Assassin's Heart (21 page)

MARCELLO THRUST A STEAMING CUP OF TEA INTO MY
hands. “Drink this.”

I'd fallen asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace. I sat up, brushing my hair off my face. My bones and joints ached, both from the uncomfortable couch and from the fight. It would be a couple of days at least before I could move without pain.

I sniffed the tea, then sipped tentatively. It was bitter and strong, but the warmth spread through my chest and limbs and soothed some of my aches.

“I've cleaned your leathers,” he said, watching me drink. “When you're done with your tea, you should leave.”

I finished the tea in a single, scalding gulp. “What time is it?” I asked, trying to cool my tongue.

“Past midnight. You'll be safe to return unseen to wherever you're staying.”

“You let me sleep so long?”

“You needed the sleep.”

I nodded. He handed me my leathers, and I walked behind the hearth to change. When I came out, he passed me my mask. It had been cleaned of dirt and blood, and I slipped it to the top of my head.

I glanced toward the bedroom and the tapestries. It was dark and quiet.

I'd made a decision before I'd fallen asleep. My stomach fluttered, seemingly warring with itself. It was easier this way, leaving without saying good-bye to Les. But a part of me, a very large part, had hoped he'd be awake. For what purpose, though, I couldn't say. Maybe he'd try to stop me, or force me to stay, or just make things different, somehow.

But Les was asleep. And things couldn't be different.

“You shouldn't see him anymore,” Marcello said.

I closed my eyes. I couldn't argue against Marcello's opinion. Matters were only going to get worse. And in her letters my mother said I'd needed to focus on what was important. I had to focus on killing the Da Vias.

“Under two conditions,” I said.

Marcello narrowed his eyes.

“The first is you have to finish his training. If you don't, he'll get himself killed and it will have nothing to do with me. He thinks you'll leave him if he argues too much about it, and that's not fair to him.”

Marcello glowered, but then nodded.

“The second is the location of the Da Vias' Family home. I need it.”

“No.” Marcello sliced the air between us with his hand, a gesture I'd seen from Les. “I will not be responsible for your suicide.”

“You could come with me. The last of the Saldanas together.”

“Alessio would come after us.”

“Then I can't leave Yvain. Not without the location of the Da Vias' home. And they're already coming for me. It's only a matter of time before they find me here. If you give me the location, I can get ahead of them, I can plan an attack instead of simply waiting to defend myself. If you give me the location, I will leave, and you and Alessio will be safe.”

“You could flee. Give up on this ludicrous plan of yours. Revenge will not bring you peace. Revenge will not bring your Family back. I know this firsthand.”

Marcello had succeeded at his revenge, had killed those who had killed Savio, his lover. So he had no right to try and convince me of another path.

“This is what I must do,” I said. “There is no other way out for me. I do not seek peace. My peace died with my Family. I seek vengeance and I will have it, or die trying.”

Marcello's shoulders slumped, and I could see his mind working. He knew the Da Vias coming to Yvain would be just as dangerous to him, and by association, Les. And the only way to be rid of them was to lure them away with me.

He walked into a back room. A moment later he returned with a key similar to my own. He handed it to me. “This is the key they used years ago. I don't know if it will still work,
but it's all I have to give you.”

“How do I find them? Where is their home?”

“There's an entrance in the north part of the city, at a restaurant. It's been too long and I don't recall the name.”

A restaurant. The Da Vias owned two restaurants in the north part of Ravenna: Fabricio's and Luca. I had a hard time believing Val would bring me to dine at a restaurant that housed the entrance to his Family's home, but he was also cocky and self-assured. Either way, I would check them both and see what I could find.

I clenched the key in my fist. “Thank you, Uncle.”

“Do not thank me. I take no joy in sending the last of my family to her death. But what's a little more shame heaped onto an old man who's spent his life drowning in it?”

“I go to end my own shame, Uncle.” I pulled my mask over my face and left him in his home beneath the streets.

