LITMIR.BIZ

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bandages.” He could heal his wounds with magic, but not on top of a roof without Yelena nearby to give him instructions.

      Onora picked up one of Valek’s knives. He tensed, but she crossed to The Mosquito’s goons and cut strips of cloth off their tunics. It would take a while for Valek to trust her. He’d won, but it had cost him. If they’d fought again, she’d win. Of that he had no doubt.

      Returning with the bandages, Onora set the knife aside. “Which one first?”

      “Hip.” He braced for the pain as she wrapped a hand around the hilt. Even so, a gasp hissed between his clenched teeth as she yanked it free. Blood poured out.

      She helped him staunch and bandage the wound. Then she moved to his shoulder, and he experienced a whole new kind of agony. He was too old for this shit. When she finished securing the bandage, Onora let him lean on her as he stood. A moment of dizziness spun the Citadel around him. When the world steadied, he realized the sun balanced on the edge of oblivion. They must have fought for half an hour, at least. No wonder he felt as if he’d been run over by a herd of horses.

      Onora picked up his daggers with exaggerated slowness and handed them to him hilt first. Smart. He met her gaze as he tucked them away. Then she cleaned hers and slid them back into their hidden sheaths.

      “Can you climb down?” she asked.

      He walked to the edge and peered into the dark alley below. The descent was doable, but it was going to be torture. “Yes.”

      “What about the bug and his people?”

      “Leave them. His people will eventually wake and need to decide what to do with his body.” Speaking of deciding, Valek glanced at Onora. “What are you going to do now?”

      “Go with you, if your offer is still good.”

      “And if it isn’t?”

      She didn’t blink. “I don’t know. I can’t go back to Ixia. Guess I’d have to find a job here.”

      And he was sure Bruns would be happy to employ her. “My offer stands, but it’s going to take me a while to trust you again.”

      Onora looked up in surprise. “Again? I thought you never trusted me.”

      “That’s what you were supposed to think.”

      Crossing her arms, she studied him. “So, to me, nothing’s changed.”

      “Yup. Except when I do trust you, we’ll go rescue the Commander.”

      She smiled, and it reached her eyes. It was that smile that convinced him she’d been telling the truth. However, he wasn’t going to let her know. No. He’d let her sweat it out for a while.

      * * *

      As expected, the climb to the alley was a test of his pain tolerance. Twice he clung to the wall and fought off unconsciousness as fire burned along his shoulders and ringed his waist. Thank fate the trip down didn’t take long. Onora waited for him below.

      Once he recovered, he asked, “Do you know where we’ve been staying?”

      “Yes.”

      “How long have you been in town?”

      “A couple days.”

      He cursed. “Fisk will need to relocate his headquarters.”

      She agreed. “There are a number of assassins in town. I don’t know if that’s normal, but it’s a good thing they’re not the brightest.”

      Small comfort. Valek told her about the bounty.

      “Yelena needs to leave the Citadel,” Onora said, alarmed. “The city is contained by an unclimbable wall and has only so many hiding places. Even those idiots will find her eventually.”

      He barked a laugh that turned into a hiss. “I tried logic.”

      “Try again.”

      He admired her optimism. She followed him as he crossed the Citadel, staying in the shadows. Her passage was soundless, and when he glanced back at her, her skin and clothing appeared darker, as if she was turning into a shadow. Valek remembered Janco commenting on how well Little Miss Assassin blended in with her surroundings. Janco hadn’t detected magic, but he didn’t always pick up on the more subtle users, like Reema. It was a bad time to open his magical senses so Valek added it to the list of things he still needed to discover about Onora.

      When they reached the secret entrance to Fisk’s HQ, Valek said, “Here’s the story. My injuries are due to a fight with The Mosquito. He used magic and, if you hadn’t come along to help, I’d be dead. Oh, and you had no intention of carrying out the Commander’s order to assassinate me.”

      “Except for the fight with the bug, it’s true. Why the change?”

      “You tell me.”

      It didn’t take her long. “You don’t want Yelena to be mad at me.” Her brow crinkled. “Why?”

      He waited.

      Onora shook her head, truly puzzled.

      “Because she considers you a friend. Yelena doesn’t have many friends. And none who have also been—” there really was no way to say this gently “—raped. You share that in common, and it forges a bond. I don’t want to ruin that for her...or you.” He sensed she needed it more than his wife.

      “Thanks.”

      He nodded and tapped the code on the door. Hilly opened it. Her gaze slid to Onora.

      “This is Onora. She’s going to be staying with us.”

      She stepped aside, letting them in. Hilly took one look at his bloody tunic and said, “I’ll fetch Chale.”

      “Thanks. Can you tell Yelena I’m back?”

      Hilly paused and turned around. Her tight expression warned him before the words left her mouth. “She’s not here.”

      He stilled as a number of emotions fought for dominance. Fury rose to the surface, but his battered body couldn’t produce the energy to sustain it. Instead, a tired anger laced his voice. “Where is she?”

      “She’s with Fisk, two bodyguards, Tweet and a four-person surveillance team. They’re wearing disguises. She’s fine.”

      “That’s not what I asked.”

      “They went to check a glass roof in this quadrant. They should be back any minute—”

      “Not helping.”

      “I don’t know.”

      Valek tightened his grip on his knives. He hadn’t realized he’d drawn them.

      “I’ll go,” Onora said.

      “No. She knows the Commander sent you. We’ll go together.”

      “Renée! Innis!” Hilly called into the kitchen behind her. “Report for backup.”

      “We don’t—” Valek tried.

      “They know all the problem spots. And they can fight.”

      Two teens raced into the room. Both were about sixteen years old. Renée was a sturdy-looking girl with pale skin and red hair, but Innis looked like a stiff wind could blow him over. Nonetheless, their determined expressions warned him that arguing would involve too much energy. And he needed every ounce to find Yelena. They tucked daggers into hidden sheaths. Valek figured he’d ditch them if they couldn’t keep up.

      Without a word, he strode to the door and headed out. It took another minute for his brain to catch up with his body. He had no plan, and therefore no direction and no way of finding Yelena. Valek stopped and sorted through the limited information. Hilly mentioned a roof. A rudimentary plan formed.

      “I need to get onto a roof, or the highest point in

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