"So you're staying with them? I didn't peg you as the wolf in sheep's clothing, but I do applaud you for it," Fang's smooth voice chuckles from nowhere. I look around at the forest that surrounds me, searching for any sign of my masked conspirator but coming up empty.

"You don't know anything about me," I fight down the anger bubbling in my throat. "You don't know anything at all. You didn't tell me the ninja were-"

"Just boys?" Fang laughs. "You didn't ask. Besides, I thought you valued your father's life over theirs."

"I-" I lower my face. My hands clench tightly at my sides as my voice falls to an almost whisper. "I don't know if I can."

"Looks like our scary little demon of the forest has gone soft," Fang chuckles lower, and my anger flares again. "But I'm afraid cancelling the missions isn't an option. I told you what would happen if you didn't kill the ninja."

"Why me?" I snap, hands trembling as hot anger swirls in my stomach. "Why not hire someone else?"

"Because you're you," Fang answers from just behind me. I whirl around to see him standing in the shadow of a tall oak, his smile flashing beneath this hood. "You're a skilled warrior with just enough innocence to slip through their defenses and stab them in the back. Literally."

I smash my hands tighter against my sides and clench my jaw shut as scorching anger tries to force itself out. Fang's face fills me with a fury that's almost impossible to contain, fury that he dares to threaten my father, fury that he can play me as his personal puppet, fury that he's using me to do his dirty work.

"Angry?" Fang says as he approaches and pulls me close, lowering his face to talk into my ear. I struggle to shove him away, but his grip's too tight. A dark heat lurches in my stomach, and I barely keep it back. "Go ahead, let it out. Let me see the raw, uncontrollable power I've heard so much about. You know I know your secret. Run away now and I'll tell everyone what you've done. I'll make sure they know the monster you truly are."

A wild scream rips away from my throat as I pull a knife from my belt. But before I can bury it into Fang's chest he disappears into the forest, leaving only his laughter.

"Go and complete your mission. But be careful, if you even think of telling the ninja what you've gotten yourself into Daddy will never see the light of day again. And for an added bonus, I'll make sure that everyone knows the true you. What would your new friends think if they knew what you really are?"

I throw a knife wildly at Fang's voice as it fades, but it just clatters against an empty tree and falls to the earth. I fall to my knees as I start to choke down the raging emotions in my chest, shoving them back into dark crevices along with the memories that accompany them. My body aches when I'm done and all I'm left with is a feeling of complete emptiness.

I don't want Fang to win. In fact, I want to bury a knife in his throat. But I don't have a choice. My father's in danger and I'm the only one who can save him. I have to finish my mission.

I have to kill the ninja.