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She waited until theof the Allomantic pulses that she hoped he didn't know she could feel--then spun, kicking her lantern toward hi herself toward her enemy, who stood outlined by the lantern's last flickers He looked up at her as she soared through the air, her daggers out

And she recognized his face

Reen

PART FOUR

BEAUTIFUL DESTROYER

A iven power--such as an Allo that sa as a natural unenhanced Allomancer

An Inquisitor as a Seeker before his transformation would therefore have an enhanced ability to use bronze This simple fact explains how many Inquisitors were able to pierce copperclouds

45

VIN LANDED, ABORTING HER ATTACK, but still tense, eyes narroith suspicion Reen was backlit by the fitful lantern-light, looking ed him, of course--he was taller, broader of build--but he had the same hard face, unrelieved by hu her childhood, he had often stood as he did now, arms folded in disapproval

It all returned to her Things she thought she'd banished into the dark, quarantined parts of her ue, furtivethese irl who had borne her beatings in confused silence Looking back, she could see the fear Reen had shown in the things he had done He'd been terrified that his half-breed Allohtered by the Steel Inquisitors He'd beaten her when she made herself stand out He'd yelled at her when she was too competent He'd moved her when he'd feared that the Canton of Inquisition had caught their trail

Reen had died protecting her He had taught her paranoia and distrust out of a twisted sense of duty, for he'd believed that was the only way she would survive on the streets of the Final E the treatment Inside--not even buried all that deeply--she'd known so very important Reen had loved her

She looked up andin the cavern Then, she slowly shook her head No, she thought It looks like him, but those eyes are not his

"Who are you?" she demanded

"I' "It's only been a few years, Vin You've grown brash--I thought I'd taught you better than that"

He certainly has theforarily How did he learn the his life They wouldn't have known to study hiet his bones?" Vin asked, circling the creature The cavern floor was rough and lined with burgeoning shelves Darkness extended in all directions "And how did you get the face so perfect? I thought kandra had to digest a body to ood copy"

He had to be a kandra, after all How else would soe such a perfect i her with a confused expression "What is this nonsense? Vin, I realize that we're not exactly the type to reunite with a fond enize nored the coht her too well She'd know Reen if she saw him "I need information," she said "About one of your kind He is calle1d TenSoon, and he returned to your Ho to be put on trial Do you knohat happened to him? I would like to contact him, if possible"

"Vin," the false Reen said firmly, "I aht, reaching out with zinc and hitting the impostor with a duralumin-fueled blast of emotional Allomancy

He didn't even stumble Such an attack would have put a kandra under Vin's control, just as it did with koloss Vin wavered It was growing difficult to see the i her eyes

The failed emotional Allomancy meant that he wasn't a kandra But he wasn't Reen either There seeical course to follow

She attacked

Whoever the ih to anticipate this h he exclai out of her reach He h that Vin was reasonably certain he was burning pewter In fact, she could still feel the Alloh for some reason it was hard for her to pin down exactly which

Either way, the Allomancy was an additional confirmation of her suspicions Reen had not been an Allo their time apart, but she didn't think he had any noble blood to iotten her powers from her father, the parent she and Reen had not shared

She attacked experi this i carefully as she alternately prowled and attacked She tried to corner hiht

"This is pointless," the iain

No coins, Vin thought He doesn't use coins to jump