I saw her from across the room. Most men would, I suspect.
Dark hair ran in ringlets down her neck ending in the middle of her back. Full lips were stained with a hint of crimson from the cup of wine she casually sipped. Pale eyes, flecked with green I should have recognized, scanned the room as if she knew others were watching. Even her purple dress, the style rare in Eban with its soft neckline hiding generous cleavage, showed just enough of her long graceful legs to draw attention. She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen.
How was I going to kill her?
I leaned away, careful not to stare too long, rolling a long dart between my fingers. A simple flick of the wrist and the toxin would take hold, yet I hesitated. It wasn’t the idea of killing her that bothered me. Not much, at least. A woman like her would have protection or else she wouldn’t be in a place like the Durven.
This place stank of spilt ale and sweat. The floor was little more than packed dirt. Tables and chairs were rough hewn, threatening splinters as you sat along them. Even the ale was rotten, tasting more bitter than smooth. Nothing like the nicer taverns in Eban.
No, the Durven was a place for thieves and gamblers. Men like me. A place where serving women and whores all competed to see who could remove coin from hand the fastest. For a woman like her to be found here meant protection.
My hand touched the short sword concealed under my cloak as I pocketed the dart, trying to determine who might be with her. A smoky fire in the back of the room created a haze I couldn’t easily see through. Likely intentional in a place like the Durven. Too few lanterns hung on hooks around the tavern giving only flickering light. My Sight—my most prominent gift—let me see through the haze, but I saw only a table with three old men gaming at dice and a fat man sitting alone along the back wall. Hints of motion, mere shimmers of shadow, shifted in the far corner where I couldn’t see well.
A half-dozen prostitutes, faces painted to draw men’s attention, circulated through the tavern. They left the old men gaming and the fat man alone. Soon the tavern would fill with better paying customers. Then it would be harder to make my move.
One of the serving girls approached. A plump one, breasts nearly exposed, practically bounced up to my table. Clearly I had been too free with my coin. I waved her away and used the opportunity to shift in my seat, trying and failing to see into the corner. I kept the woman in my line of sight.
She had to have protection. No lady like her would set foot in the Durven without any. And I couldn’t make my move without knowing where it was, not if I wanted to keep my skull intact.
I looked back at the woman, unable to avert my eyes. Damn Orly and this assignment. A woman like her deserved to be catered to. Or better yet—plied with drinks and brought home and bedded. Not killed like some common thief.
Of course, were she a common thief, I wouldn’t have been sent.
I bet the old man didn’t even know what she looked like. Better yet, maybe he did. That almost made me chuckle. Maybe that’s what drew his ire. Wouldn’t put it past the old man to put out a hit on some lady who ignored his advances. Or his coin.
I’d been sitting here long enough. Soon I’d have to either order food or get the attention of one of the whores. I was in no mood for either.
I still hadn’t learned why Orly wanted this woman dead. I had to know. The killing was easy. It was the why that mattered.
I stood from the table and started toward the woman, pulling my cloak around me. The cooler nights gave an excuse for the cloak but still marked me as a traveler, a foreigner. Useful since I was neither. The nervous flicker of her pale eyes told me she had seen me. She turned slowly to look away, careful not to make it too obvious.
The price Orly put on this woman—twenty gold tils—was enough to get the job done quickly. Not that it mattered. That much coin pretty much assured this woman would be dead soon, whether it was me or another of Orly’s assassins. I’d just as soon keep the coin.
“Hey there, stranger.”
I ignored the painted prostitute veering in front of me, her eyelids tinted purple and blooms of pink bursting along her cheeks. Her thin dress hung ragged and nearly translucent, clinging to her round body, leaving nothing to the imagination.
“Not interested,” I grumbled, and slid to step around her.
The woman grabbed my wrist and turned me. She stood on her toes, breasts perking toward my chest. She was tall for a woman but still I towered nearly a foot over her. “You sure are a tall one. So many things I would do with that long brown hair of yours.” She smiled and fluttered her eyes, keeping her hand on my wrist. “I could make a man out of you tonight. Give you a reason to grow a beard,” she purred. “Only five coppers and I’m your’s—”
“I’m sure you would be,” I said, grabbing her hand and peeling it off my arm, “but I’m really not interested.”
“Another girl, maybe? You could have us both. Just eight coppers for that. No other bargain like that in Eban.”
I looked at her and gave her my best smile. She smiled at me, her face full of the hope of the coin she could earn. I really had been too free with it tonight. At a place like the Durven, a little copper went a lot farther than other places.
Once I knew she looked, I blinked slowly to reveal my eyes, the dark green a declaration. I knew the effect it would have.
She stepped back, the seductive smile fading from her mouth as she stepped away from me. Not as quick as some, but a reaction still. “Maybe another girl, then.”
I snorted and turned back toward the lady.
She was gone.
Damn.
I should have known better. The woman was clever, I’ll give her that. I wasn’t sure how she managed to use the prostitutes as a distraction but at least now I finally knew what her protection was. And I was still no closer to getting to her.
She hadn’t slipped out the front door. It had been in view the entire time the other had distracted me. Other than a pair of men stinking of the docks, no one else had come in or out.
I hunched over, knowing it made me look shorter—less intimidating at least—and made my way back to my table and took a seat. Not much choice but to wait and see if she would return.
The others left me alone as the night grew longer. The Durven grew busier, men slowly filing in to find a place to sit and drink. Many disappeared with one of the painted women for a while before reappearing. Still my target did not return.
As far as I knew, there was no other entrance to the Durven. She was still here, somewhere. I considered searching the place, but the idea of going room to room in a place like the Durven without anyone watching my back made me nervous. Even a plump woman could put a knife in your back.
I waited until well after midnight. The tavern had grown quiet, slowly emptying. The women began to disappear and not return. She was not coming back. I couldn’t believe a lady like that would hole up in a place like the Durven. She must know someone was after her.
She did now, at least. I should’ve been more careful. If I was being honest with myself, I should’ve been more careful with the entire night. I had the woman in sight and let her get away.
Was it the coin or something else?
A woman like her was distracting, even to me. And I knew better.
At least I still had time before one of Orly’s other assassins got to her. None of the others had my gifts, my Sight. All would want the coin.
As much as I hated the idea, I’d have to come back. Catch her by surprise. Get her away from the painted girls. First I would learn why, but then, if the reason was right, I’d kill her.
I sighed. Sometimes it was hard being unlike other assassins.
Orly looked at me with his weathered face, flat grey eyes nearly as intimidating to me as my own green tinted eyes were to others. He wore a simple dark jacket and pants that belied its likely cost. Short-cropped hair was peppered with white but his wiry frame remained lithe. I had seen him kill with nearly as much skill as I could manage. I dared not underestimate him.
He met with me in his private office standing along the far wall as I entered. Most would presume that a sign of respect, but I knew better. For Orly, it was his way of ensuring his safety. There was no way out but the single door manned by two of his personal guards.
The office was well appointed, not surprising given Orly’s wealth. Shelves covered the walls, stuffed with books bound in leather. A luxury few would have, let alone display. A few ornate ceramics decorated the shelves. I recognized work from Yilan and Cort. Exotic and expensive. A thick rug covered the ground, woven with intricate patterns I didn’t recognize. A large stone fireplace set along the back wall glowed softly, giving the room its only light. A smoky haze hung in the air, probably only visible to me.
“Galen,” he began, saying my name with a mix of respect and ownership. I hated the way he managed to do that. “Have you taken care of that task I have asked of you?”
Orly turned to the small table next to him and poured a small cup of wine from a slender glass bottle. Another one of his excesses; few could afford such delicate glass and here Orly almost flaunted it. I was sure it was impressive for most, but I had seen this trick countless times. He brought the cup to his nose, carefully swirling it and inhaling before taking a drink.
“You know I have not.” No use lying to Orly. He was too well connected in Eban for me to pull off.
“You will lose your prize, then,” Orly said, taking a slow drink.
“You know I will not.”
He set his glass down and laughed. It was harsh, like a wolf howling, and almost hurt my ears. A flicker of amusement crossed his eyes. “Probably not, Galen. Others may try, though.”
