Book 2: On Instinct

Anwen

With Nessa’s list in hand and all three of us dressed in plain, heavy clothes, Baz, Castor, and I sneak down into the city proper, through my favorite secret passage so even the guards don’t know we’re gone. My whole body hums with adrenaline. I couldn’t—can’t kill Floyd. Not yet. But this fucking assassin, Dorian? He’s already a bloody smear on the street in my mind.

Castor tips his head to the sky as we emerge into the market, sniffing. I grab the back of his skull and yank him back down. He tears out of my grasp with a glare.

“You remember walking through this place the second time you arrived?” I hiss.

He purses his lips, obviously playing back the stares and whispers. “They weren’t talking about me.”

I snort. “You don’t understand court gossip. You’re as recognizable as any of us now.”

He grips the hilt of his sword. “That does not give you permission to touch me.”

Baz sighs. “We’ve got a different guy to murder,