I yank the old rag out of my pocket, stick it in my mouth, and tear it into strips. I snatch up a few of the metal tools and tie a single strip around each one. From my coat, I dig out the box of matches Ash and I used in the Pembrook barn and light one of the cloth strips. I do a three-sixty, scouting all of the potentially flammable materials in the room.

I pull back my arm, aiming for a spare apron draped over a stack of logs, and throw the tool like I would if it were a knife. My aim isn’t what it would be with a blade, but it’s not terrible, either, and the fiery cloth hits its mark. Next, I aim for a cushioned chair against the far wall, and then for a wooden bucket.

Ash and Logan have their weapons up, pushing against each other. They’re about the same size and seem to be evenly matched in strength, but Logan’s weapon advantage slides Ash backward again until he’s only inches from the flames behind him.

“Thirty more seconds and this whole shop will go up in flames!” I yell to Logan. Ash once told me that Strategia rarely live in rural areas, that they vastly prefer cities where they can blend in, affect politics, and maneuver leaders. So if Logan is living out here making horseshoes, it’s by choice. And it doesn’t take a genius to look around this carefully arranged shop with its handcrafted ironwork to know that it’s his passion.

Two seconds tick by and Logan doesn’t react. Have I completely misread him? Ash’s foot slides back another inch. I tie the last piece of cloth around the end of a long antique hammer and light it.

“You want to keep doing what you’re doing? Fine. This one’s going to the dog beds.” I pull back my arm and land a clean shot into a pile of straw with a blanket on top. It ignites almost instantly.

Ash and Logan have their weapons up near their throats, pushing against each other. But Logan steals a glance sideways to glimpse what I’ve done. The flash of anger in his eyes reassures me that I was right when I judged the shop’s importance to him. And as Logan turns his head again to more fully assess the flames, Ash takes advantage of Logan’s momentary distraction. Ash grabs the hot end of his metal rod with his bare hand, overpowering Logan and burning his cheek. The pain from touching the smoldering metal is obvious in Ash’s expression and I cringe right along with him. But it works.