Death Marked (Death Sworn #2)(5)

Ileni knew exactly how it would feel. She had left her own people for the Assassins’ Caves just so she would never have to feel like that again.

She didn’t trust herself to control her expression. She turned away from Karyn just in time to see two young men appear in the doorway.

Literally, appear: a second ago, the space outside the door had been empty.

“Good,” Karyn said, still sounding like a stroked cat. “This is Ileni. She’ll be—”

One of the new arrivals looked at Ileni. She froze when she recognized him, but his face remained perfectly pleasant, as if he had no idea who she was. He bent toward his boot, a smooth feline movement, without losing his placid expression for a second.

Ileni went for her dagger, but he was faster.

Assassins always were.

“Whoa,” the other boy said mildly, and Karyn snapped, “Ileni!”

The assassin’s hand was around her wrist, tight enough to hurt, yet he exhibited no strain. His other hand was curled but empty. Too late, Ileni realized that he hadn’t been reaching for a blade. He had merely been bending to wipe off his breeches, which were marked by a long smudge of chalk.

“What are you doing?” the assassin asked, voice high-pitched and shaking. His eyes were wide, his breath fast, as if he was the one who was afraid. But his eyes glinted with amusement that only she could see.

Ileni’s heart sank. She didn’t dare look at Karyn. She forced her fingers open and heard her dagger clatter to the floor.

The assassin didn’t glance down, and he didn’t let go of her wrist. He was wiry and muscular, with a crop of unruly red hair, and was wearing green and black instead of the assassins’ typical gray.

“Sorry,” Ileni said. Her voice emerged high and scratchy. “I . . . thought you were someone else.”

She didn’t check to see if anyone believed her; she knew for certain that Karyn wouldn’t. She kept her eyes on the assassin, to find out if she was going to die for her mistake.

A moment of silence. Two. The killer’s pale blue eyes stared into hers. Then he let go of her wrist and stepped back, and she couldn’t help a sigh of relief that sounded long and loud in the small room.

“I think,” he said, “you know exactly who I am.”

Ileni’s mouth was too dry for speech, even if she had been able to think of something to say.

“Arxis?” the other boy said.

The assassin glanced at him sideways. “I traveled with a band of traders, for a while. One of our ventures into the mountains took us to Ileni’s village, and she and I . . . well. Apparently, she thought it was more than it was.”

“We did not—” Ileni began hotly, and stopped. The glint in his eyes was no longer amused. She recognized that coldness.

She could almost feel the dagger on her throat.

“I did not think it was more than that,” she said finally. Her face burned, but she went on. “It was more than that. You told me it was.”

“Oh, Arxis,” the other boy said. “You need to rein in that silver tongue of yours.”

“What I need,” Arxis said, “is to stay away from gullible, romantic village girls.” He swooped down, picked up her dagger, and held it out to her. “You might need this, in case you come across someone who’s actually dangerous.”

Ileni had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep silent. She took the dagger, wishing her hand wasn’t shaking.

“Enough,” Karyn snapped. Arxis glowered at Ileni convincingly. Ileni glared back. She didn’t have to try to be convincing, because she meant it.

Karyn sighed. “Evin, congratulations on being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’s your responsibility now.”

Ileni glanced at the second young man. His eyes were wide, his hair a mass of brown tufts fanning out around his head. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it exactly as disheveled as before.

“I do have a talent for that,” he said, as calmly as if there hadn’t been a dagger drawn just a minute ago. “Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I mean. Though yesterday I was in the wrong place at the right time, and that didn’t go much better.”

Everyone ignored him. Ileni kept her eyes on Arxis, on his remorseless face and coiled body. She had seen, a dozen times over, how fast assassins could strike. Sorin had taught her some basic defense moves, but they had only worked because he had held back. If Arxis decided to kill her, she was dead.

And if he knew she had killed his master, nothing would stop him from killing her.

Finally, Arxis took another step back. Ileni’s shoulders relaxed, even though she knew he could easily kill her from all the way across the room. She forced herself to sheath her dagger.

“Interesting,” Karyn said. It wasn’t clear who she was talking to. “Evin, why don’t you show Ileni to the testing arena. I will meet you there.”

Ileni opened her mouth, then closed it. Karyn knew perfectly well that Ileni had no magic left. Ileni had grown up more powerful than any of her people, but when her power had begun to ebb, she had been sent to the assassins to serve as their tutor for the rest of her life. From future leader to useless sacrifice over the course of a few months.

If Karyn thought she had something to gain by demonstrating Ileni’s powerlessness during a “test,” she was making a mistake. Ileni was quite resistant to humiliation by now.