I climbed to the roofs of the city, my body complaining with every inch.

The night was quiet as I jumped and scaled my way toward my safe house. The moon had crossed most of the sky. It wouldn't be long before morning. I could leave Yvain with the sunrise.

Three things I'd needed before I could leave: the location of the Da Vias' home, the working firebomb, and help from Marcello. I had all but the last.

It had to be enough. I couldn't wait anymore, and Les was right, I hadn't persuaded Marcello. And I could no longer
fool my conscience by saying I didn't care if I brought Les with me and he died. Because I did care. Somehow he had worked his way under my skin. Seeing him injured made me realize how much it would matter to me if I got him killed for my vengeance. He had helped me for no other reason than that it was the right thing to do. And now it was my turn to do the right thing and keep him out of my plan, keep him safe and alive here in Yvain with my uncle.

The only deaths I wanted on my hands now were the Da Vias'.

On my roof I collected and stored the weapons we'd abandoned. I placed Les's cutter and other tools in a corner under some burlap to keep them safe and easy for him to find later. I stared at the hole leading down to my little home in Yvain.

It was better this way. It would be easier to forget about Les, to go home and finish what I'd started. What the Da Vias had started. Even if he'd secretly been calling me beautiful.

I couldn't go inside yet. I needed more air.

I raced across the roofs of the city, the Yvain skyline lovely and still in the darkness of the early morning hours. I needed to move, feel my muscles stretch and burn in pain. I needed to focus on that so I wouldn't think about anything else. So I wouldn't think about
anyone
else. So I wouldn't think.

But I couldn't outrun my thoughts forever. When I was forced to slow, clutching my hand to my ribs to ease the stitch that had grown there, my thoughts appeared right where I'd left them.

I balanced on the edge of a roof, gazing at a canal that lazily swirled below me, a boat moored to the building, and a stone bridge connecting one side of the canal to the other.

Below, a man approached the canal. It was early for a commoner to be out. Maybe he didn't fear the ghosts.

He stopped at the edge of the water. He clutched something in his hand. A wooden staff. I blinked and peered closer. A tall, cylindrical hat rested on his head.

It couldn't be possible, and yet this was the same man I'd seen at Fabricio's with Val the night of the fire. He stood here, in Yvain, in the night.

Behind me, something crunched on the dirt of the roof. I turned.

Two men, both in leathers, their masks hidden in the shadow of the chimney they stood beside.

They glanced at each other, then stepped closer. Their masks came into view. One had swirls and the other grape leaves. Both patterns were the color of blood.

The Da Vias had found me.

I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THEIR INDIVIDUAL MASKS. RAFEO
would have. He would have known instantly who stood before me, but there were over fifty Da Via clippers and I'd never been able to memorize every mask. These were probably some of Val's cousins, sent here to look for me. Maybe they were the only ones. Or maybe there were more.

It didn't really matter unless I came out the victor in this confrontation.

Three choices: I could run, I could hide, I could fight.

None of those options gave me a high chance of success.

Grape Leaves shifted his weight. The time for planning was over. I'd have to react now and hope it was enough.

“We didn't expect it would be so easy to find you,” Grape Leaves said. He was tall and thin and had a rope wrapped around his shoulders and waist, one end tapered with a heavy stone weight, the other tied in a noose. “Of course, you made it easy, running around the rooftops like
some sort of cat in heat.”

I shrugged, using the movement to rest my hands closer to my sword and a dagger on my left. I'd learned my lesson about going anywhere unarmed.

The Da Via clippers saw the true intention behind my shrug and tensed.

“Honestly,” I said, “the night air felt good. Attracting your attention was not a concern of mine. You didn't even cross my mind.”

Swirls shifted his stance and glanced at Grape Leaves before returning to me.

“You're not Rafeo,” he said, his voice higher than his partner's.

