DRAGONS, ASSASSINS, AND NINJAS! By a Baen Fantasy and Adventure Finalist and Indie Star

They call themselves my family, but they slaughtered my kin. Now, I will pay back the murderers in blood tenfold. Their ruin is a mirror they polished themselves. They took me as a child and hammered me into a weapon.

They taught me the art of disappearing: how to slip through a room like a shadow, how to dress a face in lies until no one recognizes the man beneath. They taught the small, hands-on cruelties: how to hide poison in a laugh, how to slit a throat before the man can make a noise.

They taught me the geometry of killing. How to shoot a single bolt to end a life, how any blade becomes the right one if you know the rhythm of the strike. They showed me how to wear pain like armor, and to mute every nerve until only thrill of the hunt remained.

Most dangerous of all . . . they taught me patience. They taught me to never quit until the job was completed.

So let them sleep in their castles and whisper of safety. Let them count on their cleverness and their secrets. I already know the map of their sins. When darkness comes—and it will—I will be the thing beneath the floorboards, the breath on their necks, the quiet that becomes the scream. I will return what they took.

Their hands built the blade. Their choices sharpened it. Their blood will be the prize.