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I shook my head with the least motion possible Piaras remained absolutely still, his dark eyes intent on shadohere there could be anything or nothing

I dilobe and motioned for Piaras to follow me There were two crates stacked on top of each other that would give us so at us Maybe Goblins were fast, especially these goblins

I stood on tiptoe, my lips next to his ear "Khrynsani" I said it in a whisper so light that I barely heard it

Piaras’s only sign that he’d heard was a single nod I was i arrested, kidnapped, i in the span of just a few hours, being told there wereof a shock

Tiuys were sitting back with the good cards and a heaping pile of chips We were stuck with a really crappy hand and were down to our last, lousy chip

I was at the top of the Khrynsani’s most-wanted list, and worse yet, their boss wanted me alive Rudra Muralin had used Piaras to attack Justinius, but I didn’t know if he had an interest in Piaras beyond that, though Muralin knew that gifted spellsingers like Piaras were rare and highly prized

Highly prized for their voices--the sweet htshades were down here

I knehy the Khrynsani were down here killing Nightshades

I knew Piaras and I didn’t need to be anywhere near here

Sarad Nukpana said Muralin had come to Mid to reclaim what my father had stolen from hihred He needed it at full power, and for that he needed sacrifices And the Saghred liked nothing better than spellsingers Banan Ryce and his Nightshades had been gathering spellsingers Tonight they’d captured three rowing collection than under the one building on the island that Mychael, his Guardians, and the city watch couldn’t legally search

Banan Ryce had done the work; Rudra Muralin was htshades had stor rooain elves were unknowingly doing his work for hiet Bloodbath sounded about right Me, Piaras, and those spellsingers were going to be caught in theevery change infro on my face

"Tell me" He kept his voice down, but his tone told me he wanted to kno

Piaras knew about the first three spellsingers He didn’t knoho had been taken this evening--and that Katelyn Valerian was one of theers may be down here I need to check"

Tanik had told me the basic layout of what lay beneath the elven embassy Piaras and I were in theMore than likely the dead Nightshades had been trying to get upstairs for help They obviously hadn’tfor a place to hide, not for his specs

Beyond this room were storerooms of various sizes on several levels Naturally, it wasn’t a straight shot froh some of those storerooms, and down three levels Tanik hadn’t mentioned any rooht with elven govern to bet there was a prison block tucked away down here somewhere A place where inquisitors wouldn’t have to worry about screa the nice bureaucrats upstairs

I didn’t have Megan’s brush or Ailia’s locket with irls a few ti them shouldn’t be a problem

"Keep watch," Iwas quiet If Muralin or Ryce were down here, they wouldn’t hear what I was about to do

I didn’t close my eyes, but stared instead at the side of the crate I clasped an’s hairbrush I reainst my bare palm, the cool smoothness of the silver, the feel of the intricate scrollwork

I linked and I saw

Khrynsani shaers, and they were all in one cell Katelyn was kneeling next to an unconscious Ronan Cayle, wrapping what looked like a strip of fabric froash on thein feline fury I had been able to hear the spellsingers before, but not now Was Rudra Muralin using stronger wards? He’d been sacrificing spellsingers for a long time If anyone kne to protect hi to die, it would be Muralin

I couldn’t see Rudra Muralin

That could be good--or that could be really bad He had to be somewhere, and just because I couldn’t see him in that cell block didn’t mean he wasn’t down here

And down here was dark Really scary dark

The spellsingers were somewhere below us There was no doubt in h the soles ofet out But no one had asked me what I wanted

No one had asked those kids or Ronan what they wanted, either

I unclasped ers are down here" I sounded about as enthused as I felt

Piaras looked confused "Six? I thought you said there were--"

"There were three; now there are six" I really didn’t want to tell him, but he needed to know "After you were arrested, three more were taken from Sirens: Talon Tandu, Maestro Cayle… and Katelyn"

Piaras’s face drained of all color It wasn’t froe, cold and focused