Starling (60 page)

he hit the ground with a thud, landing on her left shoulder
and hip. Above her, Piero thrust his head out the window
and then quickly pulled it back inside. He was coming after
her. Scrambling to her feet, Cass was relieved to find her
legs steady and strong beneath her. The fall had scared her and she’d

Where could she go? Panicked, she ran in the direction of the
nearest canal, her soft slippers growing heavy and wet from the fetid
water between the stones. Her bodice, partially unlaced, hung askew
on her slender frame, and she’d already let her hair down in preparation for bed. She knew she looked like a madwoman.

Cass cut through a narrow alley thick with the smell of sweat and
alcohol, flying past prostitutes who loitered in doorways looking for
men with money. She came out by the water where two girls were
dancing in windows to the music a young bard was strumming. The
boy’s fingers fumbled slightly as he looked up at her in surprise. Cass
realized she was still clutching Maximus’s dagger, her knuckles
blanched white around the handle. She tucked the blade into the