ven

he color of bruised iron, a cold, grey hue that did

p of missed opportunities. On the glass table in front of me sat my Damascus steel sti

the blade, the cloth movin

aterialized in the entryway, his presence as unobtrusive as a funeral shroud.

pt he found tedious. "Her speedboat exploded last night during a routine transit to the mainland. High-velocity impact wi

But inside, the gears of my mind, a steel trap that had

promising of us. To die by a faulty engine..

il I heard the faint click of the outer door before I

lsh

wning in the shallows. Silas didn't breed apex predators to die by acc

oved. The game hadn't ended; it had just be

ation, a prickling on the back of my neck that had saved my life a dozen times during the Cullin

ocal mercenary guilds-lay in a heap near the coat closet. Th

t was a blur of black tactical gear and frantic, unrefined motion.

he sound of bone shattering under my grip echoing in the marble foyer. I drove my knee into his solar ple

reckless, suicidal ferocity radiating

he walls were thick enough to dampen any sound. I strapped him to a heavy wooden cha

voice dripping with a m

een more heart than head. His eyes burned with a rabid, futile hatred

opping like a small explosion in the quiet room. "You think I killed her. You think

e jealous that she was Silas's favorite. You're a coward, Seven.

your execution. It was Nine who smuggled you out, who hid you in the cargo hold of a freighter and claimed to the instructors that you had been killed by the l

e like thick arterial blood. "And here you are, throwing away the life she suffered to save

been a jagged glass shard moments ago, pulverized into dust. He slum

"She isn't dead. I know her better than anyone. If she were dead, the world would feel co

ted with a desperate, flickering fi

ransport registered to a Russo front company. Go there. Find her. Do not let her see you, but watch her. If she is in trouble, you help her. If she is

word. He bolted up the stairs, a man r

ed from the shadows of the wine racks once Twelve was gone. "Letting he

Not with all the technology in the world. But a starving bloodhound with a sense of debt? He'll lead us st