As soon as the camera was Iced over, I grabbed my knife and headed for the giant. I let the cold, black rage rise in me once more, even as I crept up behind him, my bare feet as soft and quiet as silk skimming across the marble floor, since I was still carrying my heels in my other hand. The giant had a gun in a holster on his leather belt, along with his own fists and whatever other weapons he might have.

It really wasn’t fair—to him.

“Where is the stupid thing?” he muttered, still digging in his pockets.

He was so distracted that he didn’t hear the faint rustle of my skirt or see my shadow sliding up the wall next to him like a murky movie monster about to gobble him up. I stopped about five feet behind him. Then I stood there and waited—just waited for the right moment.

“Finally! There it is—”

I dropped my shoes on the floor.

The giant whirled around at the sharp crack-crack-crack-crack of the heels hitting the marble, a plastic key card clutched in his long fingers. “What the—”

I stepped up and buried my knife in his throat before he could utter another word.

As I ripped the weapon out of his windpipe, blood gushed through the air, spraying onto the gray floor and walls and soaking into my scarlet dress. The giant gurgled and clawed at the fatal wound, frantically pressing the plastic card against his neck as if the small rectangle could keep all the important fluid inside his body. Card or not, there wasn’t enough pressure in the world for that.

His hand slipped off his bloody neck, and the card dropped from his fingers and clattered onto the floor. The giant staggered back and hit the wall. His legs buckled, and he slowly slid down the marble until he came to rest on the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been severed. The sightless glaze of death already coated his dark eyes.

I paused, looking left and right, but I didn’t see anyone, and no heavy footsteps thumped in this direction. I padded over to the door and pressed my ear against it, but I didn’t hear any movement on the other side. The metal was too thick for that. Good. That meant that whoever was inside the security center probably hadn’t heard us either.

Too bad I had no idea how many more of Clementine’s men might be inside. One, two, a dozen. I had no way of knowing, but it was a chance I had to take. I needed to make sure Owen was okay, and I needed to see exactly what Clementine was making him do that was so important. Both of those things would help me plan my next move.