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“I saved your life.”

“That’s what you call that? If I remember right, I came to saveyou,Obake.”

“Did I embarrass you, Sensei?”

“No respect foroyabun.” He trudges on, following yet more bodies toward the nearby hill.

“Wait! What do you mean?!”

“How do you think I brought all of Yakuza halfway across the world? I am the leader.”

“But we met with youroyabun…?” I catch up to him, thoroughly confused. “Who was the giant bald guy?”

“Ah. That’s my sister-in-law’s brother, Dango.”

“He was enormous! And scary as fuck. Didn’t say a word all through the meeting.”

“That’s because he doesn’t understand what the shit is going on. And the face…always scowling because he’s got IBS.”

Artemis blows a raspberry through her lips as she claps me on the back. “Oh balls, CC. The look on your face…”

I’m about to strangle both of them when we spot movement ahead. Beyond the trunks of a copse of trees, the blades of a helicopter shift, the shrill whir of the motor kicking on.

We take the hill at a dead run, dispatching the handful of guards left like paper dolls. Skidding to stop just outside the clearing, I wince against the dust, scanning for Ananke.

There!

Leaning against the wind and the debris, I leave the rest of my crew shouting after me as I clear the tree line. It’s just her, hustling across, clutching her dress.

“Ananke!” She doesn’t look back. I plod after her, readying my blade. “Daciana Dalca!”

Her head snaps around, her eyes blazing.

“I should have smothered you with a pillow when you were a little girl, you know that?”

“And I shouldn’t have missed that day in Berlin,” I quip, lowering my sword and stalking toward her.

Ananke takes a step back, her lips tightening around her bared teeth. Flinging the train of her dress to the ground, she squares her shoulders.

“Circe. You do not want to play this game with me.”

“You were the only one playing games, Ananke. With my whole fucking life. My identity.”

“I only used a tool for its intended purpose. A hammer drives nails. A drill bores holes. A killer kills. Only you had so much more to offer. You adapted, transformed into others so well. So I molded you. I learned so much from you.”

“You missed a lesson.”

“Oh?”

“Lyra’s aren’t just killers. We’re not just tools. We’re artists. Musicians. Creators.”

“And what have you created, you poor, useless little girl?” She’s backing away slowly.

“A future without you in it.” I launch my sword, lancing it through the air with lightning speed.

Ananke dives, the blade taking her along the back. Rushing in, I snag her dress, drag her back.

“Πα?ω!” she shrieks back at me, the word impacting like a fist to my head.