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everything that had happened to her before and after she had been adopted by her parents on Antaris. He would know every detail concerning her mission; everything she had known when she had started out from Antaris. He would know her as no other human being had ever known her—save her instructors, and they had been bound by a vow of silence and confidentiality.
    Just one look at Raptor Simic told her he would be bound by nothing. A man with no honor, no sense of decency and he would know of her childhood here among The People; of her kidnapping by the slave traders and her position as the Maven’s personal possession.
    She had been a child then and the Maven had left her alone, treating her as only a servant, for a little while. A while which had proved to be too little. This man, this Raptor, would know— She cut her own thoughts off abruptly. She would not think of that, not now.
    For the first time, Tanith cursed the policy which had long ago been instituted to help in the completing of a mission should one Janissary fail. She was protective of her past. All that information was to be passed to another only if she was dead. And she wasn’t dead—except to the Circle of Nine! She refocused her attention outward, toward Raptor.
    The slow grin spreading across his face as full realization dawned upon her did nothing to bolster her painstakingly constructed confidence. Her past haunted her, its power disturbed her, and now she was face to face with it—in the body of one Raptor Simic.
    “You are not a Janissary,” Tanith said slowly, not caring for the bemused look the injured man cast her as she spoke. “By what authority did the Circle of Nine send you here?”
    “What authority do they need other than their command?”
    “Stop playing word games with me!” Tanith snapped. “I know the High Council.” Her appraising gaze did not waiver and she felt herself coloring from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair in a flowing wave as he returned her brazen stare.
    He was moving his body now, in slow, sinuous curves, obviously testing each and every muscle, one at a time, his soft regard never leaving her as he discovered his limits. “I operate under one of the oldest auspices of the world. I am a bounty hunter.” Gently spoken but with no apology.
    Anger. Shock. Disbelief. All of them surged through Tanith. Then more anger. “A what?! ”
    He shrugged; too sharp a movement; winced. “A bounty hunter. And I’m not here to apologize if that offends you,” he assured her with cool, steely delivery.
    “They sent a bounty hunter ?” That was where she’d read that name! He had a reputation, and what a reputation it was. He was known to be the most dangerous, the most accomplished of his kind.
    Tanith incredulously spoke to the air surrounding her, certainly not to him, her tone questioning, filled with disbelief; or at least the lack of desire to believe. “The Circle of Nine sent a bounty hunter?”
    What in the Blue Moon was she dealing with here? The High Council, Circle of Nine, had sent this . . . man to finish what she had begun. To return the Amulet of Suonetar to its origins. To place it about the neck of the rightful Imperitor, he who was above even the Circle of Nine’s High Cudan, highest governing body of the Council of the Servitors?
    Tanith gave a small shudder at what this man would have to know; about her, about the council, about some of the innermost workings of Antaris. Bounty hunter or no, he would not be sent out with such an important directive unarmed. He would have the weapon of knowledge and undoubtedly any other weapon he was about to scrounge before coming here.
    “Others know about the Amulet and its theft. The High Council believes you have failed. They hold you in high regard, but unfortunately, they consider you dead. Even did a very touching formal memorial service to honor your bravery. I’m sure it will be with immense relief that they will hear of your life-force