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I let it go, re the Ash Lord said to my cohort as a valedictory speech “Those you protect will not see you They will not understand you But you are the Gray wall between civilization and chaos And they stand safe in the shadow you cast Do not expect praise or love Their ignorance is proof of the success of your sacrifice For ho serve the state, duty must be its oard”

Or so Works like a charray matter

“Nohat is next on your mysterious ena Carta? The blackened heart of Kuthul An herself If she wears any…”

“There will be nothing else”

“Between you and me, I doubt she wears—wait, what?”

“There will be nothing else, Citizen Horn,” Oslo says, picking up the briefcase containing the razor

“Nothing?”

“Correct My client has found this business relationship most satisfactory, but this piece will be the final acquisition, co their collection Thusly e conclude our affiliation Your services will not be required in the future”

“Well,a nasty hollowness knowing no job is waiting in the wings It’s the first tiood can last forever, eh?” I stand and offer ently, and I hold on The platinu into his tissue-thin skin “So you’re still not even going to givefor all this time?” He jerks his hand away and I narrow my eyes at him “Just a hint”

Oslo stares at me intensely

“Why did curiosity kill the cat?” he asks me

“Is telling riddles part of the job requirement?”

He smiles “Because the cat stumbled upon the anaconda”

—

I linger in the suite after Oslo has left, long enough to dull the bitterness of his words with a couple lasses of vodka Out the , my city of torithes She looks prettier in the dark