his teeth white against his dark skin. He had yet to give up his rifle, and the silhouette of it across his back made him resemble a gawky, long-limbed bird.

“But effective. Being angry at Kaz for being ruthless is like being angry at a stove for being hot. You know what he is.”

flautist

“The life you live, the hate you feel—it’s poison. I can drink it no longer.” Matthias locked the cell door and hurried down the passage toward Nina, toward something more.

concentric

flue

lodestone,

schooner

prudish?”