“Of course,” I said. I had long ago learned Orly rarely trusted in a single assassin. When he decided you were dead, someone would get to you. For the right reason, that usually meant me.
“You have decided, then?”
I smiled. An assignment from Orly was never an order, not really. At least not when it came to me. “Not completely.”
He arched his brow. “Really?”
“I trust you’ve seen her?” I asked.
A dark smile fell on his face and I wondered if I had been right. Had she slighted him? “Have you?” he asked, leaning forward.
There seemed more to this than a simple inquiry. Did he want to know where I found the woman? I wouldn’t put it past Orly to use that knowledge to send other assassins after her. He didn’t really care who did the job; the same amount of coin left his purse. But it mattered to me. Others did messier work, leaving too many dead. Such killings should be quiet and leave only doubt behind.
“I have,” I answered.
“Hmm.”
Orly turned and poured another glass of wine. He touched his small finger to the top edge of the glass as he poured. He held it out, offering it to me.
I took the glass, eyeing it carefully. As I swirled the wine, I saw the faint shimmer of powder mixed into the wine. A delicate attempt. Without my Sight, I might have missed it. “What is it?”
Annoyance flickered across his face. “You always know, don’t you, Galen?”
I nodded. “The day I don’t is the day I retire.”
Orly’s sudden smile would make another man squirm. I saw it every time I met with him. “It will be.”
I inhaled deeply, carefully. Bitter. A hint of spice. Exotic. “Tchinth powder,” I said. “Brutal.”
And expensive. Currently almost impossible to acquire, it was made from seeds from the tchinth flower that bloomed only once every seven years. Even a small dose would cause significant swelling, puffing of the mouth and lips. Most wouldn’t survive, suffocating slowly. I had used tchinth powder more than once. Other than the swelling, it made for a clean kill as the swelling disappeared almost as soon as the victim died.
“I have only heard of its effects,” Orly admitted.
I tilted my head toward the glass. “Perhaps you would like to see them first hand?”
Orly laughed, again the sound grated on me. “Another time, Galen.”
I pulled the glass to my nose and inhaled again. Orly knew of the toxic effects of tchinth, but did he know of its other uses? Probably not. Like most men in his position, he thought only of killing, never of healing. Of course, since coming to Eban, I was not so different.
“What has she done?” I asked softly. I twisted slightly, missing the weight of my sword. Weapons were not allowed in Orly’s presence. I had to leave sword and cloak in the front room of Orly’s borrowed home, never certain if they would be there when I returned. Not my pouch, though. That I refused to leave. Of all my possessions, it was the most valuable.
Orly knew I was never truly unarmed. I suspect I was one of the few he let get near him with anything close to a weapon. It was the reason for the two men standing to either side of his door.
“Getting soft? A woman like that usually has the opposite effect.”
I smiled at that, inhaling the tainted wine again. “Could be I am.”
He frowned, watching me with the wine glass, an unreadable expression staining his wrinkled face. “If you weren’t so damn skilled, I would have no use for you.”
I tilted my head in a token of thanks. “You keep testing me.”
“And you keep passing.”
I pulled myself up to my full height, coming uncomfortably close to the ceiling as I did. “They haven’t been difficult tests.”
Orly met my eyes, now flared a deep green, and didn’t blink. He was the only one who didn’t. “Will knowing make this task easier for you or harder?”
“Without knowing, I can’t guarantee I’ll take the job.”
Orly smiled again. “Twenty gold tils. Enough for most men to last a decade.”
I shifted slightly, considering simply leaving. I’d left money behind before. “I’m not most men.”
“That’s why it’s twenty,” he said. He picked up the delicate bottle of wine and tossed it into the fire at the back of the room.
I grunted. Such waste. “Why did you call me here?”
Damn him for summoning me. At least while watching the Durven, I could keep my eyes open for the others he’d sent. I’d already dispatched two, though they clearly expected an easy target. The promise of twenty gold tils would bring out all sorts of real and would-be assassins.
“The job is more than just the woman, Galen.”
“You don’t want the woman dead?”
“My plans for the woman have not changed. See that it’s finished. Keep it clean. But she has something I want returned. You will receive your payment when I have the item.”
“That wasn’t the deal.”
“It is now.”
“Is that why you want her?” I asked. “She stole from you?”
He shrugged. “Do you really need the reason? Twenty for the girl and the return of my property.”
“What is it?” I asked. A strange request, even from Orly.
“There will be others working with her,” Orly said, ignoring the question. “See that they are dispatched as well. Five gold apiece.”
I blinked, startled for the first time. “A high price to pay for just one woman.”
“The woman is still twenty. The others are five.”
I thought of all the others in the Durven, counting nearly a dozen regulars. I suspected all helped the woman somehow. At least hiding her, if not outright protection. Sixty gold on top of the twenty already offered. Quite the price for one woman. By far the most Orly would have ever paid me at once.
“I hope your coinpurse is full,” I said, twisting the glass between my fingers.
“You’ve always been paid in full.”
“That’s why I keep taking your jobs.”
He grunted. “This needs to be done soon.”
What threat could a woman like her pose to Orly? “Rushing will only lead to mistakes.” Not from me, but I couldn’t say the same about the others Orly had made the same offer.
He turned toward the fire, staring at the coals. “Soon, Galen.”
“She’s just a woman.”
He looked up and the heat in his eyes almost made me take a step backward. “Do not question, or you will find a price on your head twice as large.”
This time I was intentional about my eyes when I blinked. “If it ever comes to that, you better offer more than that for my head.”
The heat didn’t fade from his eyes but he smiled. “Do the job.”
I nodded slowly. “I will consider.”
As I turned to leave Orly said, “You can leave the wine behind.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh? And why not?”
I looked back and he watched me, a curious expression across his wrinkled face. “Consider it my price for the meeting.”
Orly laughed as I slipped between his guards and left. I wondered if he knew how much I hated that sound.
The rooftops around the Durven were no cleaner than the buildings. There were times I wished I did not have Sight and this was one. Bird droppings coated slate shingles dampened with an evening dew, threatening to send me sliding to the street below. A few dead pigeons lay scattered. For some reason, I cringed when a cat grabbed one and skulked away with it clenched in its jaw. Darkened shadows of bats fluttered overhead as they flew out for their evening hunt.
In spite of all that, the air smelled clear and crisp. A hint of breeze fluttered across the roofline, bending and sliding around the buildings. Nothing like the salt air of my home, but still after all the years I’d spent here, I’d grown accustomed to the smell of the Eban air. A hint of rain hung on the breeze. The grey clouds hovering in the darkened sky and hiding the thin sliver of moon told me that for once, the threat was real.
The street below me was quiet. A rat scurried in the alley, shuffling through the pile of refuse overflowing a small bin. Otherwise the street was empty. Down the narrow street, near the corner, a small lantern cast a dark smoke drifting lazily until it reached the breeze. Poor-man’s oil, I’d once heard it called. A fitting name. Oil used in this part of town never burned clearly, not like the oil used in other parts of Eban. I’d taken advantage of the fact more than once.
I turned my attention to the Durven. Like many buildings built in Eban, the stone sunk in the soft ground over the years until the entrance opened underground. A narrow stair led to the door, leaving only one entrance. The pair of lanterns hanging on either side of the door had been lit earlier in the evening. Now they only smoldered, giving no light to the stairs. Fortunately I did not need much light to see. So far this evening I’d seen several men enter but none had left. As far as I could tell, the woman wasn’t there. When she returned, I’d be ready.
So I crouched, waiting.
Orly thought to tempt me with additional coin. That was his first mistake. Instead of tempting me, I was left with more questions. The price he offered amounted to a small fortune. Such a prize drove too many locals to try their hand at my craft. After dispatching a few more adventuresome assassins, there was now a general understanding I had the first crack at the woman. It wouldn’t last.
Damn Orly.
I didn’t relish the idea of killing all the women in the Durven. Practically everyone working in the tavern could be protecting her. Each then was at risk for Orly’s price. At five golds each, few would ask questions first.
Now it was a job I had to take. Just as Orly knew it would be.
