It wasn’t long before the sounds of ringing steels and shouts and curses drifted down from the deck—Danica’s instincts had been correct. Someone had come to reclaim the merchant’s goods, but the bandits weren’t going down without a fight. At the moment, she had no way of telling how many opponents there were, or even who they were. Was it a contingent of guards? Ten men, maybe? Dani could not imagine that the city had sent too many of them. The goods and ship they had stolen may have been valuable, but surely not important enough to warrant the attention of a whole army. The snatches of conversation that reached her failed to give her any clues, but the cries of pain from familiar voices made her wonder if things were under control.

The bandit leader had already gone out to confront their assailants, so it was left to Danica to hide and wait for action to come to her. The Naga backed into a corner, taking advantage of the limited light and augmenting her natural talent for stealth with her shadow magic. It was just as well that she hid, for soon enough someone entered the cabin she was in. And by entered, she meant he barreled into the room, falling down the stairs and ending up in a muddled heap at the bottom. Dani palmed her knife, silently watching him stumble to his feet, noting in surprise that he was just a kid. Well, she amended, he couldn’t be much younger than her, and he was even a few inches taller, but she had been expecting someone much older. This Muran couldn’t be a member of the city guard, and he certainly wasn’t dressed for the part.

It didn’t seem like any of his friends were going to follow him down here, considering his involuntary grand entrance, and he was still recovering from his fall; Danica saw her opening and took it. She exploded out of the shadows in front of her adversary, appearing in a blur of motion as she slammed into him and drove him into the opposite wall. There she pinned him down with an arm, conscious of the tiny amount of space between their bodies as she held her weapon up to his face. He was bleeding from some cuts on his cheek, and overall had the battered and bruised look of one that has been in battle. Clearly her allies had given as good as they’d got. The look on her victim’s face made her laugh—she was going to enjoy this.

“What’s the matter, little Muran? Lost?” Danica simpered as she pressed her knife up against the man’s throat, leaving some space between the blade and his skin. Their faces inches apart, she locked her startling yellow eyes with his, having to tilt her head back slightly to meet his gaze. The minor height difference clearly didn’t bother her as her lips curved into a deadly smile, snakelike fangs on display. “Say, you’re a cute one… Shame I have to kill you.”