woman’s voice speaking English sounded overhead.

The Prince looked up to see a familiar redhead leap from the roof of the hotel to the ground below.

She regarded the corpses and heads with distaste. “You’ve made a mess, my lord.”

“Aoibhe.” The Prince acknowledged her, still holding his bloodied sword.

The woman was almost as tall as the Prince, standing at five feet, nine inches. Her hair was long, falling to her backside, and she had exceptional brown eyes that sparkled in her lovely face. She looked to be twenty, but appearances were deceiving.

She kicked at one of the heads, bending to examine its features. “I don’t recognize him. Is he one of ours?”

“Venetian.” The Prince lowered his weapon, regarding the carnage. “Or so they implied.”

Her dark eyes moved to his. “Venetian? Are you sure?”

“No. I’m familiar with Marcus’s inner circle. These were strangers to me.”

She wrinkled her nose. “They aren’t ferals. Could they be mercenaries?”

“It’s possible.” The Prince shifted his sword, placing it tip down on the pavement and leaning on it thoughtfully.

“You could have kept one for interrogation.” Aoibhe grinned. “It’s been some time since we’ve enjoyed a good torture.”

“I doubt torture would have extracted anything useful. To torture them effectively, we’d have to deliver them to the Curia.”

The grin slipped from Aoibhe’s attractive features and she glanced over her shoulder. The barest of shivers shook her lean form.

“I’ll be damned before I collude with those monsters. I was volunteering to do the torturing myself.”

The Prince indulged himself in a ghost of a smile. “I appreciate the gesture.”

“Were they gathering intelligence?”

He gestured to the corpses on the ground and pointed to the roof. “Ten armed men, fixed on a single target? No. They were would-be assassins.”

Aoibhe shook her head, regarding the bloodied scene with new eyes. “I’m surprised they sent so few.”

The Prince straightened. “There may be more. Summon Gregor and Pierre. Instruct them to record images of the faces before they burn the bodies, and turn the information over to Niccolò. Perhaps the intelligence network can discover their identities.”

She bowed. “Yes, my lord.”