“I gave him a bored look. I had been threatened many times before and had learned that the men who didn’t make verbal threats were the most dangerous.”

“As her newest apprentice, it had been my job to go to the market every morning. I had gotten all the jobs no one else wanted, but I had treated each task as if it had been essential to do well -- a trick I had learned from my father.”

“It had been wishful thinking, plain and simple, dangerous for me to indulge in. Hope, happiness and freedom were not in my future.”

“I'm glad you're here. We've had some...interesting developments." Leif groaned. "That's Yelena-speak for life-threatening danger.”

“His movements were so graceful that I wondered if he had been a dancer, but his words betrayed to me that his fluid gestures were those of a trained killer.”

“I remembered my little brother, Allyn, had appeared so innocent and angelic when he slept--similar to Kerrick. It must be a survival tactic. If Allyn hadn't looked so sweet, we would have killed him while he slept. He had been pure evil when he was awake--similar to Kerrick.”

“Valek smiled. “Good. First, send Kade a reply, askinghim not to come.” He pointed at the unopened letter on the table. I had forgotten about it. Sealed with wax, the message appearedto be secured. Valek shrugged. “I was bored.”