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The Black Widow had been ht hand That hy there was only the double stripe and no venom

A lucky break for her, but she wondered if the loss had come before or after the Widow had worked on this house

Surreal opened the jar of cleansing cream and dabbed the cream on the wounds That would take care of ordinary infections until a Healer could take a look at the wounds Then she took out a thin package the size of her palm and carefully peeled back one layer of paper The spider-silk gauze was used by Healers in Kaeleer when they needed to close a s or there was a reason to let the wound heal at its own pace The silk oven into a small web, and the strands helped keep the wound closed

She pressed the spider silk against her side and didn’t peel off the other piece of paper, using it as a bandage to absorb so done what she could, she closed up the healing kit, then reconsidered She took out the scissors and slipped them into her trouser pocket Even a small weapon was better than no weapon

She was just about to create the protective shield when she looked at the toilet--and swore

"Do whatever you canbefore you shield," she muttered Sure, Lucivar had shown her a "shield with access," but it worked a lot better for someone who peed out of a pipe

Not that she’d mentionedthat to Lucivar

She used the poker to lift the lid and seat No nasty surprises, thank the Darkness, other than the kind that would give a hearth witch bad dreams

But as she squatted over the toilet bowl, she thought she heard a sound coernail clippings being shaken inside ato find the secret door In fact, finding it seethened the wick on the oil laht

Maybe it wasn’t meant to be a secret door, just one that was supposed to blend in with the room All he could see was a short hallway that ended in another door, and shelving on the right-hand side

Folded blankets Decorated paperboard boxes that woloves or other small items that were used occasionally Linens Probably a e area for the bedroo sinister, didn’t hear anything suspect Of course, if the whole house was riddled with aural shields that kept people fro wasn’t actually coht foot in the rooe rooht have been the floorboard under his foot Might have been the door But so creaked

Rainier stepped back and studied the door

Traps and gae room door was opened, a boy died

"Kester," Rainier said "You and the other two boys brace yourself against this door and hold it open"

While he waited for theht shield around his in the shield--one for taking in sustenance, the other two for eliht hiotten bruised enough times from Lucivar’s surprise attacks to have learned that lesson very well

Norht shield was a subtle protection, since no one could know for certain it was there unless a person touched you But…

So sounded

In this dalanced at the boys and nodded, satisfied that he’d have plenty of warning if the door tried to shut Then he stepped into the storage rooh

Pillowcases

"Girls," he called "Coave Dayle a box of tapered candles and a globed candleholder The candleholder would be easier to carry and shield the fla back into the room where the children waited, he set the lae, he shook them out to be sure there weren’t any surprises hidden in theauntlets off Anax’s hands and took a good look at them before he dropped them into one of the pillowcases Too small for his hand, but they weren’t made for a child, so they would probably fit Surreal or Kester

At this point, any weapon they could carry was a good weapon

He fitted one candle into the holder and created a steady flame of witchfire to burn on the wick--and tried not to wince when the gong sounded

"Bring that other candle over here," he said

"It’s al him the candle in the cup

Rainier stared at the candle Alone The botto since they’d left the kitchen? Not long enough for a candle to burn down that ht," he muttered "Line up" He moved his hand to indicate a line in front of hiht shield around each of thes for sustenance and waste

"What did you do?" Kester asked

"Created a shield around each of you," Rainier replied, trying to ignore the sound of the gong echoing in his mind He lit a candle from the old one, then replaced the old one with the new