Free The White Assassin by Hilary Wagner Page A

then Ijust grab them. Other times I wait till they got me in their mouths, then I use my legs and push. I push hard inside that snake’s mouth until I here that pop !”
    “What pop?” asked Billycan impatiently.
    Carn’s face lit up as if it were all very thrilling. “You know. That noise a jaw makes when ya break it—that loud crack. When I hear that pop, I know they be dead! Dead as dead can be!” Carn nudged Billycan chummily in the shoulder, as if he were just another rat.
    A piercing cackle filled the yard as Billycan’s entire body jerked with laughter. The horde suddenly froze, never having heard him laugh. Not sure what to do, Carn took Billycan’s lead and joined in the hilarity with a commanding yowl, baying at the moon. Still shrieking in mad amusement, Billycan threw himself back on his cushion, clutching his ribs. The rest of the horde followed suit, howling and squealing, rolling on the ground.
    Finally Billycan settled back comfortably, grinning from ear to ear. Letting out a satisfied groan, he stared up at the moon, its brightness pushing through the swamp’s leaden haze. Corn’s story tickled him. How truly decadent! To pop a jaw that way. He marveled that he’d never thought of it himself.
    Billycan listened to his horde, still yelling and carrying on around him, a cheerful background noise. His mind shifted to Juniper, thinking what a deliciously horrible manner that would be for Nightshade’s Chief Citizen to die. Billycan snorted sharply in a final fit of laughter, repeating Carn’s words at the moon.
    “Dead as dead can be!”
    Carn leaned forward and whispered in Oleander’s ear. “This is going better than I ever could have predicted. I had no idea how easy this would be.”
    Oleander turned to him and let out a silly laugh as though he were saying something quite charming. Eyeing his snout, she let out a muted gasp. “Your face,” she hissed. “It’s not swollen anymore. The toxin has worn off!”
    Carn instinctively grabbed his muzzle. It was smooth, the inflammation gone. Oleander looked wide-eyed at Cobweb, and motioned to Carn.
    Cobweb panicked. He reached clumsily under his cushion, all the while glancing at Billycan, still reclined on his back, staring into the night sky. Cobweb fumbled for the elephant ear. He suddenly looked as if he might vomit, his gray skin drained of all color.
    “Cobweb,” said Oleander, “what is it?”
    “I hid it under the wrong cushion!” he whispered frantically. “It’s under Thicket! I was so nervous …” He slapped his forehead with his paw. “Of all the stupid mistakes!”
    “Hush,” she said softly. “We’ll get out of this.”
    Carn kept his face turned away from Billycan. His heart was beating furiously. His coolness had shifted back to terror.
    Sensing trouble, Thicket got up from her seat and crouched behind Cobweb and Oleander. “What be going on with you two?” she asked, pushing between them. Cobweb looked vacantly out into the swamp, wishing its thick foliage would snatch him up and swallow him whole. “Cobweb, you look sick.” She laughed. “Ate too much, huh?” She turned to Carn. “Corn, your face, it be back to its old self! You look like you again!”
    Carn tried to quiet her. “Well … uh, I do be feeling better.” He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “Thicket, let’s hush a bit so as we don’t upset Billycan. He be resting.”
    Feeling Carn’s shaky paw, Thicket furrowed her brow. “You beso jumpy all night … so nervous. Billycan likes you just fine! He thinks you something special.” She snickered, swatting him on the shoulder. “You worry like a scared rabbit!”
    Billycan pulled back up to a sitting position. He turned to Stono and Montague, saying something about tomorrow’s journey to Nightshade. Montague caught a glimpse of Carn’s alarmed face. He quickly asked a series of rapid-fire questions about the assault, which Billycan was more than happy to address.
    Cracking his jaw from