Motion at the edge of the Durven came where stone met wood as the building stretched another two stories. Fading paint chipped off the wood, giving the Durven a dull and rundown appearance the interior did nothing to contest. I stared, waiting for what drew my attention, and saw a flicker of shadows. Nothing else.
I blinked, my Sight clearing the night. Then I saw her.
Moving carefully, I jumped down from the rooftop. Heights didn’t bother me but the fall could injure me just the same as any other. Thankfully my gifts gave me more than just eyesight. Agility too.
I landed silently and crept around to the corner where she stood, staying in deep pockets of shadow only my Sight could penetrate. She would not even know I was there.
My heart thrummed slightly as it always did before a kill. Part of me hated what I did, hated I was good at it, but I knew if I wasn’t the one doing the killing another would be. And there just weren’t many things someone like me could do.
The small dart of terad toxin slipped between my fingers. Instant paralysis. A painless death. Just a flick of my wrist and it would be done.
Perhaps I could even leave the women in the tavern alone. Twenty gold was coin enough for a job like this.
“How much does he pay you?”
She had known I was coming. Somehow. Few ever caught me so unaware.
“Am I worth it?” she asked.
She didn’t turn to ask the question. Her voice was soft, almost musical, and reminded me of home.
As I crouched in the shadow from the nearby building, I considered my next move. The clouds had thickened so even the light of the moon was obscured. Barely any of the distant lantern light reached this far past the Durven. I could reach her with the dart from here and no one would ever see the attack.
But then she turned.
Her face was as lovely as the first time I saw her. Dark hair carried a soft sheen to my eyes. Full lips practically glowed. Her elegant dark dress was out of place for this part of town, especially for the Durven. I fingered the dart, readying to flick it.
“What did you do?” I asked, staying in the shadows.
She strained to keep her face neutral but failed. Others may not have noticed but I saw the effort she put into keeping her mouth tipped in the hint of a smile, the way her eyes were drawn, the tension she carried in her tight cheeks.
“Nothing but live,” she answered.
I frowned at the response. “A heavy price for such a common offense.”
She stepped forward and I felt a soft fluttering, almost like a breeze brushing my hair, but the air was still. “You’re the man from the other night.”
I slid back another quiet step, pulling the shadows around me. My back brushed the wall of the neighboring building—once a bakery but now just an empty shell—and readied the dart.
A sudden question came to me. How had she recognized me? We didn’t speak the night I first saw her. I was certain none other than someone like myself could see me where I stood.
Damn.
The fluttering I felt suddenly made sense. I stepped forward then, knowing hiding didn’t matter, not with this woman. “You’re a Reader.” Now I understood how she knew I was there. And what my intention was. Too late I pushed a mental barrier in place. Since leaving home I rarely had the need.
What a fool I’d been. Careless, too. Surely she had known my purpose the first time I’d seen her. That explained the other woman’s behavior, the lack of real surprise when she saw my eyes.
She blinked slowly and I recognized the slight swirl of green in her eyes I overlooked the first night. Not as dark as mine. I had yet to meet another with eyes as dark as mine outside of Elaeavn.
“And you’re one of the Sighted.”
I slipped the dart back into its pouch and leaned against the wall. I could not kill her. Not yet.
“Why did you leave?”
Readers rarely left home. The risk to them was too great if discovered. Most like us were feared when discovered, but Readers evoked something more than simple fear. And usually for good reason; few outside Elaeavn knew how to protect themselves against such an ability.
A flicker of emotion crossed her face, darkness mixed with sorrow. It was gone so quickly most would have missed it.
She blinked again and the swirls of green surged. Her face did not change but I felt a surge of anger from her.
“Does he know?” I asked, changing course. An edge of uncertainty pulled at me, a sense I had grown to trust over the years. I was missing something. “Of course he knows.” I shook my head. “That explains the price. Explains me.”
She frowned. “You?”
“How’d he discover you?” Readers were particularly careful to hide their gifts, especially so far from home. Many had been abducted over the years, never seen again. Strange Orly wanted her dead.
Her mask of emotions slipped. “By accident, really. He thought me a prostitute.” She shook her head. “He saw my eyes as I Read him.”
“Of course he did.” Orly made sure to watch everyone’s eyes. One more reason he was dangerous. “How did you escape?”
“You aren’t the only one with other talents.”
I bit back a smile as I wondered what other talents she possessed. Enough to make Orly think her one of the prostitutes. Enough to let her blend in at the Durven.
She blushed. Had I not known my barrier was in place, I would have suspected she read me.
“Nothing like that,” she said.
Had she read me?
I made a conscious effort to build up my barrier. If she was capable of crawling past my protections, there wasn’t anything I could keep from her.
“Why does he want you dead? A man like Orly would have plenty of use for a Reader like you.”
She stepped closer and smiled. Her dress parted as she did and I couldn’t help but notice the soft curve of her calf as she moved. This close, I smelled a hint of lavender and alia on her. The sweet scent was almost intoxicating. I felt a powerful urge to grab her, kiss her deeply, throw her to the ground and tear off her dress as I…
Damn.
“More than just a Reader,” I muttered, digging my nails into my palm. The pain distracted me from her influence. If she was this powerful, it wouldn’t last.
I had to decide quickly whether to kill her or help her.
Her smile faded. “More than just one of the Sighted.”
“Why not leave Eban? Why hide here, at the Durven of all places?”
She forced another smile, her full pink lips parting and showing me just the hint of teeth. “He made sure that I cannot leave. And at the Durven, I can blend in.”
I snorted. “Not likely.”
“Only one of the Sighted sees me this way. The rest see…” She trailed off as she seemed to flicker, swelling and twisting as the illusion of a soft, plump prostitute settled atop her like a veil.
Impressive. I blinked and the illusion failed. “And Orly? What did he see?” I wondered if he recognized the change in her eyes or if he had a hint of ability as well. Either way, the knowledge was useful.
“I’m not certain,” she said with a little shake of her head. She smiled, tilting her head toward me. “What now?” she asked. “Terad toxin? Sword? Fall?”
I wasn’t sure if I heard her or if the thoughts simply flickered through my head. Images came with the thoughts, memories of each item flashing through my mind.
I began to understand just how powerful this woman was.
And here I had thought Orly’s price too high. If anything, it was a bargain.
“Why did you let me find you?”
“Let you?”
“You were waiting for me,” I said. No use denying the fact I had not caught her unaware. If anything, she trapped me.
“You would find me eventually. I wanted it on my terms.”
I flicked my gaze around, looking at the street, the sloped entrance to the Durven, the dark haze hanging around the buildings. “You would choose this?”
She shrugged. “You are not at a complete advantage here. And I—”
She cut off just as I grew alerted to a change in the shadows. No longer were we alone.
I slipped in front of the woman, pushing her behind me as I sent two small darts flying into the alley. I unsheathed my sword, preparing for the possibility—rare as it was—my darts had missed.
Moments later, bodies crumpled to the stone with a soft thud, terad toxin taking effect.
I stepped back against the rough planks of the building, waiting, looking carefully out at the street and up to the rooftops. Nothing else moved.
I turned, half expecting her to have run off.
She stood near the Durven, slinking close to the sunken stone, watching me. Silent. Eyes still touched with a hint of green were wide. Clearly she still called upon her abilities. I wondered if she Read me as I watched her. She blinked, the green fading, and I smiled. I sheathed my sword, studying her carefully.
Her demeanor had changed. Before she had seemed confident, as if knowing I would not kill her. Now she shifted, eyes flickering up and down the alley. The tension in her cheeks seemed more pronounced and her lips drew tight. Slender fingers pulled at her dress, twisting the fabric in her hands. I could smell the nerves upon her, biting through the sweet floral perfume she wore.
“What am I to do?” I asked her. “I can’t let you live. Not if I want to stay in Eban. And I’m not sure you’ll let me kill you.”
She blinked, green flaring in her eyes before fading. “Do you want to kill me?”
I sighed, uncertain what it was that Iwanted. Conflicting emotions ran through me. But which were mine and which did she place there?
“Who are you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I am no one.”
I snorted. “No one?” I took a step closer and watched. She tensed but her eyes never changed. “There are few Readers outside Elaeavn. But you’re something more than just a Reader.” She started to look away. “Why did you leave?”
