I shifted into a ready stance. His voice echoed around me as if he paced the large training room.
“You’re still hesitating,” he said. “Do you think I can’t stop your knife even if you manage to throw true?”
I rotated on the spot, following his voice. I didn’t speak because we both knew the answer. We both knew I was afraid.
“Pitiful.” His voice edged closer. “Your mother’s killer didn’t hesitate. Hewantedto kill her.”
My heartbeat throbbed in my throat.He’s trying to get in your head. It’s part of the training. Duress. Focus. Calm.
“He trapped her first.” Renwell’s voice softened. Not with sympathy, but with a cold malice. “Only the gods know what he did to her in that room, all alone.”
My fingers shook. I gripped my knives tighter. “Stop,” I whispered.Stop, stop!My mind screamed at the images he painted there.
“When he knew he was surrounded, he didn’t hesitate.” Renwell’s voice drifted in and out. “He took her dagger, her only protection against a man like him.”
“S-stop!” I stumbled, weaving like a drunkard trying to track his voice.
“He drove that dagger straight into her heart. He watched the light leave her eyes. Made certain she took her last breath. He wanted to be sure we couldn’t save her. He?—”
“Shut up!” I screamed, slashing at his voice.
“Make me,” Renwell growled in my ear.
A ribbon of fire sliced through my back, and I howled. I whipped around and threw my knife with every ounce of strength I possessed.
A dull, wetthunk. The muffled sound of a body hitting the floor.
Silence.
My heart outpaced my breathing in a wild race. With my free hand, I ripped off the blindfold. The purple silk fluttered to the ground.
“No,” I whispered. “Gods, no. Please.”
My mother—my beautiful, kind, loving mother—lay in a tangled heap on the floor. Blood soaked her pale skin and her long golden hair. The knife in her heart—it wasn’t hers.
It was mine. One that Aiden had given me.
A sob tore from my throat. I dropped to my knees and crawled to her. “Mother... Mother, what did I do? I didn’t...”
Her eyes were closed. Her chest still.
She was gone. She’d left me. No, she’d beentakenfrom me. I didn’t do it.I didn’t do it.
Her eyes flew open. “Kiera.”
I gasped and woke up.
My heart pounded so loud in my ears I thought the walls were crumbling around me. Sweat beaded over my cold, clammy skin. My sore throat ached with each rasping breath.
Slowly, the nightmare bled away, leaving the four walls of my room and Ruru’s soft snores nearby.
My shoulders crumpled as I hugged my knees. Part memory, part monstrosity. I’d had nightmares like that before. But this one felt so real, so true.
Perhaps because I was failing my mission. I still didn’t know why Aiden needed the gold. I hadn’t found a way to stay after the heist. The final day was upon me, and I had already failed.
I felt as though there were a thousand hooks digging into my skin, tugging me in a thousand directions. What to do, where to go, who to trust? Any choice would be painful. But I had to choose.
Aiden hadn’t brought up my supposed imminent departure after the heist. Perhaps he didn’t want to think about it either. He’d been hanging around more often the last few days. Offering to eat breakfast with me, walk me toThe Silk Dancer. Watching me with Ruru.