My cloak had hidden my shape from them. I inclined my head. “Very astute. Would you like a medal?”

They stared at me, making quiet decisions behind their masks. I shuffled through the possibilities. They could be planning an attack. They could be thinking of calling for reinforcements. Maybe they'd let me go, now that they knew I wasn't Rafeo.

I grimaced behind my mask. There was no way in hells they would let me go, no matter who wore Rafeo's mask.

“Though the Addamos pointed us to Yvain, it seems they've lied to us,” Grape Leaves said.

“I doubt they did it on purpose,” I answered. “They didn't seem to be the quickest larks.”

Swirls brought his hand to his sword hilt and I reacted by unsheathing mine, loosening my wrist with a quick twist of
the blade. I wouldn't let them take me unprepared. “Did they tell you how easily I dealt with them?” I asked. “Did they tell you how many of their dead and injured I left behind?”

“They didn't tell us a great many things, it appears,” Grape Leaves said. “And because of that, I'll be on my way with a new message for the Family. But don't worry,
Lea
Saldana. Nik here can handle you all by himself.”

Swirls unsheathed his own sword while Grape Leaves bowed and turned his back on me, trusting his partner's ability to handle things.

I didn't know anything about Nik Da Via. I didn't know where he stood based on skill. He could be showy or swift. Arrogant or quietly self-assured.

I did know, however, that I was unrested and sore from my fight the night before and I hadn't eaten anything in almost a full day. I didn't have much to give. I had to end this fight quickly. The longer I took, the better the chances I'd wind up dead. And I didn't want to die. Not yet.

Nik rushed me, and all thoughts disappeared as I adjusted my stance to defend myself.

He feinted to the left, but I didn't fall for it. I turned left too and swiped for his neck with my sword. He bent backward, flipping over completely. He kicked his leg at me. I jerked aside.

On his feet once more, Nik rushed me again, wasting no time. He attacked with exaggerated sword strokes, forcing me to block them or risk losing my head. I gave ground on the roof, sliding closer to the edge and the canal waiting
below. He couldn't keep up these frantic attacks. They would drain him. But he might keep them up longer than I could defend against them. Every move I made sent a rush of pain pulsing through my muscles. Before long, Nik would notice I was injured and press me even harder. I needed to do something.

He lunged. I stepped away. Below me, the canal boat creaked against its moorings.

I released my left hand from my sword and found one of my long needles stashed in the lining of my cloak. I jabbed a pouch on my belt. The tinkling of broken glass told me I'd struck true.

I hid the now poison-coated needle beneath my cloak and waited for Nik to make another move. It came almost immediately. Instead of sliding left or right as he expected, I ducked. With a quick thrust I stabbed the needle into his thigh. He hissed beneath his mask and retreated, yanking the needle from his flesh.

“Is that the best you have?” He threw the needle to the ground. “This is what Lea Saldana has to offer?”

“No,” I said. “This is.”

I jumped off the roof, trusting that the canal boat was still in place.

I landed. The boat rocked and my ankle twisted sharply beneath me, a lance of pain shooting through my bones and calf.

A shadow from above told me Nik had taken the bait and followed.

When he landed, the boat rocked again, but Nik was unable to keep his balance. The leg I'd stabbed collapsed beneath him, and he shouted in surprise as I let the boat tip like Les had taught me and spilled Nik into the dark waters of the canal.

I sliced through the rope and shoved off, saying a silent prayer of thanks for the canals of Yvain. And to think I'd once hated them.

I flipped open my pouch of poisons and checked which vial had shattered. Pieces of glass lay against the other vials and the etched cork sat on top of the shards. Good. The needle had been doused in a nerve poison. Nik's leg and probably most of his right side would be paralyzed for the better part of a day. He'd be lucky if he didn't drown.

My boat floated away as I watched the ripples on the water to see if Nik would emerge.

His mask broke the surface, his hands splashing as he fought against his numb limbs to reach the edge of the canal.

