Shadowhawk pointed at the map she held open to us. “This time we go in as one team,” he said. “Scouts are always used during missions, so Smoke, Bonecarver, and I will go ahead and return for the rest of you once they are found. Agreed?” My eyes darted to Celine. This was news to me. She gave me a quick smile and a nod. There were a few murmurs of protest, but eventually everyone was in agreement.
It was surprisingly easy to find the other team at the bridge over the Kalixo River that cut through Nighthaven. They weren’t hiding, which meant they wanted us to find them.
They fancied a fight. Great.
Beast leaned against the left side of the stone bridge with three others flanking him. The upper-level assassins playing hostages were surrounded at the center. They were here to assess each of us during the game as much as they were a part of it.
The three of us crouched behind a thick juniper bush dusted with snow. “Why choose the bridge?” I wondered. “It’s out in the open.”
Shadowhawk narrowed his eyes. “The water.”
They wanted to use it as a natural weapon. “Throwing members of our team in water that cold would mean immediate surrender,” I mused aloud.
Celine shook her head. “No, it could mean death. It’s warmed enough that the ice over the river is no longer solid. Someone could get trapped beneath. And if by some miracle they get out, they could freeze to death before making it back to Drakthar.”
“This shouldn’t be allowed,” I added.
Shadowhawk grunted his agreement. “Leadership hasn’t stepped in. Vampires wouldn’t coddle us just because we’re apprentices and neither should they. We’ll have to chase Team Vampire across the bridge, away from the river and fight on the other side.”
I watched Beast and his friends laugh. “They’re already surrounding the hostages in the center. They will hold the bridge. But what if we could get them to come toward us?”
“How?” Celine asked. “They won’t be stupid enough to leave their position even if we taunt them.”
I glanced back toward the city where the torchlight burned orange and an idea sparked. It was dangerous, and I could get in trouble, but their plan to toss us in the icy river was worse. My mood was that of a dark endless pit tonight. The deaths in my family made me feel unruly like there was a storm building inside me. I wanted to go into the woods and slaughter, take my anger out on vampires, but I’d have to settle for the team.
“We set half the bridge on fire,” I said. Both of them snapped their heads my way. Even with their masks up, the astonishment showed clear in their eyes. “If they want to play dirty, so can we. I’ll do it and I’ll take the blame if we get into trouble for it. There’s another way across, down river. I’ll set the east end on fire, and they’ll be forced to run this way.”
Shadowhawk shifted; he and Celine exchanged a glance. “You’ll need a lighter fluid—alcohol or pitch—for it to even catch fire,” he said.
Celine drummed her fingers along the sheath of her dagger on her hip and let out a low chuckle. “You continue to surprise me, Bonecarver. Let’s do it. If you can get them off the bridge, we’ll be waiting to ambush them.”
“Leave it to me.”
I flewthrough the empty backstreets of the city. The cold wind nipped at the exposed skin around my eyes. After following Vander around for months, I knew Nighthaven well enough tofind a tavern for something highly flammable. I took a sharp turn down an alleyway with no balconies overhanging from which people might spot me. I followed the sound of the music and rowdy behavior, but it was the smell of liquor that brought me to the correct window at the back of a tavern, and I slipped into a storage room.
It was dark. Only a sliver of light came from underneath the door to the bar area. The shelves were lined with bottles, and I doubted they’d notice one missing, though I’d never been a thief before.
I lightly stepped over a mop and bucket. I snatched up an old rag from a pile in the corner. I moved swiftly to the shelves, scanning for something with a high alcohol content.
A whisper in my bones made me turn toward that door. A creak followed, footsteps came next. I melted into the shadows of the corner, pressing myself against the wall behind the last shelf.
I was an assassin.
Silent.
Shadow.
A rotund man with a thick mustache waddled across the threshold. Warm light flooded in with him and I pressed myself further, stopped breathing. Most people weren’t particularly observant and if I didn’t move or make a sound, he wouldn’t discover me. For the better part of this year, I’d learned to make myself invisible.
Whistling, he teetered in, grabbed a glass bottle of amber. He paused, glancing at the—openwindow.
Shit.
A novice mistake.
“That’s strange,” he muttered. His heavy footsteps cracked with each step. My heart drummed in time with them.
With one hand he tugged it closed and left. The door clicked behind him. I let out a sharp breath and made a mental note to always close the window behind me.
