Weapon of Fear Read Online Free PDF

him. 
    “He
has no idea what’s in my heart.”  Mya heaved to her feet.  Catching sight of
herself in the mirror, she stopped and stared.  Her dark tattoos writhed in the
lamplight, a tapestry of magic engraved on her flesh from neck to wrist to
ankles.  They’d kept her alive tonight.  Imbuing her with strength and speed,
sharpening her senses, and healing grievous wounds, they made her nearly
invincible.  They also made her a monster.
    “No
wonder Lad sent you packing.”
    Stop
it !  If Mya
expected to survive, she had to forget about her unrequited feelings for Lad
and do what she did best.
    “Think
like an assassin, Mya.”  Whirling away from the mirror, she went to her trunk
and rifled through the contents, drawing out a comfortable silk shirt, a pair
of supple trousers, and clean scanties.  She considered her situation while she
dressed.
    Lad
had killed Emperor Tynean Tsing II.  She had no doubt that a massive manhunt
for the emperor’s killers would ensue, that descriptions of her and Lad were
being distributed to the city guard.  Of course, that led to her next problem.
    The
emperor of Tsing had also been the Grandmaster of the Assassins Guild.  In
helping Lad to kill the Grandmaster, she had cut the head off a very large
snake.  Now she was the head of the snake, the master of a guild that
didn’t even know she existed.  Could she control it, or would it turn its fangs
on her?  That would most likely depend on one person.
    Lady
T …
    The
Tsing guildmaster had not been overly impressed with either Lad or Mya, but the
woman had seemed frightened when she escorted them to their meeting in the
palace dungeons, giving Mya the distinct feeling that Lady T feared the
Grandmaster.  Not surprising, considering what a monster the man had been.  So,
would the lady welcome Mya as a liberator or revile her for a usurper?
    Mya
began to pace, and to think.  Everything depended on how Lady T reacted.  The
assassins of the Tsing guild would follow her lead, and Mya had no doubt that
the provincial guilds would fall in line behind the Tsing guild, the strongest
of them all.
    And
if she doesn’t accept me ?
    Bound
by blood contracts signed when they joined the guild, no guild assassin could
even attempt to harm the wearer of the Grandmaster’s ring.  Nothing, however,
prevented them from hiring someone outside the guild to kill her.  A chill ran
up Mya’s spine as she realized that the guild wouldn’t have to hire an outsider
to kill her.
    “Hoseph…” 
Glancing around the room as if just saying his name might summon the priest,
Mya swallowed hard.
    Hoseph
had called himself the Right Hand of Death for two very good reasons.  The
priest had been the Grandmaster’s intermediary with the guildmasters, able to
travel vast distances in an instant.  He had also been the Grandmaster’s
personal executioner, able to kill with a single touch of magic.  Mya had her
own experience with his less lethal magic, the pulse of darkness that had
filled her with utter despair, incapacitating her with every dark act and
thought of her life.  Mya’s past was full of darkness.  If not for Lad, she
would have died without raising a finger to defend herself, so overwhelmed had
she been by Hoseph’s spell.
    Admittedly,
such skills would be invaluable to her as Grandmaster.
    If
I could control him … 
    But
how would Hoseph regard her unseemly ascendance?  After serving an Imperial
Grandmaster, would he submit to her authority?  Not likely .  Even if he
did agree to serve her, could she ever trust him?  Hoseph wasn’t a member of
the guild.  He could kill her, and probably would try if for no other reason
than revenge.  Until she knew for sure, she would assume the worst.  Hoseph had
no way to know she wore the Grandmaster’s ring, but he’d find out soon enough.
    Then
he’ll try to kill me .
    “He
can’t know where I am,” she murmured as her eyes flicked to the shadowy corners
of the