The text came through at 2:13 a.m. - a time when no one with good intentions would be awake.
Unknown Number: I need someone dead.
Blunt. No hesitation. Whoever was on the other end wasn't wasting time, and I respect that. I leaned back against the worn leather of my chair, the glow of my burner phone cutting through the dimness of my apartment. Most requests were vague, full of empty posturing. This though? This was personal. I let the silence stretch before sending back a reply.
Me: Who?
A pause. Three dots appeared and disappeared, like they were second-guessing themselves. Then-
Unknown Number: Tobias Duskbane.
My fingers tightened around the phone. I knew that name. Anyone working the shadows of Darkmoor did. Dangerous. Elite. A ghost in the city's underbelly, the kind of man you didn't cross unless you wanted to disappear. And here was someone asking me to take him out like it was some casual favor. I should've ignore it, but I didn't.
Me: Details.
The response came fast - too fast. They'd been waiting for my agreement.
Unknown Number: He's 27. Lives on the border of Darkmoor and OverOath. Big, old Victorian mansion. He's involved in the dark web, like you. And he's hurting her.
Her. The one word that shifted everything.
Me: Who?
Unknown Number: Selene Duskbane. My best friend.
Selene. My grip on the phone loosened as the name settled in my mind. I didn't know her - but I knew of her. The whispers about a young wife trapped in that mansion. How she never spoke out. How she never appeared out in public without her husbands hand curled tightly around her wrist. The kind of man who didn't have anyone to save her. Until now. I tapped out another message.
Me: Why me?
A longer pause ensued. Then -
Unknown Number: Because you're the best. And because you won't leave loose ends. No one can trace this back to her.
Smart. Careful, but not careful enough.
Me: Name?
Unknown Number: Eden Lunsworth.
She gave it up without a fight - another sign this wasn't amateur work. She trusted me. Or she was desperate enough to pretend to. I stood, moving toward the window. The city stretched beneath me, jagged and restless under a wash of pale moonlight. Darkmoor never slept, and neither did I. I'd done enough jobs to know when someone was serious. Eden Lunsworth was serious. I typed one final message.
Me: We'll meet. I want every detail. We will plan this right.
Her reply was instant.
Eden Lunsworth: When and where?
I smiled faintly to myself. I didn't believe in fate - but if I did, it would look a hell of a lot like this.
Me: Tomorrow. Midnight. I'll send the location.
I tossed the burner phone onto the desk and let my thoughts sharpen around a single, undeniable truth: Tobias Duskbane was already a dead man. He just didn't know it yet.
****
Midnight came fast.
I didn't pick the kind of place where people asked questions. The bar was tucked into a forgotten corner of Darkmoor, the neon sign flickering weakly against the night. No cameras. No curious eyes. Just shadows and the faint hum of music bleeding through cracked brick walls. I leaned against the back of the booth, my fingers wrapped loosely around a glass of bourbon I had no intention of drinking. The burner phone rested on the table, its screen dark. She'd be here soon.
At exactly 12:00, the door swung open. I knew it was her before she even approached. Eden Lunsworth. Strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Sharp eyes that missed nothing. Her heels clicked against the concrete floor as she moved towards me - confident, but beneath that, I caught it.
Tension. Fear.
I motioned for her to sit. She did, sliding into the booth across from me. For a moment, neither of us spoke. I wanted her to break the silence first.
"You're not what I expected," she said quietly, scanning me like she was sizing up whether she had made the right decision.
"Disappointed?'
Her lips curled faintly. "No. You seem... capable."
I didn't bother confirming what we both already knew. If I wasn't sure, we wouldn't even be here.
"Talk," I said. "I want everything laid out. No half truths. No lies."
She exhaled, her fingers curling tightly against the tables edge. "It's bad," she said, voice low. "Worse then what I explained in the texts. Tobias - he's a monster. Selene doesn't talk much about it, but I've seen enough to know. He controls everything. What she wears, where she goes. He isolates her. Keeps her trapped in that damn mansion. And when he's angry..." Her voice trembled - just for a second - but I caught it.
I didn't speak. I wanted her to keep going.
"I've seen bruises," she admitted. "More times than I can count. Sometimes she even tries to hide them. Sometimes she doesn't even bother. He doesn't just hit her - he breaks her down. Makes her feel like she's nothing, and I can't watch it happen anymore. If he's not stopped, he's going to kill her. I know he will."
My jaw clenched as the image of formed in my mind - Selene Duskbane, beautiful and fragile, locked inside that rotting Victorian mausoleum while her husband tears her apart piece by piece. I'd met men like Tobias before. Arrogant. Vicious. But the ones who hurt women? They were the lowest kind of filth. And they all bled the same.
"How careful do we need to be?" I asked. Eden straightened, her composure snapping back into place.
"No mistakes. No mess. If anyone suspects Selene, it's over. He's powerful, and the people in his world will notice if something feels off. This has to look clean."
Clean. I could do clean.
"You said he's on the dark web. What's his business?"
Her mouth twisted in distaste. "Drugs, arms deals, human trafficking. If it's illegal, he's got a piece of it. And he's paranoid - there are cameras everywhere on that property, and he keeps a private security team in rotation. Not a lot, but enough."
I absorbed everything she said, the details locking into place in my mind like puzzle pieces. His routines. His weaknesses. His fears. Tobias might think he is untouchable - but he'd already slipped by letting someone like Eden get this close to his secrets.
"You mentioned an alibi," I said. "You have a plan?" She nodded, pulling herself back into focus.
"I'll take Selene out of town. There's a coastal resort on the edge of Darkmoor - we'll stay there for a week. She won't suspect anything. She needs a break, and Tobias never lets her leave the house on her own." Her eyes met mine, hard and unyielding. "That gives you time to do what you need to do."
A week. More then enough time. I leaned forward slightly. "When do you leave?"
"The day after tomorrow."
Good. I could work with that. I studied her carefully, noting the slight tremor in her fingers as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She wasn't lying - but there was something more beneath her desperation. Guilt. Maybe even shame that she couldn't save her friend any other way.
"You care about her," I said, not a question.
"She's my family," Eden whispered, her mask slipping away a tiny bit. "And no one else is going to protect her."
For a long moment, the air hung heavy between us. I could've said no. Walked away. But the truth was - this wasn't about the money. Not anymore. It was about the fact that Tobias Duskbane thought he could hurt her and get away with it. And that? That didn't sit right with me.
"You'll get your clean kill." I promised, my voice smooth and certain. "By the time you bring her home, he'll be nothing but a memory."
Her breath hitched softly - but she didn't thank me. Smart girl. Instead, she reached into her coat and slid a plain envelope across the table. "Everything else I could find on him. Schedules, contacts, security codes. If there's anything else you need -"
"I'll find you." I said. Eden hesitated only for a moment longer before rising from the booth.
"I'll text you when we're leaving town," she said, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked away. I stayed there for a while after she left, rolling the weight of her words over in my mind. Every ugly detail. Every cruel thing he'd done. And with each passing second, the fire inside of me burned hotter. By the time I finished my drink, I knew how Tobias Duskbane was going to die.
ns 15.158.61.18da2
