The smells were intoxicating. A barrage of spices spun in the air like a whirling dervish. Sria had wanted to wander through the Friday marketplace, and we decided to accompany her. I was delighted and dazzled by the wealth of scents and colors. Stalls had been set up along the streets. Bougainvillea vines dipped and swayed from the buildings, dropping deep burgundy petals like drops of wine on the people hawking piles of fruits, vegetables, spices, trinkets, and even cheap clothing.

Tightly woven baskets cluttered the tables in yellow, gold, orange, russet, blue, black, pink, and green. They were filled with every spice I'd ever heard of and many I hadn't. Nutmeg, paprika, peppers, teas, nuts, oregano, cumin, curry, and more varieties of saffron than I knew existed.

I felt a tug on my elbow and looked down to see a young girl holding out a half dozen Nazar. The blue amulets chimed sweetly as the glass clanked together. She said something in Turkish, and I shook my head.

"She's selling them," Ezra said suddenly by my side, "to protect you from the evil eye."

"Maybe we could use some of that."

"It's not anyone's eyes I'm concerned about." I turned back toward the girl. The blue amulets varied in size from a small coin to the size of a saucer. I lifted one as she smiled, handing it to me. The blue glass felt cool against my skin, and it fit neatly in my palm. Wrinkling my nose at Ezra, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bill. She bobbed and smiled quickly before turning to run back to another stall, arms and legs flailing with exuberance.

I slipped the glass disk into my back pocket and walked toward where Sria and Yisu were huddled together. Yisu had her nose pressed less than an inch from a large cluster of dried red peppers hanging from a post while Sria scanned half a dozen kinds of saffron. An old woman with a bright green and yellow headscarf eyed them expectantly.

Ezra moved next to Sria, haggling with the woman while Yisu and I wandered down to the end of a long row of stalls. I smelled pickled vinegar and looked for its source. I finally spotted a square tub filled with marinating grape leaves. The stool behind the plastic tubs and buckets was empty. Where was the owner? Yisu, needing to smell everything, dipped her head to breathe in the scent. Didn't vinegar just smell like vinegar?

Something stung my face, and I flinched as small shards of stone flew out from the wall next to me. Another small crater exploded next to my head just as something yanked roughly at my shirt. I crumpled to the ground, smacking my jaw on the stall's countertop. A crowd of people moved lazily in front of us, oblivious. A long thin thorn from a bougainvillea branch bit obnoxiously at my shoulder, and I ducked closer to Yisu to get away from it.

"We have to move, there's too much sunlight here. There's shade down there," she pointed in a sharp gesture with her chin. "We can fade."

"I don't know how."

She half groaned, and half snarled and grabbed my arm. We darted quickly into a crowd of people that had stopped to browse next to a stall selling fresh honey. Her fingers dug into my arm and pressed the bones together. I fought the urge to shake her off. We ducked and skirted past the stall then flew into a narrow walkway between two buildings. About three feet wide, there was only about a foot of clearance past my shoulders. I turned and walked sideways, keeping my back close to the wall behind me.

Yisu crouched down, and I wrapped my fingers around her arm. "Stay behind me."

She glared up at me with venom. "I'm not the one who needs to be protected."

"Yes, but they probably don't know that."

She blinked and stepped back. "Right," she said with a wicked smile and slid behind me.

We crab-walked slowly along the passage. The pavement was concaved, curving upward toward each of the buildings, and I nearly stumbled over my own awkward feet. We paused in a small doorway a few feet from the end of the buildings. The door had a small glass window, and I peeked quickly inside. It was a small room with a desk and a few chairs. No one was inside. There were papers piled on shelves along the walls and on the desk. The doorknob only moved a fraction. I frowned and glared back down the passage in the direction we had just come.

"Who do you think it is?"

Occasionally tourists and shoppers passed by on the street. I wanted to poke my head out to see, but my legs wouldn't move. I couldn't risk it, and Yisu's fingers were wrapped tightly around the loop in my jeans.

Yisu shrugged. "Mortals. Avati would never use guns. What would be the point?"

A stiff breeze ruffled some vines overhead, and a woman laughed loudly nearby. I wanted to walk over to the woman and shake her. Americans were famous for being loud and obnoxious. After living many years outside of America, I could testify that, for the most part, the stereotype was true. My head buzzed a loud hum in my ears, increasing with each rapid heartbeat. The breeze, the scent of the spices that were intoxicating before now rankled my nerves.

A figure darted around the corner and nearly plowed into us. I yelped and leaped back, pinning Yisu into the wall behind us.

Ezra's eyes widened, and he let out a long deep breath. He grabbed me on both sides of my face and kissed me. Then he pulled us a couple more feet away from the edge of the building then looked at Yisu hiding behind me. He looked quizzically from me to her and then nodded, making a satisfied noise.

"Where's Sria?" Yisu demanded.

"She was shot." Yisu hiccupped and started to run back toward the street. Ezra's hand shot out and grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her back to where we were standing. She glared at him and tried to dart off again. "She's fine. I hid her. She'll be fine."

