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A chill wind blew past, ripping strands of hair from her braid She shouldn’t have let herself walk so close, even if the odds of ever encountering the king were next to none Just the thought of hih her

Her only consolation was thatprobably felt the sao, his invasion had been swift and brutal--so brutal that it made even Celaena sick to recall some of the atrocities that had been co, she turned on her heel and headed home

Sam didn’t return until dinner

Celaena was sprawled on the couch before the roaring fireplace, book in hand, when Sam strode into the apartment His hood still concealed half of his face, and the hilt of the sword strapped to his back glinted in the orange light of the rooleaauntlets strapped to his forearers He moved with such precise efficiency and controlled power that she blinked So man she shared the apartment as also a trained, ruthless killer

"I found a client" He pulled off his hood and leaned against the door, his arms crossed over his broad chest

Celaena shut the book she’d been gobbling down and set it on the couch "Oh?"

His brown eyes were bright, though his face was unreadable "They’ll pay A lot And they want to keep it fro the Assassins Guild’s ears There’s even a contract in it for you"

"Who’s the client?"

"I don’t know The uises--hood, unre on behalf of so the Guild?" She moved to perch on the are, too full of lightning

"Because they want me to kill Ioan Jayne and his Second in Command, Rourke Farran"

Celaena stared at hiest Crime Lord in Rifthold

Sa filled her ears "He’s too well-guarded," she said "And Farran … That htened and approached her "You said that in order to move to another city, we needoff the Guild, then we really need est we take it"

She had to tilt her head back to look at hiood that we’re the best, isn’t it?" Though he gave her a lazy smile, she could see the tension in his shoulders

"We should find another contract There’s bound to be someone else"

"You don’t know that And no one else would pay this ure, and Celaena’s brows rose They’d be very comfortable after that They could live anywhere

"You’re sure you don’t knoho the client is?"

"Are you looking for excuses to say no?"

"I’ to make sure that we’re safe," she snapped "Do you kno many people have tried to take out Jayne and Farran? Do you kno many of theh his hair "Do you want to be with me?"

"What?"

"Do you want to be with ht now, that was all she wanted

A half sed at one corner of his lips "Then we’ll do this, and we’ll have enough money to tie up our loose ends in Rifthold and set ourselves up somewhere else on the continent If you asked, I’d still leave tonight without giving Arobynn or the Guild a penny, but you’re right: I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders It should be a clean break I want that for us" Her throat tightened, and she looked toward the fire Saer under her chin and tilted her head up to hio after Jayne and Farran with me?"

He was so beautiful--so full of all the things that she wanted, all that she hoped for How had she never noticed that until this year? How had she spent so long hating him?

"I’ll think about it," she rasped It wasn’t just bravado She did need to think about it Especially if their targets were Jayne and Farran

Sarew and he leaned down to brush a kiss to her teled "I’m sorry for what I said earlier today"

"An apology froht "Do I dream?"

She scowled, but Sa her ues ainst his back, and she withdrew long enough to unclasp the scabbard buckle across his chest

His sword clattered to the wooden floor behind theh for her to grab hihly, lazily, as if he had a lifetime of kisses to look forward to

She liked that A lot