Shadow and Bone

grunted. “And the pack looks like military issue.” My heart
sank.
“So?” asked Longface.
“So Rikov says a soldier from the outpost at Chernast has
gone missing. Word is he went south and never came back.
Could be we caught ourselves a deserter.”
Longface studied Mal speculatively, and I knew he was
already thinking of the reward that awaited him. He had no
idea.
“What do you say, boy? You wouldn’t be on the run, would
you?”
“The pack belongs to my brother,” Mal said easily.
“Maybe. And maybe we’ll let the captain at Chernast take a
look at it and take a look at you.”
Mal shrugged. “Good. I’d be happy to let him know you
tried to rob us.”
Lev didn’t seem to like that idea. “Let’s just take the money
and go.”
“Naw,” said Longface, still squinting at Mal. “He’s gone
deserter or he took that off some other grunt. Either way, the
captain’ll pay good money to hear about it.”
“What about her?” Lev gave me another shake.
“She can’t be up to anything good if she’s traveling with
this lot. Could be she’s done a runner, too. And if not, she’ll be
good for a bit of fun. Won’t you, sweet?”
“Don’t touch her,” spat Mal, stepping forward.
With one swift movement, Longface brought the handle of
his knife down hard on Mal’s head. Mal stumbled, one knee
buckling, blood pouring from his temple.
“No!” I shouted. The man holding me clamped his hand
back around my mouth, releasing my arm. That was all I
needed. I flicked my wrist and the mirror slid between my
fingers.