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Still, unless there was a sniper perched sorounds with the world’s best aiiants’ shooting Most people couldn’t hit what they were aiet at night, when the snow and shadows painted the landscape in e to hiton toit to harden my skin, which meant that any bullet that did cooing-

The fist cae of the dense forest when a thick ar out of the darkness and the attached fist plowed into my face The hard, sharp blow rocked me back, and my feet slid out fro it so hard that a few ice-covered pine cones popped off their brittle branches and pinged h o pants and the many layers that I had on underneath them

But more important than my discomfort was that the attack took ic slipped, and my skin reverted back to its normal texture-and vulnerability-once more Which meant that I could now be injured by bullets, fists, or whatever other dangers caht you’d be tougher to take down than that," a man rumbled and stepped out of the shadows toup to all the hype, Spider"

He was one of Mab’s giants, alhostly pale in the wintry nized him-I’d slid past him onts of capped teeth that were eventhan the frosted landscape around us

I stayed where I was, down on one knee, as though I were still dazed frorin widened, his hand clenched into a fist once more, and he stepped toward me, ready to knock my head the rest of the way off ht hand fall to lint of et you, every single tie, I reached up and slammed my silverstone knife into his chest I drove the blade in as hard and deep as I could before yanking it out and plunging it into hiet dead-now I could still hearever closer to the pine-filled woods and the freedom that they represented

The giant screa everyone exactly where ere, and fell to his knees He reached forto hold on to me until his buddies could corasp Normally, I would have moved in for the kill then and slit his throat, but I just didn’t have the tied in h the air, and the sharp, sticky scent of pine sap burned iant and darted deeper into the woods, trying to escape the web of death that was slowly tightening aroundover snow-covered logs, stuh frozen thickets full of sharp, brittle briars All the while, I heldthat my next step wouldn’t be my last That my boots wouldn’t slip too badly on the snow and ice, that I wouldn’t break lemy way over the hidden, treacherous terrain wasn’t the only thing that I had to worry about Man-ical trip wires, ele for me to stumble into them so they could blastto the path that I’d scouted before and skirting around the traps I’d already found on my way in I kept my pace quick and steady, but I didn’t run blindly, even though the back of ht there, right at the sweet spot that would end , especially for an assassin on the run froiants in the woods, snarling and swar into a fresh kill This ti around theot cut with e it and still keepup as much resistance as they could, but I was quicker and far more ruthless A swipe or two of iants realized as happening, they wereout of their sto to stop me I moved on, another obstacle hurdled, my eyes fixed ahead once h to step in front of uards enough to kill theiants didn’t ed to put a little distance between iants’ hoarse shouts faded to eerie echoes that rattled through the trees But just because they weren’t as close anymore didn’tI didn’t stop, not even for a second That would be stupid and sloppy, and I’d already been plenty of both tonight

I still couldn’t believe that I’d missed Mab That I’d missed her when I’d had the chance to finish her once and for all-

The click of the gun surprised me

So did the woman who stepped out of the woods twenty feet ahead of ray hair, nut brown skin, pale blue eyes I recognized her Ruth Gentry, the wo the predinner festivities inside Mab’s un was a big, old-fashioned piece, with the kind of fancy pearl finish you see in western ers, looking as bright as a star against the dark, weather-worn quality of her skin

"That’s far enough," Gentry said in the saht there"

I did as she asked, even though I wasn’t particularly scared of her and her revolver The silverstone in the vest that I had on underneath ray clothes would catch any projectile that thunked into it Thebullets Plus, I could always use ic to harden my skin once more

Instead, I stood there, stared at the older wos Like how she’d gotten here ahead ofhow I’d been so stupid, so slow, as to let soiants and the traps in the woods, I realized I’d spent far tooaround the et in front ofbetween htened around the bloody knives in my hands, so hard that I could feel the tiny spider runes staer scars e

I could tell by the way her blue eyes stayed on mine and her slow, steady steps towarddown soant and assuotten the drop onto use my knives-unless I made her

"How did you know that I’d come this way?" I asked, even as I kept both ears open, listening for sounds of pursuit behind me

Gentry stopped about ten feet in front of me, the revolver still ai rooain out here, she’d put a heavy coat on over her dress The wool fabric was just as worn and faded as her gown, and the leather boots on her feet were cracked froe and wear Still, despite her rather shabby appearance, she’d come to Mab’s for a fancy dinner party and had then been prepared enough to troh the woods after me on a second’s notice She was a thinker, then, a planner, which h she was delighted by h she couldn’t see it behind the gray ski uessed? You ed "Oh, that was just souesswork to it really This end of the forest offers the quickest, most direct route out to the ht, if I’d been in your shoes"

Her logic and reasoning were spot-on, although I didn’t compliment her on them Instead, I stared at her speckled hand and the easy, familiar way she held her revolver, like it was an old friend she didn’t want to let go of Gentry definitely kne to use that gun Her shots wouldn’t go wide like the others fired at ht-especially not at this short distance