She leaned toward me, filling my nostrils with her perfume. I became aware of how her neck pulsed with each heartbeat. My own quickened. A long finger swept her hair back almost delicately, tucking it behind her ear. I had a sudden vision of Orly tossing the bottle of wine into the fire, discarding it simply because he could.
“There are few enough of the Sighted. But you are something more.”
She leaned closer and I smelled her breath. Hot and with a hint of mint.
Her eyes flared again and slid to the side. Pulling another dart from my pouch, I flicked it up toward the rooftop, not waiting this time for it to connect. I unsheathed my sword and pulled her into my arms, spinning as another shape separated from the shadows.
Whatever bargain there had been was gone. Those with skill had arrived.
She tensed but I held her tightly, sweeping the sword in an arc as we turned. I was aware of each of her curves as we moved, more so when she began pressing into me.
We moved, shifting, dancing a deadly dance. She knew where I would go, sliding into just the right place, never obstructing the movement of my sword. I carried her down the street, away from the Durven, into the darker shadows, killing a half dozen as we moved.
Finally we stopped.
I was breathing heavily and so was she. Her chest heaved into mine but she made no effort to move. I could not have pulled away had I wanted to.
“What now?” she whispered.
I could finish this now. Twenty gold. Take proof to Orly, perhaps take a few of the other assassins with me for additional coin.
But we both knew I would not.
I didn’t know whether she used her influence or not. Did it matter? I couldn’t really kill one of my own, one with such obvious abilities.
Even that was not an honest answer, not really.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from her reluctantly. The look on her face almost made me step back into her, take her into my arms, kiss her deeply…
I sheathed my sword more firmly than necessary, my head clearing. “If I’m to help you, that must stop.”
She blinked and my desire faded but did not disappear completely. Around her, I doubted it would ever completely disappear. A sad smile twisted her mouth. “You will help?” The hope in her voice seemed real enough.
“The Great Watcher forgive me,” I said. “But I will help.”
I crouched in the small room, rolling a dart between calloused fingers as I stared at the thick door, unable to completely dispel the nerves I now felt. Tucked into the small room inside the Durven, I did not feel particularly protected. Especially not here. I had already seen how quickly word of the woman’s location spread. Now I was simply another target.
I grunted. Five gold on me. For now.
What was I doing opposing Orly? I knew the consequences—he’d already promised to put a price twice that of the woman on my head. Five gold was incentive enough for most. That didn’t make me especially nervous; I knew the skill of my competition in Eban. But once Orly learned that I was working against him, helping the woman, the price would change. Forty gold would pull assassins from all over to Eban.
I was not the only assassin with abilities.
“You don’t need to do this, Galen,” she said.
I turned to look at her. I wondered when she first learned my name. The way she spoke it—so different than Orly and all the others I’d met in Eban—reminded me of home. Pale eyes showed none of the green but I didn’t doubt she used her abilities. I’d seen how she managed to Read past my barrier as if it was nothing.
Did Orly even know the extent of her abilities? Was that the reason for the price he put on her?
“I don’t even know your name,” I said.
I turned away, looking back to the door. There was but one way in or out of this room. Useful and risky at the same time. Walls were simple wood paneling. A small bed was tucked into the corner. A table sat at the end of the bed, a stack of paper spread atop it, ink bottle unstoppered leaving me wondering what she’d been writing. Near the door was a lacquered trunk with intricate painting worked along its sides. I knew this was her only possession from home.
“Cael,” she said.
I didn’t need to watch her face to know that she spoke the truth. I heard the soft inflection, the comfort she had in saying the name, to know it was real. “Gather what you need quickly, Cael,” I said. “This room provides little in the way of protection. As you’ve seen, Orly is nothing if not over prepared.”
I heard her breathing, smelled the hint of mint with each breath. I was careful to maintain my focus, understanding how easily her manipulations could sway me.
“Why do you do this, Galen?”
I shifted on my feet, the small dart pausing between my fingers. “I’m not sure,” I answered. “Orly wants you gone because you’re a Reader. Perhaps you influenced me. Both are reason enough to help.”
Cael slid over to the trunk and leaned forward, glancing at me as she did. I couldn’t help but stare.
“I know why you’re here now,” she said.
I dragged my eyes up to her face. Her eyes burned a soft green, just hinting at her ability. A flush rose in her cheeks, giving a contrast of color to her pale skin.
“Why are you—”
“A killer?” I asked.
She blinked slowly. Her eyes did not change.
“You’re the Reader,” I answered and turned away.
“There are some things even I cannot Read,” she said. “They are places buried so deep they’re like a different language to me. To go there and to understand would damage us both.”
I shifted my focus to peer around the room, taking in the shadows. Light from the lantern flickered. Motes of dust hung in the air mixing with translucent smoke. Even the walls had a certain glaze to them.
“You wonder if I enjoy what I do.”
I looked over at her. The darkly lacquered chest was open. Pale blue light washed out. Her hands froze in the act of rustling through its contents, but not before sounds of her sorting reached my ears. I heard clothing mostly but there were other sounds mixed in. Coins. Clank of wood. A strange jingling. Mostly I wondered about the glow.
She nodded once. Her lips tightened and lines drew around her eyes. Nothing else about her moved.
“Can you tell by Reading?” I asked softly.
Her eyes flared darker green, darker than my own. I didn’t look away. I felt a sense not unlike that of a gentle breeze that seemed to blow through my mind, leaving a startling clarity, as if a layer of dust had been disturbed. Light seemed to shimmer, the lantern surging, and shadows slipping under the door shifted.
Cael finally shook her head.
I smiled and stood, the dart working between my fingers, rolling across callouses before coming to rest on my fingertips.
“Sometimes I do,” I admitted.
Then I flung the door open and flicked the dart, sending it far down the hall. I heard it strike and pulled the door closed quickly. A trio of thunks struck the door as I closed it. Readying another pair of darts, I readied my Sight.
Cael took a sudden step back, gasping softly. Interesting. With her focus directed at me, she had not sensed the others outside the room. At least there were limits to her abilities.
“Gather quickly what you’ll need.”
I shifted my stance, pulling my sword from its sheath while I palmed a few darts, pausing to dip them into the small vial of remaining terad toxin. With more time, I’d prepare additional toxin, but as it was I had to rely on the terad toxin I’d previously readied. Left long enough after mixing, it lost potency. I couldn’t guarantee these darts would kill, but at least they would slow any who might be after us.
“There are too many,” Cael said.
“Can you disguise yourself?”
“Such focus leaves me vulnerable,” she answered.
I didn’t fully understand but didn’t push, curious what she felt as she read. Did she know that the women below were likely dead? With each worth five gold, there was little incentive to keep them alive. Were any of those women actually Cael’s friends?
“All of them,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing I shouldn’t be surprised by how easily she read me. The emotion in her voice told me she had not experienced much death.
“That’s why you searched for me outside the tavern.”
There was no anger in her tone, just acceptance. I admired how quickly she adapted. “We should hurry. Word spreads quickly in Eban. Others will come. It doesn’t matter to Orly who completes the job, only that it’s done. For twenty gold he’ll want proof.”
“There’s only the one door.”
I smiled. “That’s what they’ll expect. They haven’t learned that you have help.”
“And when they do?”
“We should be long gone by then.”
I saw the flicker of green and knew that she Read me. Her eyes widened, color fading. I’d not seen another from my home with eyes quite like that.
“Galen?”
I didn’t answer, pulling the door open and throwing myself to the side.
Three slender knives sunk into the door. Unadorned lorcith.
Damn.
There was only one person in Eban I feared and I had counted on him still working in Cort. Lorst’s return meant there was another assassin like me in Eban. Cael’s glamour would not provide any protection then.
“Galen?” Cael said.
I ignored her as I glanced down the hall. The corridor was empty except for a figure lying on the ground at the far end of the hall. A small lantern hanging halfway down the hallway burned with a sooty flame that darkened the ceiling. A shimmer of smoke hung on the air. Three other doors lined the hall, each closed. I wondered briefly if the rooms were empty.
Leaning back into the room to grab Cael, I froze.
