Chapters (46)
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
“Idalee, you’re going to break them!” Kyra snapped. The girl, who had been adding yet another plate to her load, jumped and very nearly proved Kyra right. Luckily, she held on long enough to dump the dishes onto a table. The plates clattered but stayed intact.
“Whoa, Kyra!” warned Flick. Kyra turned back and lifted the kettle spout just as boiling water overflowed the bowl.
“Sorry,” she muttered, reaching for a rag. From the corner of her eye, she saw Idalee give her a puzzled look and leave the kitchen.
Flick looked askance at Kyra. “You all right? You’ve not been yourself since the attack.”
“I know.” She avoided his eyes. “I’m just having a hard time forgetting the demon cats.”
“You sure that’s the only thing?”
Kyra glanced around the kitchen. There was no one else there, and the sound of stew boiling muffled the voices in the next room. She hated admitting she was wrong, but…
“How do you decide what’s too much?” Kyra asked.
“Too much?”
Kyra started to elaborate but stopped, wondering how much she could reveal.
“What are they having you do, Kyra?” Now Flick sounded worried.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I mean…I’ve not done anything myself.”
“But you’re bothered by what they do.”
“I suppose. They’re…I don’t know. Some things…right now they scare me, but I worry I’ll get used to seeing it.”
“Worried you’ll turn into them?”
Kyra nodded uncertainly.
To Flick’s credit, he let the moment pass without reminding her that he’d warned her of that very possibility. Instead, he was silent as he stirred the bowl. “I have seen folk change over time. Some of the lads spent too much time around the wrong people. They got used to it too, and either got in trouble or turned into someone they didn’t want to be.”
“And it’s not just that,” said Kyra. “What if the jobs are helping them do something I don’t want to help with?” She wondered if that made any sense, but Flick nodded.
“They don’t tell you the reason for your jobs.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I can’t figure James out. What if I’m actually helping them bring down the city or something?”
Flick laughed. “That would be impressive indeed.” Kyra kept her mouth shut about the demon cats and the armor.
“Look, Kyra, you know how I feel about them. If something doesn’t feel right, you should get out.” Kyra held a flask steady as Flick filled it.