Valek approved of her question. One of the lessons of being an assassin was to know everything possible about your mark.

Yelena crinkled her nose as she sniffed the tea, either disgusted by the smell or the topic. “Owen’s quite talented. He can mentally communicate with another magician, which isn’t a big deal, but his ability to lie to another when communicating mind to mind is extremely rare.”

“He can also lasso one of those null shields around someone pretty quick,” Janco added. “They can block magic, but not objects or people, except for—”

“I know what they are,” Onora said, glancing at Valek.

Valek hid his amusement. She was worried about upsetting him.

“Owen can also mess with a person’s memories, erasing the real ones and inserting fake ones. Or he can just tear your mind apart, leaving you a mindless idiot.” Yelena rubbed her forehead, no doubt remembering Owen’s attack.

“So that’s what happened to Janco,” Onora quipped.

Janco tsked. “Nasty.”

“Accurate.” She shot back.

“You wish. I can think circles around you!”

“I agree. Your mind spins round and round, like a gnat’s. A truly dizzying intellect.”

Janco squawked in protest, but before he could respond, Valek said, “That’s enough.”

Janco clamped his mouth shut, but shot Onora a venomous glare. She ignored it. This time. It was inevitable that Janco would push too far and they’d fight, which would be interesting to watch. However, for tonight, Valek didn’t want to upset Yelena.

“Is that the extent of Owen’s magical powers?” Onora asked.

“No,” Yelena said. “He can heat objects. I once held a knife to his throat and he made the handle so hot, I had to drop it, which means he can also start fires. And apparently set traps. That’s new to me, so he might have other hidden powers.”

“Gee, what a sweetheart.” Janco’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “Sounds like the creep could be a Master Magician.”

Yelena sipped her tea. “He’s not that powerful, but he’s close. I wonder if he took the master-level test and failed. That could explain some of his...bitterness and antisocial behavior. It’s a brutal test.” She covered her expression with the cup.

“Have you taken it?” Onora asked.

“Oh, no. Not really.” Yelena glanced at the embers swirling in the hot air above the fire.

Probably searching for the bat that was usually her constant companion when it wasn’t hibernating during the cold and warming seasons. Valek wondered if the bat would find her or even if it could find her now that she no longer had magic. He hoped the little creature wouldn’t abandon her.

The bat had arrived soon after Yelena’s first trip into the fire world. Valek remembered being utterly devastated when she’d disappeared into the fire world after the Warper battle. She’d been gone for months. If she hadn’t reached out to Leif... He’d planned to join her there.

“According to Irys, when you returned from the fire world you passed the master-level test,” Janco said.

“But I didn’t meet all the requirements for being a Master Magician. No, it just confirmed what I’d suspected, that I was a Soulfinder and my job was to find lost souls and guide them to either the sky or the fire world, depending on their deeds while alive.”

Janco thumped his chest. “I’m sure I’m destined for the fire world. At least I’ll be in good company.” He gave Onora and Valek a pointed look.

Yelena frowned. “It’s not something to joke about, Janco. It’s a terrible place full of pain, despair and utter misery. And you’re not destined for it.”

“Why not? I’ve lied, cheated, stolen things. I’ve killed people.”

“You have also saved people, sacrificed yourself and are helping to keep the peace by stopping the truly evil people from taking over. It’s not so much your actions, but your intentions and your choices.” Yelena met Valek’s gaze. “And it’s a matter of balance. Even if you did terrible things, all the good you do will eventually outweigh it, tipping you toward the sky.”

A lovely sentiment, but Valek needed a few decades of good deeds to balance out his years as an assassin for hire. He’d killed to learn how to be a better killer. All in order to assassinate the King of Ixia. Granted, the King had been corrupt and evil, but those others had just been marks to him. Except for the men who had murdered his brothers in the King’s name. They deserved to die.

Janco’s brow creased in thought—a rare expression for him. “Does this mean I have to be nice to Little Miss Assassin?”

“Yes, because I’m no longer a Soulfinder, so I can’t rescue you from the fire world.”

Now Janco blinked at Yelena. All humor dropped from his face and he pressed a hand to his heart. “You would have rescued me?” he asked in awe.

