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Deter

I reached forhard, like trying to scoop up water ide fingers Every tih power, it slipped away So I reached for it again, clenching ic inside ht and pulled, yanking it toinsidethat had been dropped on the floor - broken, ic than I’d ever felt before

I didn’t stop to think about where it had come from or whether this was all soic to freeze h the air and threw it at Dawson

This ti, slender icicles that zipped through the dusty air like daggers The dwarf saw the He stopped in his tracks about five feet away fro to blockto use his eleainst the crude weapons, as I’d done so many times before

But it didn’t work

Maybe he was too distracted by the chaos around him

Maybe I’d wrecked his concentration with my initial sneak attack Maybe I’d upset the order of his perfectly arranged duel, and he just didn’t kno to recover from the unfairness of it all

Whatever the reason, my icicles slammed into Dawson’s chest with all the force of one of ic snuffed out of the dwarf ’s bulging eyes, and he opened his an to collapse, drowning out his hoarse cries

It should have been dark in the cavern, which was choked by dust, debris, ht on - me I stared down at my hands

The spider rune scars on my palms, the ones that had been caused by the silverstone o, were on fire - with icy flareater than before Iceas ood

For a moment, my eyes met the dwarf ’s Panic, fear, pain, and awe flashed in Tobias Dawson’s gaze And then he was gone, sed up by the falling rock, rushing water, and suffocating dust I curled into a tight ball and huddled in the wall recess as the earth and stone shook aroundscrea withequipment ever had The sound made my stomach clench But it had been the stone or le time

So I closed my eyes and listened to the stone wail as the cavern collapsed on top ofplace, a small crack in the alley wall behind the Pork Pit The enclosed space always made me feel safe Secure Perhaps it was because I knew no one could squeeze in here after iant I’d just killed

Half an hour had passed since Douglas had forced his way into the restaurant and attacked Fletcher and Finn My tears were gone, but blood still coated iant I scratcheda white ain Killed again Just like I had the night the Fire elemental had murdered my family, and I’d collapsedBria, my baby sister My stomach twisted Somehow, I forced down the hot bile that rose in my throat

The back door of the Pork Pit eased open, and Fletcher Lane stepped into the alley The ged a few feet away froh his face sagged eariness and pain froiant had hit hie, and wondered if this was the part where Fletcher told me to leave - and never coiant, what I was capable of Who would want so around?

"You’ve been here a while now," Fletcher said in a quiet voice "You’re a ss Likeback with blood all over you, I thought

I didn’t knohat Fletcher was getting at, but at least he wasn’t telling et lost - yet "Yeah, I have"

He nodded "I’o, what I do All the trips I take" Fletcher turned his eyes to aze "It’s tiht I’m an assassin, Gin Have been for years"

Maybe I should have been surprised or stunned or even horrified But I wasn’t Afteron the streets, nothing one, replaced by the knowledge people were erous

So I just nodded my head, as if his revelation made perfect sense toan assassin ed "You kill people for et offered jobs I don’t take Sory with las?"

"Just like Douglas"

Despite the weirdness of the conversation, I found myself curious to learn las want you to kill?"

A shadow passed over Fletcher’s face "Soirls"

"So why didn’t you do it?"

Fletcher stared at s even assassins shouldn’t do Killing innocent kids is one of theht of the Fire elemental and all the questions she’d asked me about Bria, my baby sister I hadn’t answered the elemental, not even when she’d burned me with my own spider rune Because I’d knoould happen I would die, and then so would Bria

"What happens when someone breaks the rules?" I asked in a hoarse whisper

Fletcher stared at me "I try to make it so they can’t hurt anyone else"

I knew he iant had looked at me What he would have done to me if I hadn’t done it to him first I shivered "That must be nice To be able to take care of other people like that To be that strong" The last word cae look on his lined face, as though he was considering soet lost I decided to make it easy for him I owed him that iven me

"Do you want me to leave?"