the nearby roofs? Even the guards on the street didn’t look up at her.
Celaena untied her cloak and let it slide to the ground behind her. Any additional drag might be fatal, and she had no intention of dying until Jayne and Farran were corpses.
The roof on which she stood was three stories high and faced the second-floor window across the alley. She factored in the distance and how fast she’d be falling, and made sure the swords crossed to her back were neatly tucked in. The window was wide, but she still needed to avoid the blades catching on the threshold. She backed up as far as she could to give herself running space.
Somewhere on that second floor slept Jayne and Farran. And somewhere in this house, they had destroyed Sam.
After she had killed them, perhaps she’d tear the house down stone by stone.
Perhaps she’d tear this entire city down, too.
She smiled. She liked the sound of that.
Then she took a deep breath and broke into a run.
The roof was no longer than fifty feet—fifty feet between her and the jump that would either land her right through that open window a level below, or splatter her on the alley between.
She sprinted for the ever-nearing edge.
Forty feet.
There was no room for error, no room for fear or sorrow or anything except that blinding rage and cold, vicious calculation.
Thirty feet.
She raced, straight as an arrow, each pump of her legs and arms bringing her closer.
Twenty.
Ten.
The alley below loomed, the gap looking far bigger than she’d realized.
Five.
But there was nothing left of her to even consider stopping.
Celaena reached the edge of the roof and leapt.
CHAPTER
10
The cold kiss of night air on her face, the glitter of the wet streets under lamplight, the sheen of moonlight on the black curtains inside the open window as she arced toward it, hands already reaching for her daggers …
She tucked her head into her chest, bracing for impact as she burst through the curtains, ripping them clean off their hangings, hit the floor, and rolled.
Right into a meeting room full of people. In a heartbeat, she took in the details: a somewhat small room where Jayne, Farran, and others sat around a square table, and a dozen guards now staring at her, already formed into a wall of flesh and weaponry between her and her prey.
The curtains were thick enough to have blocked out any light within the room—to make it look like it was dark and empty inside. A trick.
It didn’t matter. She’d take them all down anyway. The two daggers in her boots were thrown before she was even on her feet, and the guards’ dying shouts brought a wicked grin to her lips.
Her swords whined, both in her hands as the nearest guard charged for her.
He immediately died, a sword punched through his ribs and into his heart. Every object—every person—between her and Farran was an obstacle or a weapon, a shield or a trap.
She whirled to the next guard, and her grin turned feral as she caught a glimpse of Jayne and Farran at the other end of the room, seated across the table. Farran was smiling at her, his dark eyes bright, but Jayne was on his feet, gaping.
Celaena buried one of her swords into the chest of a guard so she could reach for her third dagger.
Jayne was still gaping when that dagger imbedded itself to the hilt in his neck.
Utter pandemonium. The door flung open, and more guards poured in as she retrieved her second sword from the chest cavity of the fallen guard. It couldn’t have been more than ten seconds since she’d leapt through the open window. Had they been waiting?
Two guards lunged for her, swords slicing the air. Her twin blades flashed. Blood sprayed.
The room wasn’t large—only twenty feet separated her from Farran, who remained seated, watching her with wild delight.
Three more guards went down.
Someone hurled a dagger at her, and she knocked it aside with a blade, sending it right into the leg of another guard. Unintentional, but lucky.
Another two guards fell.
There were only a few left between her and the table—and Farran at the other side. He didn’t even look at Jayne’s corpse, slumped on the table beside him.
Guards were still rushing in from the hall, but they were all wearing strange black masks, masks with clear glass eyepieces, and some sort of cloth mesh over the mouths …
And then the smoke started, and the door shut, and as she gutted another guard,