Free The Passage to Mythrin 2-Book Bundle by Patricia Bow Page B

popped the last peeled chestnut into her mouth and crunched.
    â€œA...” Ammy gaped at Mara. “Assassin? Your brother sent a hit man?”
    â€œ
The
Assassin.” The way Mara said it, you could hear the capital
A
. “A good sign. A sign of how much my brother fears me.”
    A knot of boys jostled past. Amelia grabbed Mara’s arm and hustled her out of the crowd, where anybody could come up next to you before younoticed, to the pool of quiet next to the chestnut roaster’s charcoal grill.
    â€œHe knows where we live!” Amelia hissed. “He was on our roof!”
    Mara settled her shawl around her shoulders. “That was just to warn me. Or else we would not see his marks. He would not be so clumsy.”
    â€œBut why would he warn you?”
    â€œHe has some pride, this one. He is the Assassin. Not just a killer.”
    The chestnut man looked at them sideways. Amelia led Mara a little farther away, then planted herself in front of her. “This is where we show some sense and go to the police.”
    â€œNo! You promised not to tell.”
    â€œBut this guy wants to kill you!” Amelia looked around wildly. “And what about all these people? What about Grandmother, and Simon, and ... and...”
    Mara waved a careless hand. “He only wants to kill me.”
    â€œThat’s bad enough! How can you be so calm?”
    â€œBecause he is in danger too.” Her teeth gleamed. “From me.”
    Amelia shivered. For the first time tonight, she felt how useless the plastic jacket was against this bone-cracking cold, even with two sweaters underneath. “At least let’s get inside, away from this crowd.”

C HAPTER T WELVE
A SSASSIN
    Amelia felt at home the minute they stepped into the new mall, the one Simon had pointed out so proudly the day before. It was small — didn’t even have a movie theatre — but in many ways it was like every other mall she’d ever been in, with walls that looked like marble but probably weren’t, and plenty of stainless steel and shining glass, and small trees in pots under skylights. It smelled of new clothes, fresh paint, and cinnamon buns. Amelia inhaled deeply.
    Hardly any people were here. Almost everybody else was out in the street, enjoying the party. That was good. If that Assassin —
This can’t be happening!
— if he followed them in here, they’d spot him a mile away. Or at least the length of the corridor away.
    â€œWhat is that?” Mara was staring, head high, eyes narrowed, at a man in a burgundy blazer and greypants, as tall as Amelia’s father but twice as wide, standing next to the automatic teller. He stared back with stony eyes.
    â€œMall cop,” Amelia whispered. “Don’t look at him. We’re window shopping, got that?”
    The cop turned his head slowly as Amelia and Mara strolled by. Amelia walked stiffly until they were around the corner and out of sight. “Those guys hate kids,” she muttered. “Give him any excuse and he’ll throw us out.”
    â€œAh!” Mara tossed back her hair. “Good! Then we fight!” She spun on the spot and headed back the way they’d come.
    Amelia dashed after her. “No! Are you crazy?”
    Mara sighed. “Yes ... yes, you are wise.” She turned back and fell into step beside Amelia again. “I am too old now for such play. But, oh...” She stretched, spreading her shawl into wings. “How I wish for a good fight!”
    Amelia shook her head. Either Simon was right and Mara was crazy, or she’d had a very strange upbringing. “Let’s just be cool. Look at these, aren’t they pretty?” A rack of rhinestone earrings, 50 percent off, stood outside a store called Eleganz. Amelia didn’t think much of them — too dangly and fussy — but anything to distract Mara. The clerk watched them from inside the store. Amelia gave her a