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Leesha itched to draw her hora wand and destroy it, but if they worried carriages ic would shout it

Yet neither could the demon be allowed to hunt "Wonda"

"Ay, mistress," Wonda said She looked around a moment, then set off at a run for a rain barrel by the eave of a building She leapt, foot barely seee of the barrel as she used it to leap and catch the lip of the slanted roof, pulling herself up effortlessly and running up the roof as she slipped the bow froave a call, sobehind their warded shutters would take no notice The de for her

Wonda stood steady, arrow pulled back to her ear as the demon approached It see with h the de hard to the boardwalk in front of them

"Gared," Leesha said as Wonda made her way back down "Please h to leave the body in so it doesn’t start a fire when the sun strikes it"

"On it," Gared said

He went over to the demon, but it didn’t so much as twitch as he yanked out Wonda’s arrow There was no trough or fountain to be had, so he was forced to hack the demon apart and stuff it in the rain barrel Wonda went to the pool of ichor in the street, placing her hands in it and shivering as her blackstem wards absorbed the power The demon’s blood would continue to reek, but it would not burn in the sun

Wonda looked up, her eyes bright as the night strength filled her "Want me to keep huntin’, mistress, in case there’s more?"

"I’d feel safer if you stayed with h, but she also wanted to liic until she better understood the effects

They quickly moved to the inner city, not far frohtly lit with lauard, but these were evaded with relative ease

"We’re practically back at the palace," Leesha said

"Of course," Rojer said "The brothel is connected to the palace by a series of tunnels, so the Duke and his favored courtiers can have private access, day and night"

They turned a corner, and there it stood, Mistress Jessa’s Finishing School for Talented Young Ladies It was a grand building, with tings around a central tower, three floors aboveground The wards on the tower and building were strong, Leesha saw, carved deep and lacquered hard, polished to shine The la the street arded as well If the walls of the city fell, the school would be as safe fros as the palace itself

Rojer went boldly to the door, pulling the silk bell rope Leesha could only assu outside A iant of a man He was not as tall as Gared, but broader, with a bull’s neck that strained the collar of his fine lace shirt and thick ar to tear the seams of his velvet jacket His face was crooked, with a nose obviously broken ray in his hair, but itfrom his belt in easy reach

"I don’t know you" It was a simple statement, but the man’s toneback his cloak "I’ve grown soh I could catch the rafters"

The , the ave a whoop and thrust his hands into Rojer’s arh the air Gared tensed, but then Rojer laughed, and he relaxed

"Colancing about before closing the door