“I'll kill you!” he shouted as I drifted farther away. He struggled to pull himself out of the canal. Finally he managed to flop onto the street. “You're dead for this!”

I pushed the boat around a corner. His threat held no new fear for me. The Da Vias already wanted to kill me.

My ankle pounded with pain, but when I tenderly put weight on it, it supported me. Not broken then, only twisted. Of course, it didn't really matter. The Da Vias were in Yvain, and they knew I was here.

I'd run out of time.

I steered the boat as close to my safe house as I could, then let it go, to drift freely on the canals. I stumbled onto the street, my ankle giving beneath me painfully. It would be a problem. I'd have to wrap it tightly and hope to avoid another fight until it had healed.

The sun had crested the horizon. Taking the roofs would have gotten me back sooner, but the Da Vias could be looking for me. They wouldn't be watching the canals, though. Like me, they'd assume clippers wouldn't use the waterways.

One more day. If I'd had one more day before the Da Vias had showed up, I would have been gone from here. They could have searched Yvain to their heart's content and never found me.

I limped down the alley toward the street that connected to my safe house.

I would need a disguise, now, to get out of Yvain. They would be watching the gates into the city.

Brother Faraday's robe could work again. Maybe. I'd have to be careful, though.

I turned the corner.

In front of me stood Lefevre in uniform and four other lawmen.

“Well, well, Lea. It seems we've caught you in a bit of a predicament.” He smiled and tapped the basket of his rapier with a ring on his pinkie.

My first instinct was to run. To flee the way I'd come. But the alley ended at the canal, and I'd set the boat free.

I could fight them. I could kill them or disable them.

But I was exhausted and injured. Lefevre and the others wore rapiers, and though I had my sword and usual stiletto, I'd just fought with, and nearly lost to, Nik Da Via.

“What do you even want?” I asked Lefevre. “The Da Vias already know where I am. There's no money anymore.”

Lefevre's face darkened at my news.

Another lawman shifted. “Did you honestly think you could come to our city, commit murder, and leave the bodies lying around and we wouldn't notice or care?”

They didn't understand. They thought me a common murderer. “I didn't kill that boy in the alley. The gold was a kindness I did for him,” I said. “To grant him favor with Safraella, to earn him a fast resurrection. The only crime I saw was a lawman stealing a holy coin from a corpse because he wanted it more than a god.”

“There were other murders,” the lawman said.

He was right, of course, there were other murders. Lefevre's men. “They attacked me.”

Lefevre's smile faded, and he dropped his hand from the basket of his rapier. “So, how do you want to handle this?”

I had nothing left. “I'll go quietly.”

Lefevre scowled. He'd actually been looking forward to a fight. He grabbed my wrists and bound them behind me, then pulled off my mask. He was not gentle.

He leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “Maybe you could run from my men, but you couldn't run from me. Looks as if the little girl didn't know the rules of Yvain. My rules.”
His hands brushed the nape of my neck and I shivered. He chuckled.

“Touch me like that again,” I hissed, “and there will be nothing quiet about what I'll do to you, and you'll find no peace at the end of your life.”

“What do you mean by that?” he growled.

“I am a disciple of Safraella, and I don't think She will look upon you with mercy.”

“Is that true?” one of the lawmen asked, stepping away from me.

“Don't listen to her tales.” Lefevre grabbed my arms and pushed me forward. “She's just a stupid girl.”

“But all those men she killed in that alley . . .”

Lefevre laughed. “You really believe what those survivors told you? That she did it by herself? No. She had help. A man, I'm sure. Even the survivors said there was someone with her. I doubt she did anything more than cower in a corner.”

A few of the lawmen nodded, but the worried one kept his distance. Smart of him. The more Lefevre talked, the more I regretted not sinking my stiletto into his heart when I'd had the chance.

He pushed me across the street, and the morning sun poured over us.