“Of course, you idiot! I wouldn’t let you suffer.”

Despite being called an idiot, he grinned. Or was that in spite of? Hard to tell with Janco.

Onora shook her head. “Now you’ve done it,” she muttered.

To forestall Janco’s obnoxiousness, Valek changed the subject. “Onora, you have first watch. Janco, take the second shift, and I’ll go last.”

“That means I have the third shift,” Yelena said in a tone that warned of a major battle if he disagreed.

“All right. In the morning we’ll stop at the closest town and send Leif a message, informing him of the booby trap.”

“Do you think Owen had time to rig all the houses?” Janco asked Valek.

“He has a six-day head start. And he knows we’ll be searching for them. Plus the Curare is too valuable to leave behind, so I’d expect him to gather as much as he can. He’ll need money to finance his next endeavor.”

Owen had claimed to have discovered something big enough to make the Commander forgive him for his betrayal. It could have been a boast, but Valek doubted it.

“What about the dead body?” Janco jerked a thumb toward the barn.

“We’ll inform the local authorities in the morning and let them handle it.”

“Does anyone else think it...odd that Owen murdered the gardener?” Yelena asked.

“No,” Valek answered. “The gardener probably had information about the operation. It was smart to silence him.”

“Yes, but...” She played with the string on her tea bag.

“Owen murdered his brother and the others,” Janco said.

“We still don’t know for certain who killed them, but assuming it was him, he hired an assassin. Big difference.” Yelena gazed at the liquid in her cup. “And I’m still not convinced it was him. In all my dealings with Owen, he never acted like a killer. Think about it. He went out of his way to scare me off by pretending to kidnap Reema back in Fulgor. Even when he captured us, his solution was to erase our memories. Why not just slit our throats and bury us?”

“Because if he killed you, Valek would hunt him down and tear him apart,” Janco said.

True. Valek’s fingers itched to grasp a blade just thinking about anyone harming his heart mate. But what Yelena said also had merit. Did she suspect Onora had assassinated the trio? “If Owen didn’t do it, then who did?” he asked her.

“It’s just a theory, and you’re not going to like it.”

With that one comment, he knew. And she was right. He didn’t like it, but he had wondered the same thing. “The Commander.”

Yelena met his gaze. “Owen is proof that the Commander lied to the Sitian Council about executing the magician four years ago. He’d want to erase all the evidence that connects them, including all Owen’s coconspirators.”

Janco added another log to the fire. “But the Sitians know Owen’s alive and producing Curare for the Commander.”

“There’s no proof the Commander has Curare and, as long as Owen isn’t captured, it’s only our word that he’s still alive.”

“That should be good enough.” Janco puffed out his chest.

“The Commander c

an say we must have mistaken Ben for his brother. He can order you, Valek and Onora to keep quiet. In the political world and without any hard evidence, the Council can’t do anything.”

Interesting theory. “Are you saying the Commander hired another assassin to kill Ben and the others?” he asked Yelena, wondering if she suspected Onora of assassinating them. Not that she’d suggest it in front of the girl; nor did she glance in Onora’s direction.

“I’m not accusing him. I’m just speculating. But if he wishes to keep the relationship between Ixia and Sitia civil, he would need Owen to disappear forever.”

“He went to a lot of trouble to get all that Curare,” Janco said. “I don’t think he’s worried about being civil.”

* * *

The rest of the evening passed without incident. When Yelena woke him for his watch shift, lines of strain marked her face.

Concerned, he sat up. “What’s wrong? Do you need something for the pain?” He kept his voice low so he wouldn’t wake the others.

“I already dipped into Leif’s goody bag,” she whispered.

“That bad?”

She waved off his comment, which meant it had been bad and she didn’t want to worry him. Too late. He’d never not worry about her.

Yelena settled next to him. “I’ve been thinking about Owen. He’s too smart to hire a couple of locals to transport the Curare vine from the hothouse to the river. Locals get curious, ask questions, gossip in the taverns. All things he avoided. Otherwise we would have gotten wind of his operation before.”

“You think he paid the brothers to bring us out here? Pretend they didn’t remember everything?”

“Yes.”

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