Chapter Fifteen:

What Happens in Vegas

1205

"Hold this position!" Altair yelled to Malik.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he snapped back. "It is a bit difficult since you practically woke up the entire camp!"

"I can see that you two are getting along!" Maria said, stabbing her sword into a Templar. "Come! Suna has Ahdara! We need to cover her to the horses!"

Altair and Malik agreed as I sprinted past them, just barely getting out of the way of some arrows. Ahdara seemed too light to me as I carried her. I clenched my fists as I thought about A'hd, her father. How could he be so cruel to someone who shared his blood?

I got to the horses and quickly put Ahdara in the saddle. The sounds of battle were getting closer, and we would only have a few minutes to leave while the Templars regrouped and gathered their forces. I hopped up behind Ahdara and grabbed onto the reins.

"Grandmaster! I am ready!" I called.

"Malik, Maria, you go first!" Altair commanded.

They listened and expertly jumped onto their mounts. When I saw Altair come running to his horse, I spurred mine on. Maria, Malik and Altair followed closely. On the cliffs, we had to be wary of the loose rocks and the archers, but we soon got passed it all.

It took us a while to reach Masyaf, but that was because of the treacherous terrain and darkness. The horses, tired as they were, took us all the way up the hill to the keep. As soon as we dismounted, they collapsed in exhaustion. I was ready to do so as well, but I caught Ahdara and brought her inside to a vacant room.

Darim bolted inside just as I laid her down. "Suna, go rest. I've already volunteered to watch over your cousin. Sef will help as well."

"But—!"

"No buts!" Darim looked about as stern as his mother. "Go. Rest. I will take care of things here."

Reluctantly, I left Ahdara's room. "Chased-out by a twelve-year-old…" I muttered, frowning. Still, I knew he was right. It was time for rest. I hadn't rested since I was stabbed through the heart… if you could even call that rested.

I bumped into Abbas as I made my way to my room. He glared at me, as he always had. I was sure that he still could not comprehend that a woman had made it to the rank that took him years to obtain in so short a time. I remembered when Altair had told me his intentions to make me a Master Assassin, even though I was fourteen. I was against it. I argued with him endlessly, but then he made a statement I could not counter, and I submitted.

"Those who believe that they are not ready for such things actually are. They have shown no ambition towards achieving it. Suna, whenever you get a rank, all you ever say is that it is simply a title for a name, and that it holds no meaning for you. Why then, do you argue against another rank? Does this one actually mean something?"

I knew that Altair had a reason for giving me my rank. After that, I did not question him. I trusted him, and I hoped that he would come to see how much I did, if he did not already.

Either way, Abbas disliked me. I saw no reason to speak to him if he did, even to find out why.

2012

After I'd called-in a few favours, I made my way into a taxi that would take me to the Strip. Las Vegas was always busy there, so it made a perfect cover for Templar activity. Plus, a weirdo in an outfit like mine would only be thought of as a street-performer. Easy cover.

"Okay Jared," I said as the taxi drove away, leaving me in front of the Excalibur hotel, "gimme the intel Rebecca sent you."

Into my earpiece, I heard Jared groan. "Crazy… Well, she sent a location that I'm not totally sure of."

"What is it?"

"The top of the Empire State Building. You know? At the New York, New York?"

"I know the one. I'm looking right at it."

Jared sighed at the other end. "Good for you. The jet's ready to extract you guys when you need it. Just stay on this channel, and don't shut it off."

"Okay, I got it." I smirked, knowing how much Jared hated to change different channels.

"And hey, try not to get caught in another explosion. You almost gave me a heart-attack that one time when you walked into the base covered in bandages like a mummy." The thought made me laugh. Oh, the memories I'd had with Jared and his team…

"No promises." When Jared was silent at the other end, I made my way to the New York, New York, taking the ramp above traffic. Once I got in, I was momentarily distracted by the hot dogs before I started to explore.

I was outfitted for nearly any situation. My robes, it seemed, had a few surprises built into it. Lucy's gift… or her last gift, rather. I'd found the robe blueprints and instructions inside the box they'd been in, when Lucy had given them to me in Monteriggioni.

I found my way to the elevator and pressed the button to take me to the highest floor. I was sure that there would be stairs to the lab where they were most likely keeping Jeremy.

How the technology has advanced, I thought absently.

"The world seems to change quickly. Look—do you see that? The birds are already heading south. Winter's coming."

I shoved those thoughts out of my head as I got off of the elevator. How much longer would I have to live? Sometimes, I just wanted to die, but I knew my duty, and I promised to fulfill it. No matter what.

"Then I will make the best of this moment, Sara Taylor."

