Assassin's End Read online

  I wiped the blood from the blade and glanced over to Cael.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I want to be a different person, especially when I’m with you, but I keep getting dragged back to…”

  She stopped me with a hand brushing against my face. “You are a different person, Galen. This was not the work of an assassin. You did what was needed for a greater cause.”

  I stared at the fallen Hjan. “Not assassin’s work. I wouldn’t have left him quite so bloody.”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  “I know. We’re trying to find sides and understand what’s taking place, but I don’t even know what the greater cause is.”

  “You compare this to Eban. Who would you see in control?”

  “I don’t know enough about what we’re dealing with to make that decision.”

  We left the dead Hjan and moved back into the street. I scanned every person we saw, worried that another of the Hjan might appear. The last man seemed as if he had been waiting for someone. Nothing struck me. Only the usual people of Asador, none of them even aware of what had been taking place in the alley, or that there was something more that they should fear.

  “Power is difficult,” Cael said. “There are some who seek it and should not have it. There are some who have it who don’t know how to use it. And there are some who don’t want it but should.”

  “What about those who have it and should keep it?” I asked.

  Cael smiled. “That’s almost as rare as…”

  Her eyes widened suddenly.

  “She’s here.”

  “Who?” I made a steady circle in place, worried about who might attack now. “Talia? Carth?” Either would be helpful if we faced the Hjan again, though I’d much rather have Carth with me.

  “No. Rebecca.”

  She slipped between a group of people, stepping past a gang of children that I noticed disappearing into the alley where we’d left the dead Hjan. I thought about stopping them. Finding a body like that was nothing for children to see, but Cael had almost disappeared.

  Near an intersection, she paused. “I still hear her, but she’s moving quickly.”

  “She’s a Slider,” I reminded Cael.

  “This isn’t Sliding.”

  We darted forward, and I finally saw Rebecca. As I did, I realized where we were.

  Back near the estate.

  “What is she doing? Why would she go back here?” I couldn’t imagine a reason that she’d have gone back. We knew that the Forgotten had controlled the estate and that there was something about it that prevented her from Sliding. Returning—and by herself—was dangerous.

  “I can think of a reason,” Cael said.

  “The child?”

  She nodded.

  Damn.

  I started thinking about my options. I couldn’t let Rebecca risk herself like that without help. In some ways, it was my fault that the child was missing. Had I not forced her away from the estate, she would have been there with the child.

  “I might need help with this, and I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

  “Galen—”

  I shook my head. “Not with this. Help in a different way,” I suggested. She bit her lip as she waited for me to explain. “Find Talia for me.”

  “Only Talia. What of Carth?”

  I glanced back down the street from the direction we came, thinking about the children who had disappeared into the alley. If I was right…

  “I think Carth already knows,” I told her.

  Cael traced her fingers along my cheek, leaving my skin tingling. “Come back to me.”

  There was an edge of her Compelling me, not that I needed it. “I will.”

  22

  I reached the estate after Rebecca disappeared behind the gate. A few guards prowled once more, almost as if there had never been an earlier attack, enough that I knew I couldn’t take them all out. And maybe I didn’t have to. If I could sneak over the wall, I wouldn’t need to kill all of these men. That wasn’t the reason that I was here. I needed to get to Rebecca, help her find the child, and then get back out again. Anything beyond that would be killing for no reason.

  Vines crept along the side of the wall, and I used these to grab hold and throw myself to the top. Pausing there, I stared up at the sky, checking the darts I had. Two dozen. Hopefully enough for what I had to do.

  Normally, I wouldn’t tip so many darts at once, but this time I wouldn’t take the risk of leaving myself unprepared. I had three knives—all steel now that I’d seen what some of these people were able to do—but no sword. If there were sellswords here, I’d want another way past them anyway.

  With my darts readied, I rolled and stared into the yard.

  I held my breath, studying what might be down below me.

  Nothing moved, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone here.

  I had survived much because of my Sight, but I didn’t depend on it completely. When I had trained with Isander, I learned that I couldn’t rely on any one skill more than another. That way was destined to fail.

  Though I might not be a Listener, I knew the sounds of the night. This far into the city, the noise closer to the harbor, that of the taverns and the music, faded to little more than that a soft murmuring. Wind blew through and carried with it the scent of the sea, one that smelled more of fish and salt than it did in Elaeavn.

  There was more on the wind than only that.

  There was a bitter scent to the air, like a mixture of pine and carnash root. I’d smelled it before and associated it with the Hjan. Were they here to attack, or to defend?

  I wished Carth would appear. This type of attack suited her skills better than mine, especially since in the months since leaving Eban, I had little opportunity—or desire—to lurk in the shadows as I once had.

  Rolling a pair of darts between my fingers, I dropped to the ground.

  The motion sent shadows skirting through the yard.

  I slipped along the wall, staying in deeper wells of shadow. A form against the wall bulged where it shouldn’t, the shape looking nothing like the otherwise smooth lines.

