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"That re him off "Where exactly are your men, tresora? Don’t say out on the dock, because if they were, I’d sense it"

Benetta’s smile slipped "You are mistaken, my lady Perhaps the loss of blood has weakened you"

"Wearing all that cologne so we couldn’t s wasn’t bad, but your research?" Shesound "Sloppy, sloppy"

"Who sent you?" Korvel demanded "Ramas?"

"Ramas is an old fool Eternity is my master," he said in old, flawless Latin "Soon you and your kind will be dust beneath his feet" He lifted a hand, clenching it into a fist that he touched to the center of his chest "So have orn"

"Your master has sent you to your death," Korvel told him "Give me his name, and I will spare you"

"I will tell you who he is" The animation left Benetta’s features and his eyes went flat as he reached into his jacket Under the placket a weapon bulged "When I see you in hell"

"No" Nicola lunged over Gabriel, trying to shield him with her body

Korvel put hiunfire shattered the air The Italian collapsed, his legs twitching several times before they stilled His face went slack as blood slowly seeped out from under his body

Korvel bent down to check for a pulse and then rolled the dead un Benetta had turned on hih his back; the remains of his heart lay spattered across the wall behind hi at the corpse "What kind of oath of loyalty do you uys take, anyway?"

"He did not serve the Kyn," Gabriel said

Korvel searched through the dead man’s pockets, but all he produced was a money clip stuffed with euros and an extra clip for the weapon "He caht die He ainst the desk "Why would the council send one of their assassins after us?"

"Not us," Nicola said "The scroll He even brought a carrying case for it"

"He does not serve the council, or Raered toward Korvel, bracing herself against hiht her

Nicola’s expression turned skeptical "And you know this how?"

"His nose Inside Look" She rested her head against Korvel’s chest

He smelled blood, and found a wet patch of it on the back of her head "You’re bleeding" He swung her up into his arripped the front of his shirt "You don’t understand He will lead them to the cross"

"Lead who?" When she didn’t answer, he said, "I translated the scroll, Simone Cristophe inscribed it only with so more What is this cross, and how can a few prayers be used to find it?"

"Benetta won’t be the only one When Pájaro leaves the country, they’ll follow hiled to focus on his face "Korvel, please It’s why they ordered me to kill you So Tremayne wouldn’t find it"

Nicola sat up "What did she just say?"

"She’s delirious" He carried her back to the pallet, placing her with her back to hiash on her scalp ide enough to be bleeding freely, and he reopened the wound on his wrist

She flinched as she felt his blood against her skin "Couldn’t hurt you," she murmured, her voice indistinct "Never kill…"

"I know, love" He pulled the blanket over her and waited until she drifted off before he went back to Benetta’s body He tipped back the dead s eht tresori didn’t have to worry about being zonked by l’attrait," Nicola said

"Most of them don’t" Korvel pulled back Benetta’s sleeve to reveal a black cameo tattoo Unlike the council pin he wore on his lapel, the center of the inked cameo did not contain a rose Only recessed scar tissue filled its center, as if the ie of the rose had been hacked out of his flesh "Lord Seran, have you ever seen a tresora ave him a troubled look "Never"

Chapter 16

D

reahost worlds of what had been, but she hid fro world around her, her body being carried, cradled, cared for by strong hands with the gentlest touch Korvel