Lorst stood across from her, slender blade in hand, wrist set to strike. Dark haired and lean, more wiry than myself but just as tall. He was dressed in a thin black shirt and tight fitting pants. A small dark pack nested along his back, just the glint of the handles of his knives visible.
I flicked a dart anticipating his speed. I did not anticipate what he did next.
Lorst simply vanished, flicking out of existence, reappearing three steps back.
Damn.
Sliding. Incredibly rare and an ability I’d never heard about before studying with Isander. I hadn’t known Lorst could Slider. Probably how he travelled so quickly between Cort and Eban. A useful skill, especially for an assassin, and explained how he snuck into the room.
“Galen,” he said, turning and smiling. “There’s enough coin in this for us to split.”
I shrugged. “I need supplies.”
Lorst frowned and Slid back a step. I saw it as a flicker of movement. A slight shimmer bloomed just as he Slid back into view, barely noticeable.
“And I need the coin,” he said.
His knife sliced straight toward my face. I turned, slapping it out of the air with the back of my sword. I dared not touch Lorst’s knives with my bare hand; like my darts, toxins coated the surface.
Behind me Cael gasped. I wished she’d have the sense to drop to the ground and get out of view. Lorst was quick and I didn’t know when he’d send one of his blades toward her.
I heard the soft rustle of fabric as she went to the ground and smiled.
I flicked another dart toward Lorst.
He was fast and slid to the far corner, reappearing with another pale shimmer, and flung a knife at the same time. It came at my shoulder and I turned, slashing with my sword and knocking it to the ground. I flickered another dart, this time aiming in front of him, anticipating the Slide.
I saw the faint shifting of light as he Slid back into view, dart impaled in his arm at the same time I felt his knife slice through my cloak. I didn’t have time to check if it cut flesh. I would likely be dead soon if it did.
Lorst dropped in a heap. His breathing slowed, growing harsh. At least the terad toxin remained effective.
“You did well staying low,” I said. “I’m not sure why Lorst hesitated when he first Slid into the room, but you were lucky.”
She looked over at a smear of blood on the floor and nodded. “It was you.”
I smiled darkly. “I know. Come,” I said, pulling her from the ground.
She swayed slightly as she stood. Pale green eyes were wide and her breathing was heavy. As I felt the pull of her I suddenly realized the control she exerted for me not to desire her constantly.
She watched Lorst but I heard his breathing fade and knew he had little time left. Another time and I might have mourned him, but not now. Cael bundled her belongings into a small bag, tying it tight.
I noticed the soft blue glow at the bottom of the bag, vowing to learn what she hid within later. “There will be others.”
“Like him?” she asked.
I glanced over at where he lay. My dart stuck out of his forearm and the skin around had grown an angry red. Had he moved? Prudence was the only course with an assassin like Lorst. I readied another dart. It was my last.
“Not like him,” I said. “Skilled nonetheless.”
I suddenly sensed a shift in the shadows behind me and spun, flinging the dart just as the door began to open. I heard the man gasp as it struck his hand, sinking through his wrist, and he fell without another sound.
“Galen?” Cael whispered.
I turned. Lorst was gone.
Damn.
The toxin had sat too long, its effect fading, and now I lost him. He’d recover, the terad toxin having no real long term effects, and come again. Little unsettled me, but the idea of him hunting Cael made me nervous.
Worse, Orly would soon know. Once my price was set, I would be hunted along with Cael.
“We must leave now,” I said.
In the hall, we had to step over the man lying there. He was dark skinned and short and wore a pair of long knives across his back like swords. Another knife had fallen to the ground in front of him. The hilt was covered with intricate scrollwork. The fact that I didn’t recognize him worried me.
I kneeled next to him and check his neck. He still lived. Given long enough he might wake to chase us. He had a look of competence about him. I took his knife and plunged it through his back. He died without a sound. At least the toxin worked well enough for that.
After wiping the blade clean, I handed it to Cael. She shook her head, trying to hand the knife back to me.
“You need to be able to protect yourself.”
“Not like this,” she said.
I placed the knife back into her hand, cupping her slender fingers around the hilt, noticing how smooth her skin felt to my hand. “Sometimes the threat of a weapon is enough deterrence.”
She took a deep breath, eyes surging varying shades of green as she considered. Finally, she nodded. I wondered what she had Read of me during that time.
Pulling the door open, I stepped into the hall trusting that Cael would follow. I slowed as we neared each of the doors but did not see or hear anything unusual. That didn’t put me completely at ease but I didn’t want to waste time searching each room for potential attackers. I’d have to trust that with my Sight and with Cael’s Reading, we’d detect any others.
A small trail of blood ran down the hall at the corner. A dark handprint stained the wall, smearing along the rough wood. Two more doors were on either side of the hall. One door hung slightly ajar. Lanterns hung on either side of the hall, softly burning. The dark soot they put off appeared thicker to my eyes.
I wondered if the injured was someone after Cael or one of the women. Behind me, Cael’s breathing quickened.
I reached the partially open door and kicked it wide, dropping low as I did. I held my sword loosely in hand, again wishing I had more time to prepare additional darts. Nothing moved.
We still hadn’t come across anyone else killed by my darts. What had happened to the first attackers? The toxin shouldn’t have worn off that quickly.
I motioned Cael and we slipped further down the hall. The trail of blood was thicker here, soaking into the wide planks of the flooring as it transitioned into the main room of the tavern.
An upended table blocked transition from hall to the tavern. I leaned back against the wall, watching the shadows but saw nothing. The tavern stunk of smoke. If the Durven blazed, we could be trapped.
Turning to Cael, I started to speak when she shook her head.
“I don’t sense anyone,” she said.
I nodded once.
After lifting the table out of the way, I finally saw the body. It lay sprawled across the floor on its side, a growing pool of blood soaking into the floor. One of Lorst’s slender knives stuck out from his inner thigh. Even without the poisoned blade that was a fatal shot.
I glanced at the man’s face, reassured that I recognized him. Talim. A thief usually, but as much coin as Orly offered turned thieves into murderers. I nudged his body, making sure he was dead, before stepping over. A distasteful expression contorted Cael’s mouth as she followed me.
“This may be difficult for you,” I said as we entered the tavern. A thick haze of smoke hung about the room. I still hadn’t seen the fire and hoped the Great Watcher would let us escape before flames consumed the tavern.
“This has already been difficult,” she said and stepped around me.
I grabbed her wrist, holding her carefully. I couldn’t help but notice how smooth her skin felt. She didn’t fight as she turned, meeting my eyes. Hers were pale now with only flecks of green. How did she manage to make her eyes appear different shades of green? “This will be different.”
Tables and chairs were upended throughout the tavern. Some were splintered, broken as if they had been heaved at the stone walls, others simply thrown to the back of the room. I found the fire as it burned in the hearth along the far wall, licking out along one of the upturned tables, working up its legs. Flames stretched to the ceiling, darkening the wood only. It would not be long before the entire tavern burned. And much of the neighborhood.
I heard Cael gasp and turned to see three of the women lying in a heap, blood pooling from slit throats.
“Was this…” she began but could not finish.
“Not Lorst,” I said, shaking my head and motioned to a pair of men lying along the short bar.
Each had a slender silver knife jutting from their neck. Both were men whose faces I recognized, men from the Eban underworld like Talim but without experience in killing. Men tempted and turned into killers by the promise of Orly’s coin. Nearly fifteen men so far, including myself.
With sudden certainty, I knew I was missing something. This was about more than just Cael, about more than just a Reader. Whatever she had taken from Orly had made him send an army after her.
I glanced at the small bundle she carried. Whatever glowed within was what Orly sought.
There wasn’t the time to slow down to think it through. Only time to move and survive. Get Cael to safety. And then find out.
A slight shift in shadows drew my attention. I turned, spinning with my sword held in front of me. I saw nothing but fire and smoke. “Cael?”
She hurried over. I didn’t need to be a Reader to understand the emotion on her face: fear. This was a woman unused to uncertainty with her Reading.
Flames now raced across the ceiling, filling the room with thick smoke. My Sight would not help once the smoke filled the room.
“It’s time we leave the Durven,” I said. The tavern would soon fall. Probably the other buildings surrounding it as well.