  Using a coxberry dart, I hit the shadow.

  The man fell.

  I darted forward. One of the Hjan. He stared at me with glassy eyes, ones that were not quite fully closed, even with the concentrated dose that I’d used on him. When he saw me, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but I slipped my knife through his heart.

  With the Hjan, I had no remorse. I’d seen what they had done and what they were willing to do. And I’d seen Cael’s anger at how they took children. It matched the anger I usually had for slavers willing to claim women and turn them into courtesans, forcing them into prostitution.

  Shadows shifted behind me, and I rolled, flipping a pair of darts as I did.

  Talia dropped, both darts missing. She moved more quickly than I would have expected. Whatever training—and techniques—she’d gained from Carth saved her. “Damn, Galen. You sent for me!”

  “Sorry. I didn’t know you were here.”

  She noticed the dead Hjan. “How many?”

  “Besides the two who came to your hideout?”

  “Two came?”

  I nodded curtly, backing against the wall to look through the yard. “Two came. They killed Raphe and disappeared. I managed to slow one of them with coxberry and left him dead on the street.”

  “You’ve gotten more skilled.”

  “Lucky,” I said.

  “Not luck if you’re taking out the Hjan, Galen. Carth would have been—”

  She whipped her head to the side, sending a slender blade streaking through the darkness. When it hit, she dropped and threw another.

  Her movements were deadly and accurate. In the span of a heartbeat, she’d killed two.

  I hurried over to them and realized that they were both Hjan.

  “I think that you’re the one deserving of the accolades,” I said.

  “Carth tr
ained me well.”

  “I see that.”

  “There are too many here. Whatever is happening in the estate is important.”

  I figured that as well. “It’s the child. I don’t know why they want her, but Raphe claimed the child is descended from two bloodlines. Does that make sense to you?”

  Her lips pressed together in a tight frown, and I knew that it did. “You’re certain?”

  “Cael Read him.”

  Talia turned her attention to the darkened building near the center of the yard. “Before she died, Carth suspected that the Hjan searched for something. You’ve seen the way that they gain their powers.”

  I nodded. “And removed them.”

  “You did?”

  I told her how I had taken the plate from Raphe and how Cael had managed to Read him once it was out. “They have abilities without the implants, though. Seems like they’re descended from Elaeavn exiles. Forgotten.” How many Forgotten had been convinced to serve the Hjan? Was that why both the Hjan and these Forgotten had come to the city?

  “They have gained something like your Elaeavn foresight. They have Seers with augmented abilities as well. Carth always said they were the most dangerous. They would know before you attacked.”

  I thought of what I knew about that particular ability. It was rare, even in Elaeavn, and one that was usually reserved for the Elvraeth only. “The visions are not fully determined,” I said. “Even the Elvraeth know they can be changed.”

  Talia nodded. “But if you know enough about what could happen, you can see certain that it does happen.”

  “And Carth?”

  “She had something about her that protected her from it.”

  I imagine that it would be something the Hjan would very much like to understand. “And the child?”

  “You know there are other kinds of magic in the world, Galen. If the child is descended from paired bloodlines, it’s possible that she has some of that magic.”

  “Like Carth,” I realized.

  Talia nodded. “Like Carth did.”

  I didn’t correct her. I’d given Carth my word that I wouldn’t, but of all the people that Carth worked with, I didn’t understand why she hadn’t told Talia.

  Unless there was an angle there that I didn’t know.

  Carth moved on a different level than I could understand, skilled at games that most didn’t know they were even playing. It was possible that Carth hid something from Talia to guide her in a certain direction.

  “Are you ready to get into the estate?” I asked.

  Talia ran her hand across a leather pouch that I hadn’t noticed before. “I’m as ready as I can be. Let’s go save this child.”

  23

  I crept around to a window and peeked inside. I didn’t think anyone moved, but I wasn’t sure. Talia stood on her toes next to me and pulled herself so that she could look into the window. When content that she didn’t see anything, she kicked through it with a loud crash and went rolling inside.

  Damn her!

  I jumped up and threw myself after her, pulling on a handful of darts as I did.

  Once inside, five men quickly surrounded us. None appeared to be Hjan—interesting that the only Hjan we’d encountered had been outside—and none able to Slide. Talia spun with such speed and ferocity that I could hardly believe it. All five men went down before I could so much as move.

  “Guess you got them,” I said.

  “You were too slow.”

  “I’m going to need a little time to keep up, it seems.”

  She started forward, creeping into the main room. As she did, three other men jumped out. Talia took them down with a flashing speed, slicing through them with a pair of knives before slipping them back into her wrist sheaths.

  “Check this level,” I said. “I’m going up.”

  She nodded.

  I was thankful she didn’t argue. I hadn’t seen Talia fight before. Knowing that she trained with Carth, there was no question that she could fight, only that I had not seen it. But now that I had, I wondered why she felt as if she had needed Carth’s help. It was almost as if Talia had been dependent on Carth for so long that she forgot how capable she was.