Goddammit would you just get out of my head! I snapped in my mind, and forced the thoughts out.

I hadn't even realized that I'd just started up the stairs and already killed two guards. I had to admit; sometimes, it was scary how natural killing was to me. I ignored it, wondering why my feelings were suddenly bubbling back up to the surface. I'd known that I was always easy to read, but my true emotions had been locked up deep inside of me, until Walter. And then I buried them again, like I always had.

Two men in blue jumpsuits suddenly lunged at me in the stairwell. I reacted swiftly and stabbed them with my hidden blades through their throats. That done, I charged up the steps and avoided any more encounters with the guards, but I felt that the security cameras were already on me.I had no idea where the lab would be up there, but I had a feeling I'd know soon.

And hey, I was right.

I burst through a door at the top of the stairs and skidded to a halt, as several dozen guns trained their sights on me. Two people swiftly grabbed my arms and stopped me from moving, as an old man in a lab coat started to walk towards me.

"I've heard about you," he said. "My colleague in Italy spoke of a girl who escaped with his former assistant and an idiot girl, whose head was so thick it was difficult to get her ancestor's memories."

"Good for me, then," I replied, smirking. "All I want is Jeremy Stevens. He comes with me, and you Templars leave him alone."

I heard a few chuckles around the room. The old man didn't look impressed.

"That doesn't side in our favour, Miss Warner." The old man took several steps towards me, until he was less than an arm's length away. "I suggest you come with us. Quietly."

I relaxed, letting my shoulders sag. The grip on my arms relaxed and I immediately elbowed both men holding me in their noses. A gunshot rang out, but I was already sliding underneath the guards. One of the guys I'd elbowed was shot in the head and fell to the ground with a thump!, shocking the men with the guns.

I raced away, stabbing anyone who got in my way with my hidden blades. I eventually made my way to Jeremy, who was lying in an Animus. On the screen beside it, images were flashing so quickly I couldn't even determine what era he was visiting. He looked like hell, with bags under his eyes and a five o'clock shadow on his face.

I deactivated the Animus and pulled him up so he was sitting on the edge. "Jeremy! How many fingers am I holding up?"

Groggily, he looked at my hands and smiled. "Forty."

"I'm not even sure if you're joking." I helped Jeremy off of the table and slung his arm around my shoulders, so he could balance better. "Damn. What the hell'd they do to you?"

"Not sure," he replied, rubbing his head with his free hand. "I just wanna leave."

We didn't take two steps before the doors slid open, revealing the person I'd secretly wanted to see. Dressed in black leather with a white cross on her torso, Olivia Hobbs smiled her sickly smile and cracked the knuckles on her fists.

"Hello, Samantha," she said. "I've been looking forward to this."

I led Jeremy to a chair and sat him down. "Wait here."

He grabbed onto my sleeve. "Just to let you know: she's not my girlfriend."

"I figured that much out by myself." Jeremy released me, and I faced Olivia.

"Any last words from the descendant of the Assassin bitch who killed me?" she asked.

I was confused for a second, but it all clicked when I remembered what Rebecca told me. "So, you're not Olivia."

"It's a stupid name anyway," she said, flipping her hair. "I hated pretending to be her."

"You didn't really have to change your personality." I activated my hidden blades, but other than that I didn't move. "If I may, who am I speaking to? I have a hunch, but I don't wanna embarrass myself."

She smiled. "Diana Grace."

"Weird." I smiled back at her. "If you're dead, then you shouldn't even be speaking right now."

"It's the consciousness that takes over," she explained. "My consciousness was triggered by fighting Assassins. Now, Olivia is gone. Forever. And I get to live again." She activated two hidden blades of her own, though they had serrated edges. "And I get to have revenge by killing-off the bloodline of the bitch who killed me."

"How do you know it's even my bloodline?"

Olivia—Diana—smirked. "The way you move; the way you seem to look right through people, even when your hood is up; the way you smile…" She shook her head. "Everything about you reminds me about her."

"Well, looks like your observation skills haven't changed a bit. Death certainly hasn't stopped you."

It was Diana's turn to look confused. "Pardon…?"

I ran at her, but she just barely managed to stop my blades from stabbing her face. "Sara Taylor's bloodline belongs to her and her alone," I told her calmly. "She never passed it on. She never had a child."

Diana pushed me back and then violently tried to stab my gut. I parried and locked blades with her again.

"What are you saying…?" Diana asked as we strained against each other.

I smiled. "Sara Taylor never died. In fact, she hasn't died in over eight-hundred years."

Diana's eyes widened. "So… you…?"

"Hello again, Diana," I greeted. "Let's see what death has taught you."