She opened the letter. Inside was a simple message written in elegant script:
"The western market. Noon. Come alone."
No signature.
Veer looked over her shoulder. "A trap."
"Obviously," Kaya said cheerfully. "But whose?"
She glanced at the unconscious hawk. "He came for a straightforward assassination. This letter... this is something else."
She folded it and tucked it away. "Guess I'm going to the western market at noon."
"Kaya—"
"I'll be fine," she said. "Besides, we still have three more to deal with. And they don't know about each other yet."
As if to prove her point, there was a sudden commotion outside.
Shouting. The clash of weapons.
Kaya rushed to the window and looked down.
In the street below, the wolf beastman and the snake woman were facing each other—both clearly surprised, both clearly having arrived to complete the same contract.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the wolf snarled.
The snake woman's eyes narrowed. "I could ask you the same thing."