  At the top of the stairs, I paused, searching for movement.

  A row of doors lined the hall. When we’d come here before, I’d searched these rooms and found nothing. I started forward slowly, carefully, pausing at each door. The first two were empty. At the third, someone grabbed my wrist and threw me inside.

  I’m strong, and my years of climbing the rooftops in Eban had only made me stronger, but whoever pulled me inside had even more strength than me.

  Rather than fighting, I let myself get thrown inside, and I rolled, jerking away as I did.

  I readied a pair of darts and flipped them as soon as I was free.

  They flew straight, striking a tall man with a flash of green eyes.

  He lumbered toward me. At least he walked rather than Slid. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to counter strength and Sliding.

  My next dart caught him in the neck, and he started to sag.

  I rolled again, staying out of his reach. What kind of monster was this to remain standing after so many darts?

  Another pair of darts hit him, this time in the chest and stomach. All the darts hung from him, so I knew they hit their mark.

  The man struggled to stay upright.

  Two more darts and he fell.

  I breathed out heavily, letting myself relax.

  What was this?

  I waited a moment, afraid he might get up again, but he didn’t move. I’d lost track of whether I used terad or coxberry on him, but likely a combination of both given how much it had taken to slow him.

  I searched the room, but it was otherwise empty. Nothing here… other than some massive man intended to slow me.

  Wanting to retrieve my darts, I rushed back into the hall instead. If I made it out of here alive, I’d go back for the darts. I probably only had a dozen or so left, enough that I could slow a few men, but not too many more like that monster.

  In the hall, I came face to face with Rebecca and another man.

  Between them was the child that I suspected I’d been searching for.

  Tears streamed down Rebecca’s face, and she shook her head.

  The man turned to me, a wide smile spreading across his face. He was one of the Hjan, and I recognized him. I’d seen him in Eban before.

  “The assassin. You have returned.”

  “Unhand the girl.”

  His smile spread. “You would separate the child from her mother?”

  Mother? I almost made the mistake of looking at Rebecca. “I would separate her from you.”

  Rebecca shook her head. “You don’t understand. This is the only way I can keep her safe—”

  “The child comes with me,” the Hjan said. “And the woman.”

  Rebecca had been a hostage when I’d grabbed her before, but it looked like she had been a willing hostage. She was the child’s mother.

  “They’re both staying,” I said and flipped a pair of darts at him.

  He released the child long enough to grab the darts out of the air and crush them in his fist. “Assassin, you were better off in Eban.”

  “I’ve heard that,” I said. “Doesn’t change the fact that I’m here.”

  I flipped two handfuls of darts, all that I had remaining. All I needed was for one to hit, to slow him. But none did.

  Damn.

  “And now you’re out,” he said. “Too bad. You really were skilled.”

  He moved so quickly that I almost didn’t see it.

  I jumped to the side, rolling as a knife streaked through the air.

  As I did, I saw another shadow appear.

  Another Hjan?

  This moved as fast as a snake and grabbed the Hjan, wrestling him back and freeing the child from his grip.

  Carth grappled with the man, a fierce determination to her face. “Take them,
Galen, and go.”

  She spoke so calmly, but the set of her jaw told me how hard she strained.

  I grabbed the child and pulled on Rebecca, taking them both with me.

  At the bottom of the stairs, Talia joined us. Her shirt was torn, revealing a wide gash with blood trickling out. Her eyes were glazed, and she staggered. She wouldn’t be able to stand for much longer.

  “Help her,” I told Rebecca.

  She glanced at the girl before nodding and slipping an arm around Talia. “He will come for us,” she whispered.

  “No. He won’t.”

  “You don’t understand what he’s capable of doing.”

  “And you don’t understand what she’s capable of doing.”

  Talia stared blankly and still hadn’t heard a thing we said.

  But that was fine. Carth hadn’t wanted her to know, so she still wouldn’t hear it from me.

  24

  Talia rested, her wound stitched and orphum keeping her from waking for now. When she did awaken, she’d be in pain and would need time to recover.

  I glanced at Rebecca and the child. The Hjan had implied that Rebecca was the child’s mother, but that wouldn’t have been possible. They were too close in age to make that likely; even among the Elaeavn, there were things that were considered proper.

  “They’re sisters, aren’t they?” I asked Cael.

  She held my hand as we sat near the hearth. “Sisters. I didn’t recognize Karyn before you brought her here.”

  “You know her?”

  Cael nodded. “I do. Did. But I didn’t know that Rebecca had been exiled.” Cael fell silent for a while. “She didn’t want her sister to suffer. She’d been willing to do anything to see her sister returned to Elaeavn.”

  “Did Rebecca know where to find the crystal?”

  “She’s seen it, but I can’t tell more than that. She intended to trade it for her sister’s safety.”

  “To the Hjan?”

  Cael shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Rebecca looked up and I motioned her to join us.

  “Where is it?” I asked.

  She stared at me blankly.

  “The crystal. You have it.”