Time to escape and then learn what Cael knew, learn why Orly had already targeted me.
I stopped on the streets outside the Durven and turned to look. Bright flames lit the night, racing up the side of the tavern. Heavy smoke filled the air, adding the haze of the night. Firelight reflected off of the smoke to create a softly muted light. Were it not so deadly I would call it beautiful.
Sounds of chaos—men running, children screaming, the heavy groaning of the Durven as the wood cracked and began to give way—filled the air. The distraction would help us escape but could not be counted on to last for long.
“We need to leave the city.”
The lack of other emotion as she nodded made me wonder how much of this she had planned.
“You will accompany me?” she asked.
I blinked, my breathing quickening slightly. Leave Eban but for where? Hiding her meant a larger city, otherwise she’d stand out and be quickly found. If not Lorst, then someone else. After tonight, the price on her would surely climb. Men would not stop at a chance for that kind of gold.
Few options came to mind. To the north was Cort. The sprawling city was much like Eban, huge and filled with corruption. At least Orly didn’t control Cort as he did Eban. Cort could be comfortable for someone like me. Except Lorst worked Cort.
Beyond Cort was the massive city Asazn. Cael could hide in Asazn if needed. Even Orly would struggle to extend his reach that far north. Looking at Cael, beautiful and dark, eyes now pale in the reflected firelight, I didn’t envision her in a place like Asazn. It was a detestable city, darker and more run down than even Eban.
I thought of exotic Jof to the east and discarded the idea. Cael would not fit in well in the dry desert. West led to Yilan and the ocean.
“South,” Cael said.
I looked over to see green flaring in her otherwise pale eyes. “I cannot go south,” I said.
“Then I’ll go alone,” she said. “For it must be south.”
The top floor of the Durven suddenly gave way, crashing to the ground below in a shower of sparks. A fire line had formed, men carrying buckets of water as they fought to contain the fire, but there was little that could be done to stop the Durven from burning.
“Let me get you out of the city,” I said, “then we can decide where you can hide.”
She touched my arm with one of her slender hands. I shivered as she did, her fingers like silk across my arm. “Once I leave the city there will be no hiding. I must head south.”
“What do you have?” I asked. My eyes flicked to the pack she had slung around her neck. She cradled the contents to her side, one arm holding it tightly. The other hand held the long silver knife I had taken off the assassin. A hint of a blue glow radiated from the pack, possibly imagined.
“Something of value only to me,” she answered.
“I doubt that.”
“Now you’re the Reader?”
I tipped my head as I studied her. “Who are you, Cael?”
She smiled and I felt a soft rustling around me head, like a breeze blowing. “Just a Reader, Galen.”
Movement down the street propelled me into action. I pulled Cael along the streets of Eban. The light from the flames around the Durven faded the farther we ran. The city changed, too. Dark streets lit by poor-man’s oil slowly turned toward brighter sections of town. Ramshackle buildings became tidy shops. Instead of faded signs, lettering almost unreadable, now there were brightly painted storefronts.
We encountered many people as we hurried away from the Durven. At first, most were dressed in well-worn clothes, some ill fitting, some tattered, more than a few simply dirty. Once I saw a couple carrying a small child covered in soot and wondered how close to the Durven they lived.
As we moved further along the streets, closer to more prosperous sections, the dress of the people we encountered changed. Men wore shirts and pants in the current style, striped and pulled tight around the legs. Women wore a variety of dresses of all colors and cut but the general theme was conservative. Even here Cael did not fit in, though neither did I. I was careful to keep my cloak pulled tight around me, sword concealed. At least in that I appeared little more than a traveler.
As we neared a street corner, I saw a pair of the guard. Dressed in grey, dull metal helms reflected some of the lamplight. Long swords were sheathed at their waist. Their boots clomped heavily along the stone.
I pulled Cael into the shadows.
She glanced at the guard, the question plain on her face. I placed a finger over her lips and instantly regretted it. My finger seemed to tingle. Her mouth formed a slight smile around my finger, full lips pressing against it. I pulled back.
“Can’t believe they would move this way,” one of the soldiers said.
The other shrugged. “Does it matter? For the price on them, we can look. If we find them, shouldn’t be too hard to capture the woman at least. The other might be more trouble than he’s worth.”
“Trouble? He’s worth more than her!”
“But this is Galen.”
Their voices trailed off as they moved away, their boots slowly thumping off the stones.
I waited until the sound faded completely before stepping away from the shadows. Orly already knew. At least now I knew my price.
“You’re now a target,” Cael said.
I nodded, taking a handful of darts from my pouch.
She frowned. “You knew you would be.”
“You either work for Orly or you do not.”
Pulling a small packet of powder from the pouch—crushed dagasn seed, nearly as potent as terad toxin and would last longer in the dart—I tipped it into a small vial and then spit into it. Taking a slender wooden stick from my pouch, I stirred it carefully, making sure to dissolve all of the powder before flicking the stick away.
Cael watched me for a moment. “I’m sorry, Galen.”
I met her eyes, made sure she heard me and didn’t simply Read me. “I may have taken his jobs, but I never worked for Orly.”
I dipped the darts into the toxin. They were hollow tipped and pulled the liquid up into the dart. I felt better knowing I had a few prepared. Most times poison suited the job better than the sword.
“How will we get through the city now?” she asked.
“Now?”
She nodded in the direction the soldiers had gone. “We can’t hide from the entire city guard.”
I laughed darkly. “I can.”
We stayed in the shadows now, slipping quietly along the street. Cael impressed me with her stealth, though most of our kind could move quietly. I held a pair of darts at the ready and kept my Sight flared, taking in everything around us.
“Why this direction?” Cael whispered as we slipped around a building. A candlemaker, from the sign. “This isn’t the quickest way out of the city.”
“No,” I agreed.
“And you’re taking me north.”
She was a Reader. She knew what I was doing.
Orly controlled the outer sections of town. There, farthest from the seat of the power, the corruption was thickest. Even when they bothered to patrol, the city militia all had their income supplemented by Orly. Shop owners paid for his protection. His own personal protection amounted to a small army. Attempting to leave the city through that part of town with Cael in tow amounted to a near certain death sentence.
That left a more circuitous route through the city. Orly’s control extended into the heart of the city, but his grip was weaker. The farther we traveled, faces watching us would be just that—watchers—giving us freedom to move more quickly. As long as we could stay ahead of the assassins, I could get her out of the city and on the road to safety.
“How will we get past the walls?” she asked.
I glanced over and saw the hint of green in her eyes and knew she’d been Reading me. That made this easier. And harder. Were I to need to, I would not be able to keep anything from her.
“You think you can—”
I saw her eyes flare at the same time I saw the shadows change.
Someone had found us.
I saw a slight shifting, a slight shimmer in the darkness. My heart fluttered.
Lorst.
“Drop!” I hissed.
She hesitated too long. Lorst Slid into view. Light seemed to bend around him, making him hard for me to See. Someone without my Sight would probably see nothing. I suddenly understood the way he had been dressed earlier. He had expected me.
A distant lamp reflected off the knife he flicked at me. I spun, feeling the knife as it whistled past my face, sending a dart toward him as I did.
“What is this woman to you, Galen?” Lorst asked.
There was the shimmer as he Slid, moving barely a step away.
“Just a pretty face,” I said. “How did you heal so quickly from the terad toxin?”
I whipped another dart toward him. He Slid again. This time—possibly because of his Sight blinding clothing—I saw a shimmer of darkness before he Slid followed by a soft shimmer as he reappeared.
“Terad?” he asked. “Potent when mixed well. Too bad your skills seem to be fading.”
“And yours?” I asked.
I saw the reflection of the knife just in time, spinning down and away from the knife. Three darts left. After they were gone I had only my sword. Against a Slider in the open. I did not like my chances.
This time, I aimed the dart where I thought he would be. The light shifting off his clothing made it difficult to know with certainty. I heard a soft grunt of surprise and thought I might have hit him.
“Close,” he said. Then he laughed, harsh and low, as he Slid. There was another shimmer and Lorst reappeared behind me. I saw the flash of light off the blade and ducked.
Too late.
The knife struck my cloak, slicing through it and into my stomach.
