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soldiers were too far away to help him. His death would be a matter of moments. I knew exactly how Piper would draw back his arm. The precise movement with which he would throw the knife: his arm straightening; the knife not tossed but released, unwavering, to bury itself in the back of the Ringmaster’s neck.
    â€œDon’t do it.” I grabbed Piper’s raised arm, his muscles taut beneath my fingertips. He didn’t shift when I wrapped my hands around his forearm. His knife was poised, his eyes following the Ringmaster’s path among the broken ghosts of poles. Next to him, Zoe had a knife raised too, assessing the soldiers waiting beyond the Ringmaster.
    â€œGive me one good reason why he should live,” said Piper.
    â€œNo.”
    He looked down at me, as if hearing me for the first time.
    â€œI’m not going to play that game,” I went on. “It’s the same thing you asked me on the island, when the others wanted me dead. I won’t do it—trading lives, weighing lives against others.”
    â€œHe’s a risk to us now,” Piper said. “It’s not safe to let him live. And he’s a Councilor, for crying out loud. A terrible man.”
    All of that was true, but I still didn’t release Piper’s arm.
    â€œThe world’s full of terrible people. But he came to talk, not to harm us. What gives us the right to kill him, and his twin?”
    In the silence that followed, the Ringmaster’s words rang in my head: I suppose it’s a question of how alike you are.
    The Ringmaster had almost reached his soldiers when Piper shook free of my arm and strode after him.
    â€œWait,” Piper commanded.
    The soldiers rushed to surround the Ringmaster, who had turned back to face Piper. The swordsmen had their weapons raised. Even the archer, his right hand still clutching the knife hilt buried in his shoulder,had drawn a dagger from his belt and raised it toward Piper with his shaking left hand.
    â€œYou have something of ours,” Piper said, leaning forward and calmly pulling Zoe’s blade from the archer’s flesh. The man inhaled sharply and gave a strangled curse, but under the Ringmaster’s impassive gaze he didn’t retaliate, just pressed his hand tighter against the wound. Fresh blood surged between his fingers and spilled down his knuckles.
    The Ringmaster nodded once at Piper, then looked beyond him to me.
    â€œWhen you change your mind, come to me,” he said. Then he turned and walked away, calling his soldiers to follow him.

chapter 6
    â€œYou need to learn to fight,” Zoe said the next morning. Piper was on lookout, and Zoe and I were supposed to be resting, but our encounter with the Ringmaster had left us both edgy.
    â€œI can’t,” I said.
    â€œNobody’s suggesting that you’re going to become some kind of super-assassin,” she said. “But Piper and I haven’t got time to save you every five minutes.”
    â€œI don’t want to kill.” I remembered the blood smell from the battle of the island, and how each death had been doubled for me, my visions showing me not just those slain in the battle, but also their twins, ambushed by their own deaths.
    â€œYou don’t have a choice,” she said. “People like the Ringmaster—they’re going to keep coming for you. You need to be able to defend yourself. And I can’t always be here. Piper either.”
    â€œI hate the idea of it,” I said. “I don’t want to kill. Not even Council soldiers. What about their twins?”
    â€œYou think I enjoy it?” said Zoe quietly.
    I was silent for a few moments. Finally, I said, “I won’t fight unless I’m being attacked.”
    â€œOnly a few times a week, then, the way you’re going lately.”
    When she raised one eyebrow like that, she reminded me of Kip.
    â€œGet out your knife,” she said.
    From its sheath at