men’s conversation he wasn’t showing any sign of it. Maybe Kalen had seen him in town somewhere, but how could a collector know his name?
“I’ll be sure to thank him for what he’s done to you when I find him,” said Silas. “It’s just a shame he did not finish what he started.”
Kalen’s face hardened. “Hey, now. You and me. We’re friends, Silas. Soldiers. Let’s not forget that.”
“I owe you nothing,” said Silas. “You know what is at stake. That girl could be the key to everything and you have let her go. Do you at least have the book?”
“Have it? I’ve been ’ere all this time lookin’ for the cursed thing. I’ve been listenin’ from the cellars, sneakin’ into houses at night. If anyone was hidin’ it, I would know. It’s gone, Silas. Gone to who knows where.”
Silas tightened his grip, and the old man whimpered. “If you had not lost it in the first place, all of this would already be over,” Silas said. “I would be free of this useless life and you might still have full use of your pathetic little mind.”
“I tried!” squeaked Kalen. “It’s not here, I tell ya.”
“Then you have not tried hard enough,” said Silas. “How do I know you have not just been hiding here, doing nothing, cowering away like the filth that you are?”
“You don’t.” Kalen grinned dangerously. “But at least I’m not some errand boy, trapped under a woman’s heel!”
Kalen’s laugh turned into a hacking cough, and Silas glared at him in fury. “The Skilled are our only link to Wintercraft,” he said. “That girl is the only one they have not yet hidden from us, and you are wasting my time. You should have stayed in your tunnels, friend, where rodents like you belong.”
The glass-covered floor crackled beneath Kate’s boots as she listened from her hiding place. She tried to remain still, but her heel pressed gently against a large shard that she had not seen, and the sharp pop of crushed glass carried into the alley. Kalen’s eyes flashed to the broken window. Silas saw him look and turned toward the shop, giving the old man the chance he needed. Kalen swiped his dagger up toward Silas’s throat, but Silas’s hand moved lightning fast, grabbing the blade so hard that his palm dripped blood. “Too slow,” he said, turning the blade inward toward the old man’s chest. “Haven’t you learned anything, Kalen? The dead cannot die. You, on the other hand . . .”
“Wait!” Kalen cried, but it was too late. In one powerful move Silas thrust the blade up into his robes, driving the metal deep into his heart.
“One death for another,” he said, letting Kalen bleed freely until his lifeless body slumped down onto the cobbles.
The alleyway fell silent. Kate dared to peer carefully out over the window ledge and saw Silas crouching down, pressing his hand to Kalen’s forehead. The air rippled strangely around him, like heat rising from a roof on a wet summer’s day, and everything seemed to slow down. Kate did not know what she was seeing. Silas was impossibly still, his eyes closed, concentrating on something she could not see. Kate had forgotten to breathe and only when the air settled back to normal again did the full horror of witnessing a man’s death hit her. Her knees felt weak and she stumbled back.
“Kate!” whispered Edgar, abandoning his hiding place to help her.
That was all Silas needed.
He saw Edgar move, drew his sword, and strode toward the broken window. Edgar did not see him approach. Silas’s boots made no sound upon the cobbles and no shadow crept across the shop floor. Only Kate saw him standing there just two steps from Edgar’s back, his sword raised ready to strike.
“Move!” she yelled, pushing Edgar hard into the curtains as the blade fell. The sword missed, the point dug into the wooden floor, and the metal rang out.
Edgar stood frozen against the wall. Silas was inside the shop, standing right in front of Kate. Both of his hands were on the sword, but he made no attempt to free it from the floor. He just stood there, looking at her.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked.
Kate nodded firmly, trying not to give away her fear.
“Then you should know that no one escapes me once I have set my mind upon their capture. No bargains are granted, no freedoms or mercy are offered or given. You have something I want, and I