I agreed.
We had to cross into assassin territory with all three of the hostages to win the game. My breaths came steady, even. Running was as easy for me as walking now.
Screams and shouts trailed us. I glanced back to see three of their team gaining on us. There was no time to ask who wanted to do what, so I pointed at Foxglove and the two boys. “You three, stop them. Rebel and I will take the hostages into assassin territory. Catch up to us if you can.”
“Bonecarver,” the two boys acknowledged.
“We got this,” Foxglove added. “Win this for us.”
I never intended to be a leader, but to my surprise, many of the apprentices on my team did look to me. Flanking the game hostages, Taewyn and I raced past Etterdam’s Library and into the dark backstreets in the heart of Nighthaven, and took to the rooftops. The ice and snow forced us to slow, but we moved through the cold night like wraiths.
My spine tingled. I felt Vander again. Somewhere in the shadows, watching, hopefully smiling.
I took the lead and Taewyn closed the end. We made it to the edge of the city and dropped to the ground.
“We’re almost there,” Taewyn declared.
I waited as Taewyn took our hostages ahead and listened for approaching footsteps and searched the nearby roofs. It was hard to believe we’d made it this far without anyone from the other team catching up. But if my team had been ruthless enough to get them to surrender, we’d already won.
Just as I was about to turn, I spotted them, two males leaping from one roof to another, three houses away.Damn it. At this distance, I wasn’t positive on the identity of them, but if my gut was correct, one of them was Beast. I clenched my hands into fists and bolted after Taewyn. Faster. Faster.
Up ahead, the forest around Drakthar came into view. All we had to do was reach the edge of it.
Torches lit up the night. Commanders Ace and Locke and several other assassins held them, waiting for us to cross the boundary. I spotted Vander next to Commander Locke with his arms tucked behind his back. How he got ahead when he’d been close to me was downright astonishing.
I felt the two males from the other team approaching. My heart started to pound. We were so close. “Keep going!” I shouted at Taewyn and skidded to a halt. I dropped into a crouch and swung my leg, taking out the male on the right. He stumbled forward and crashed onto his face. I reached for Beast’s ankle, but he raced by me. I punched the ground and was on his heels.
“I bet your dick hurts,” I said, with a laugh, hoping it would get him to stop the pursuit. He whirled, swinging a fist. He was too predictable. I bent backward to avoid the blow and dropped back to kick out his knee. He jumped out of the way and just as we were about to go after each other, a whistle sliced through the fury between us.
I backed away while he charged at me with his fists at his sides. He wanted to fight. So did I. That anger from the death of my mother still burned inside me. I could put it to use. I raised my fists and readied to roundhouse him in the head.
“The game is over!” Commander Locke shouted. “Team Assassin is victorious!”
Beast stopped, but he radiated hatred. I waited a beat to make sure he didn’t come after me, then dropped my hands to my sides and found Vander. Smiling. No, grinning—widely. Had he pulled down his mask just for me?
My heart pounded in a good way. I felt like I’d sprouted wings and could simply float away. Taewyn threw his fist toward the stars. “We won!” He flew at me, nearly tackled me to the ground, then lifted me off my feet. He turned us in a circle. “We won, Bonecarver!”
I giggled and clutched onto his shoulders. “Wahoo!”
A few low chuckles came from the line of assassins. Even Commander Locke broke character and raised a fist with us. A carrier pigeon took to the air from Commander Ace’s arm and flew in the direction of where I’d left the rest of my team.
Vander stepped from the line of assassin leadership and jogged toward us. I slipped out of Taewyn’s grasp. Darted around a sulking Beast. I wanted to leap into Vander’s arms as I moved toward him, faster and faster, but we both slowed to a stop, face to face, hands tucked behind our backs. I couldn’t stop smiling. That anger inside me burned into something else. Not darkness but light. My mother would want me to enjoy this.
“Well done, Bonecarver.”
“Thank you, Viper. I guess all that training paid off.”
“Looked like it. But I think you owe a bottle of whisky to someone, little thief.” He smirked, and I playfully shoved him.
“Iknewyou were there somewhere.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll replace the pilfered items.”
“Well, this little thief is the reason you get your revenge.”
Chapter 20
With the high of the victory, it took me hours to fall asleep, anticipating our day off tomorrow. I tossed and turned. Felt a little guilty for letting myself feel good instead of sadness. Eventually I dozed off, but I woke in the night shivering. My nose was icy and my breath clouded in front of me. Outside, that was normal. Inside? No. Frost was built up on theinsideof the windows too.