I dropped with a grunt.
Warm blood seeped out, spreading across my shirt and dripping down my stomach. Fire burned through my gut, more than the injury would account for. If not for the thickness of my cloak, the knife would have pierced deeper. Even as it was, I knew I might not survive.
Lorst Slid into view and stood over me. His long hair fell in front of his face. Hard eyes surged green. “Why do you help her?”
“She’s one of us,” I said. “A Reader.”
I had little strength remaining. My body raged with pain and fire. Srirach powder, likely. Potent. Painful. Deadly. Even a small quantity killed, leaving the victim alive long enough to retain the ability to speak but do little else. A useful poison.
Lorst slid back a step, looking over at Cael as he reappeared. She crouched on the ground, dress pooled around her. Dim light reflected off her pale bosom. Her eyes were a green so bright that they glowed.
As if in a dream, I realized that I’d never seen abilities so strong.
I tried grabbing another dart but my hand didn’t work as it should. Fingers felt numb and weak. Lorst knew I was no threat to him. I managed to get one of my hands into my pouch and fumbled across the vials.
“A Reader?” Lorst said, leering at Cael. “Some say it is the Great Watcher’s greatest gift.”
He knelt beside her. She scooted backward, pushing away from the slender knife he gripped. The small bag she carried dislodged as she moved and she kicked it away, closer to me.
“You know what I am thinking right now, don’t you?” Lorst said.
Cael nodded once, kicking backward to get farther away from Lorst.
“I’ve not seen strength like this since leaving Elaeavn, and only then from one of the Elvraeth. My barrier is nothing to you, is it?”
Lorst slid forward until he was looking in Cael’s eyes. A dark smile crossed his face, both menacing and angry at once. Cael shook her head slightly. Even where I lay I could smell the fear on her.
I finally found the vial I was searching for but my fingers wouldn’t follow my thoughts and slipped off of it, my hand falling back out of the pouch.
“Then you know I will not hesitate to kill one of the Elvraeth,” Lorst said.
He started to Slide forward. I saw it as little more than a shimmer of blackness. In that instant I knew I had to move or lose Cael completely. As long as he had the necessary strength, Lorst could Slide anywhere. Distance became little more than a thought.
Lorst grabbed Cael by the arm, still Sliding, and pulled her with him.
I lunged.
Little strength remained in my body, barely enough to move my hands, but somehow—somehow—I managed to leap after Lorst. Willpower. Reserves of strength. Simple stupidity. Possibly a combination of them all.
Pain raged through my body. I like to think that I did not scream.
I knew little about Sliding. It was rare enough that Lorst was the only one I had ever met who could Slide. Useful but also tricky. Isander told me stories of Sliders crashing through walls or killing themselves as they Slid from unintended heights. Lorst Slid easily, with exquisite skill. I could follow, but only if I managed to grab hold of something on him.
I grabbed his boot.
The world seemed to shift around me. Colors flashed as if moving past at incredible speed. Air whistled in my ears. Even the pain seemed for subside.
But only for a moment.
Then everything crashed back into place. My body thrummed with pain, my gut burned in agony. Darkness snapped into place. Lights of the city were gone, replaced by a cloudy sky and a dim blanket of stars. Even the wind changed, gusting and blowing against my face.
We were out of Eban.
I saw it all in an instant. The city sat below us in the distance, lights from hundreds of lanterns little brighter than the stars in the sky. The ground was rough, rocky, as it twisted away from the city toward the north. Mountains would loom to the west but I saw nothing of them. Smoke from an unseen fire drifted with the wind.
“Galen.” Lorst spat my name and kicked me in the chest, sending me rolling away. “You delay me.”
I managed to land facing him. I couldn’t help but be impressed with his strength. Even carrying the two of us as he Slid, he managed to completely leave Eban and reach the winding mountainous road leading to Cort. Such a trek would take me nearly a day and he’d managed it in an instant.
Pain ripped through my stomach and I couldn’t move. Arms and legs seemed to defy my commands. I felt something in the palm of my hand and distantly remembered that I had managed to grab one of my vials. Not much good they would do me now.
I attempted to speak but even my jaw didn’t work as it should. Words came out jumbled and breathy. Soon I’d be unable to even breathe.
Lorst laughed again. I hated the sound nearly as much as I hated Orly’s laugh. “I had thought Orly’s price too much for a simple woman. Perhaps high even for a Reader. But you’re more than just a Reader, aren’t you?”
“Lorst—” I could say no more than that, surprised that my lips cooperated enough to form his name.
“Galen. You were never strong enough to compete. That’s why you chose Eban and I Cort. You lived off scraps instead of dining as one with our abilities should.” He looked over at me, darkness threatening to overwhelm the green surging in his eyes. “Now you will die, alone, outside of your adopted city. Fitting.”
Were it untrue, I couldn’t even disagree.
I watched him Slide, reappearing almost atop Cael, knife slicing toward her chest.
I closed my eyes. Even though I had dispensed death so often that I grew accustomed to it, I couldn’t watch Cael’s death.
There was a soft gasp. And then silence.
It was done.
Lying on the ground, the scent of smoke mixed with the bitter tang of my own blood, I waited for the Great Watcher to reclaim me. I heard a soft shuffle, an inhaled breath, and sighed as I waited for the finishing blow.
A fitting end.
It never came.
Something rustled in my pouch. I felt fleeting surprise that Lorst would pilfer my remaining supplies. My hands were pried open, disarming me completely. Not that I was a threat.
A soft hand touched my forehead, stroking my hair away as another unclasped my cloak, sliding over my stomach. A felt another surge of hot pain as the knife was removed, tossed to the stone in a slight clatter of metal on stone, and then another surge of pain as a finger probed my wound.
Slowly I flickered my eyes open. Cael.
“This is deep,” she said.
Cold flared in my wounded side from her fingers.
“Perhaps too deep for my skill.”
I swallowed weakly. A deserved fate. “And poisoned,” I managed to croak.
She leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Some of the heat left my face. “Then may you return to sit among the Watchers.”
I felt warmth of her body against me as she leaned in, her breasts pressing into my chest, as she kissed my forehead again. Another surge of clarity worked through me, as if her kiss pushed back the effect of the poison, if only briefly. I wished that she would leave her lips there, holding them pressed against me as life faded from my body, but then she pulled away.
She stood and then staggered, stumbling to land on the rocky path almost on top of me.
“You…” I said. “Where?”
She tapped her arm and showed me a small cut, just the slightest weal of blood pooling, marring her otherwise perfect skin. “Perhaps Orly will have his prize,” she said.
Lorst had gotten her. Even that small injury meant death; poison seeped through her veins. “Why does he want you?”
“Not me,” she said. Her breathing quickened slightly.
“Then what?”
For a moment I didn’t think that she would answer.
“He acquired something that wasn’t his.” She let out a long slow breath, as if speaking the words were painful. And possibly they were.
I tried to laugh but couldn’t muster the strength. “He said the same about you.”
“I only took back what belonged to us.”
I grunted. “Us?”
She nodded.
I had heard Lorst mention the family but had paid little mind to what he said. “You…Elvraeth.” It would explain much.
“I am Cael R’da Elvraeth.”
I sighed. Elvraeth. Cael was nearly royalty. Part of the reason I didn’t mind my exile was the absence of such politics. Even in death they chased me.
But would not catch me. My body grew weaker, the effect of her kiss fading. Soon I would be unable to even speak. I was ready for the fate I deserved.
“The crystal,” I said, suddenly understanding the soft blue glow I had seen. My mouth almost couldn’t form the words. She shifted and her soft curves pressed against me. “How would Orly come to possess one of the five crystals of Elaeavn?”
“A long story,” she answered. “How is it that you know of them?”
From her tone, I could tell she bore some responsibility. Were there the time, I’d love to hear the tale. The srirach worked slowly but I had already lost all muscle use except my voice. Soon enough my lungs would fail.
“What now?” I asked. Even I—exiled from Elaeavn—understood that Orly could not have one the crystals.
“Now,” she started. Cael sagged, her head coming to rest on my chest. “I’m sorry, Galen.”
