House of Daggers

in a light draft, and a single lantern burned dimly near the door. After seeing that cloaked figure in the courtyard, sleeping felt impossi

ner of my eye, I saw something dark sweep behind the curtains. A chill coursed throug

d then a swift movement lunged toward me, the steel catching a stray strand of lantern light. I gasped, backing away,

like a weapon. "Lois!" she cried, her voice hoarse with urgency. The intruder, snarling beneath a dark hoo

beat of chaos, I saw the opportunity to duck beneath the blade's reach. I jumped aside and seized the heaviest object I could find, a b

ent: they raced by us, melded into shadow, flowing through the half-open doors that led deeper into the

he said in betwee

ks glimmered though Wren stomped out the small conflagration. I looked around, shaken for any clue. Something da

erful hands that had need of them. I gripped it tightly, breath coming unevenly, certain that Steve had ordered this. T

led me to a nearby chaise and ordered me to sit before shock buckled my legs. Her lantern had been smashed in the scuffle, so the only i

ticed that assassin several hours ago, hanging out near Steve's g

r admission. "You saw th

ng as the guards talked like they were there waiting for orders. By the time I

t have done this." My voice scraped out raw. "Steve ordered the

e. "You survived, and that is the important thing. We can'

Steve cared about Valtara's future as much as I did. Now, apparently, he'd hired a mercenary to

broken candlestick we'd used in the fray. We took a cautious approach together. Someth

rm. I pulled out a small envelope, sealed with unknown wax. It felt thick, with several pages in

widened. "Wh

here. The design of the seal was something I didn't recognize from official palace documents.

open it," Wren sai

le now glowed in my hands, promising secrets about the ones who wanted to end my life.

mindful, and aware of the soldiers and the gazes beyond these rooms. I shut the heavy door behind us, feeling my heart speed up at the tho

minder of how close I'd come to a deadly finish tonight. Clearing my lingering terror, I regulated my breath, willing myself to

r. He'd been an advisor, mentoring me through political theory. But the letter suggested something more: ment

this crest." Maddox's family line uses a phoenix motif. Several of these lines

the words and symbols strongly hinted at shady dealings. I wondered if Maddox was to blame for the ruse, thin

dawn," read one haunting order. I froze all over, from my limbs to my hair. Dawn loomed a couple of hour

they really intend to hit before

can't fight blindly. We have to see if Steve and Maddox a

our weapon now. My mentor's cryptic letter said more than enough for me to suspect a conspiracy of un

ash of a siren: "Kill the queen before the next dawn." I slowly swallowed the terror t