She appeared in his bedroom like a specter of death, so quickly that even as attuned to the shadows as he was, Vanaal only had time to roll from bed and grab his daggers before she moved. The apartment was warded, of course — but Ismene had made some dark bargain for that magic of hers, and wards generally did little good against her machinations. Years of devoted study even before the Fall had made her more adept than Vanaal, who used it purely as an art to further his current trade. Thankfully, the lanky woman seemed to have no interest in killing him. She stalked to the bed, laying down in the empty space on the side closest to the window. Ismene’s arms stretched over her head, fingers curling. But though she tried to hide the...