Sorry. One of the Elvraeth apologized to me. I was nothing but an assassin. Anything that happened to me was clearly deserved. I tried to lift my hand, wishing I could touch her, but failed. Were I not dying, I doubt I would even have tried.
“I deserve this, Cael,” I managed. My voice was soft, failing. It would not be long.
She smiled sadly. “I am the Reader, Galen. I know that you do not.”
I said nothing, not knowing what to say. Usually I watched death with a dispassionate eye but I did not want to see Cael’s death. I wondered briefly how many of my emotions were forced.
“None,” she whispered.
I smiled. At least I would die with the lie.
Cael took a deep heaving breath. “Will this be enough?” she asked.
“What?”
“You have the tchinth extract.”
I tried to roll away but could not move. She had pilfered through my pouch. “You’re the Reader,” I said, knowing she had already tried it.
She coughed. “You don’t know.”
“It’s weakened. Diluted,” I admitted.
There was only so much I could do with the tchinth Orly had poured into the wine. The powder itself was a potent poison when mixed with liquid. When heated it changed, becoming an agent of healing. I didn’t know if diluting it in wine would affect the healing properties.
She coughed again and struggled to sit upright. Slowly she managed to reach up to my mouth and she poured what remained of the vial between my lips. Tchinth tasted both sweet and sour, stinging my throat as it trickled slowly down into my stomach.
“You waited,” I realized.
She nodded and I saw the strength slowly returning to her eyes. “I had to know.”
“And if it did not?”
“Then the crystal would have been destroyed.”
Destroyed. I did not even think it possible to destroy one of the five crystals.
“But it did,” she said. Then she leaned toward me and kissed my forehead again.
“When did you know?”
“When I first touched your mind. Then again when Lorst attacked.”
I shivered, suddenly aware that I could move my fingers again. “I don’t think we should linger,” I said. “Lorst will not be the only one after you.” Nor after me. I was hunted now as well and with a price even higher than hers.
“No,” she agreed. “And Lorst will heal.”
I managed to roll my head over to look where I expected Lorst to have fallen. The road here was rocky as it sloped slowly toward the Devn Mountains, winding along the outer edge of the massive mountains as it snaked toward Cort. Enough of the dirt remained that I saw tracks in the road. There was little blood, only a drop or two that likely came from Cael. Lorst was gone.
“You didn’t kill him.”
“I could not.”
“The knife?”
She held out empty hands to me. “I didn’t keep it.”
“Then how?” I asked, turning to look at her.
“I’m not completely defenseless,” she said.
Her eyes suddenly flared a bright green and I felt her within my head. Whatever she did was cold and angry, tearing through my skull.
“Enough,” I said.
The sense shifted, softening. No longer painful now it was almost…pleasurable. I felt it linger, like her lips on my forehead, and I shivered again.
“Enough!”
She smiled and her eyes faded, leaving only flecks of green.
“Lorst is gone, then.”
“For now,” she agreed. “He managed to Slide away as I touched his mind. It left him injured but he will heal. We always heal.”
“Unless we don’t.” I wouldn’t have been as kind to Lorst. “You could have stopped Lorst sooner.”
“Possibly,” she shrugged. “I don’t know. Even in Elaeavn, the name Lorst is feared.”
Lorst. Not Galen. And I had thought us equals.
“Galen has never slain one of the Elvraeth,” she said.
I wouldn’t have dared. Even exiled, I respected the power of the Elvraeth family. And that was before I had ever experienced it firsthand. Now that I had met Cael, had seen what she was capable of doing, I couldn’t imagine attacking one of the Elvraeth.
“That’s not your only reason,” Cael said.
I met her eyes and wished for a moment that I’d never met her. This was to have been an easy job. Now it appeared to be my last—at least in Eban.
“Can you walk?” she asked.
I flexed my legs, surprised that I was able to move them. Muscles in my arm twitched. The wound in my stomach ached but didn’t hurt as expected. Perhaps the tchinth was not as diluted as I had thought. I laughed, holding my stomach as I did. Cael’s eyes flared briefly as she watched me. I wondered if she ever talked to someone without Reading them.
“You are not as easy to Read as you think,” she said. She tilted her head, eyes flaring for a moment. “Why do you laugh?”
“I’ve met Orly many times. Each time he tests me, attempting to kill me, always failing. This time he did more than that. He saved me. Us.”
Cael tilted her head, smiling. “Fortunate that he acquired the tchinth. I understand that it’s quite rare.”
I nodded. Tchinth was rare. I’d not been able to acquire any in nearly two years, though I didn’t have Orly’s resources. Still, there was something about the way Cael mentioned the tchinth powder.
I felt shaky and weak as I stood. Worse I felt vulnerable. I doubted that I could manage to defend either of us were it to come to that. Thankfully, Lorst had given us the key to escaping the city.
“I will be of little use until I regain my strength,” I told Cael as we slipped back into the shadows.
“Then, for now, I’ll protect you.”
She placed her arm around my waist, giving me just enough support to keep upright, almost as if we were little more than intoxicated lovers of the sort I’d seen at the Durven. Were life only so simple.
I felt her smile and heard a soft chuckle.
Damn.
“There are things that are meant to be private,” I said as we neared a bend in the road.
“Why private?” she asked. “It’s not as if your thoughts are particularly quiet.”
I grunted. “It’s not as if I am strong enough to keep them quiet.” I had never thought of myself as particularly weak until I met Cael.
She nodded agreement. “I’ll try to refrain,” she said and paused, looking over at me. “What will you do now?”
In darkness where only one of the Sighted could see, I saw her face. Soft, delicate, eyes pale with none of her strength now visible. Her dress tattered, ripped in places from scooting away from Lorst. The small cut on her arm now faded, only the hint of dried blood as evidence that she had been injured. A wide rip in the middle of her dress exposed the pale flesh of her stomach.
She chuckled soft and low. I did not cringe.
“Lorst will return.”
She nodded.
“You will return to Elaeavn.”
“You know that I must.”
The crystal must return to Elaeavn. One day I would learn how Orly had acquired one of the crystals. “Does Lorst know about the crystal?”
Darkness clouded her face. “Yes.”
“This was about more than the gold for him. We would not be here,” I said, sweeping my arm around the night, “if that were all this was. He would simply have killed you or taken you to Orly.”
She nodded.
I realized then that as much as she Read me, as transparent as I was to Cael, I knew little about her. There was more to this than simply obtaining the crystal. Cael had needed me. How much of this had she planned? Could she have planned?
Damn Elvraeth politics. Somehow I had been pulled into it again. At least I couldn’t get exiled again. Once had been enough. Other than abandoning Cael to travel alone, there was little I could do except go along.
As I looked at her soft face, I felt a surge of conflicting emotions. She stared back at me with eyes so pale that it seemed unlikely that she Read me, but still I couldn’t be certain.
Cael came and slid her arm behind me and helped me to walk. I felt a reserved longing with her touch and struggled to keep my mind clear from her influence.
In the light of the moon overhead I saw her smile.
I was going home.
And, with her arm around me, I didn’t mind.
If you enjoyed the Durven, check out the first novel set in the same world: The Dark Ability.
Exiled by his family. Claimed by thieves. Could his dark ability be the key to his salvation?
Rsiran is a disappointment to his family, gifted with the ability to Slide. It is a dark magic, one where he can transport himself wherever he wants, but using it will only turn him into the thief his father fears.
Forbidden from Sliding, he’s apprenticed under his father as a blacksmith where lorcith, a rare, precious metal with arcane properties, calls to him, seducing him into forming forbidden blades. When discovered, he’s banished, sentenced indefinitely to the mines of Ilphaesn Mountain.
Though Rsiran tries to serve obediently, to learn to control the call of lorcith as his father demands, when his life is threatened in the darkness of the mines, he finds himself Sliding back to Elaeavn where he finds a black market for his blades – and a new family of thieves.
There someone far more powerful than him discovers what he can do and intends to use him. He doesn’t want to be a pawn in anyone’s ambitions; all he ever wanted was a family. But the darkness inside him cannot be ignored – and he’s already embroiled in an ancient struggle that only he may be able to end.
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Keep reading to read an excerpt of A Poisoned Deceit, the next book of The Forgotten.