Yisu glowered for a moment, ice floating between them, before relenting. Ezra glowered back at her.

"There is a sniper on the roof above us." My eyes drifted to the narrow patch of blue sky. "I need to get rid of him before we can move." He walked over to the door and looked through the window. "Yisu, watch Kaja until I get back." She nodded and linked her fingers through my belt loop again. "You can hide in here."

"We can't. The door is locked."

He grabbed the handle tightly and twisted. There was the quick sharp sound of metal protesting and then a sudden snap. "No, it's not."

A vague shape stepped around the corner in our direction and then stopped. I turned and froze at the same moment Ezra's body jerked with quick spasms. Half a breath later, Ezra moved in a blur, his hands shot out in front of him, and gripped the man's arms with a sudden crushing force. He stepped lightly to the side and, with a simple flick of his wrists, flung the man's face into the wall behind me, tossing him like a puppet. The man's face connected with the stone and collapsed inward. His muscles twitched and convulsed violently before slipping quietly to the ground. His face had completely caved in, a stew-like mass of raw flesh and bone.

I stifled a scream and looked up at Ezra. He was slumped against the opposite wall breathing heavily. Three red puddles were spreading across his chest. I gasped, pressed my hands to him, and ripped his shirt open. Blood was pumping, throbbing in short bursts before slipping down his skin to his stomach.

As I watched the flesh around the bullet holes contracted once and the blood slowed then suddenly stopped. The muscles under his skin rippled as the bullets wiggled, tearing themselves out through the same violent path they used to enter. He winced as each bullet, one by one, popped out and dropped to the ground like hailstones. Within seconds the skin healed over, first bright red then fading to a soft pink before disappearing altogether.

Yisu gasped, eyes wide, as she muttered something ancient and ominous. Ezra took a deep breath, steeling himself, and stood up straight.

"Open the door." Yisu blinked at him then flew to the door. Ezra picked up the body and dragged it quickly into the room. I shut the door behind us and pressed myself against it, trying to breathe... or maybe I was breathing too much. I couldn't tell.

Yisu rolled the man's body onto its back and began searching the pockets. She pulled out a wallet and handed Ezra a set of keys. "Istanbul issued license." With clear action in front of her, she had fallen into an efficient and businesslike manner. I realized she didn't bother to mention the man's name. Good. I didn't want to know. She slid the body under the desk and out of the way.

"Stay here. I'll come back for you. Stay low and watch the door." He turned the knob and opened the door delicately. His head darted quickly into the alley, scanning the area and then turned back to me. He lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped the door's handles, inside and out, free of prints. "Kaja, don't touch anything." A second later, he was gone.

Yisu muttered to herself again in a lost language I couldn't understand. "How old is he?"

"He doesn't know."

"No wonder you tethered with him."

I half-listened to her, resting my head against the cool presence of the wall and breathed. Time passed, but it was impossible to guess how much. I stood up and pressed my cheek to the door and glanced out the window, angling my view to see part of the street. It was astonishing that no one had noticed anything. Ezra was shot, his attacker had been crushed, and no one noticed. I stepped away from myself for a moment and realized the entire series of events had happened in only a few seconds. It was now only a few minutes since Ezra had left us alone, and I wondered if the sniper on the roof was already dead.

I also wondered how I felt about that. Ezra was leaving to kill a man, a man who had shot Sria and tried to kill us, someone who had come on what amounted to a suicide mission. Was he sent? Surely he didn't decide to quietly shoot us all on his own. I turned and watched Yisu as she squatted near the desk, staring at the wall. Or was she listening to something? If these men had been sent to kill us, then it had to have been another Avati. Who else would be targeting us? Mortals hardly knew Ezra and I existed, not to mention Sria and Yisu.

It had to be an Avati— someone with a sick sense of humor. Why else would mortals want us dead? But, to what purpose? The man on the roof was a pawn, and Ezra was hunting him. His death seemed to be a ridiculous waste. He had probably killed many more people before this. Did that matter? Did it make a difference? My life was becoming swathed in grey, hanging around me like a shroud.

I stared at the body on the floor, watching small pools of blood drip from his shattered face. Yisu watched my reactions with interest.

"Does it bother you?" she asked with that questioning innocence only children can master.

"What?"

"That we killed the mortal?"

"Yes," I answered. "No... more yes than no. But it doesn't matter."

"Why would you be bothered? It's not wrong to kill someone trying to kill you."

"He can't kill us."

"But he didn't know that."

Yisu stood up and walked toward the body.

I turned suddenly at the sharp crystalline sound of glass breaking. Yisu gasped and then snarled, low and visceral. Blood was pooling just below her collarbone. Slowly her eyes closed and she slumped to the floor.

I gasped and started to move toward her tiny body but froze again as the door opened and a man stepped into the room. He looked critically at me and Yisu's small form crumpled on the ground.

He walked over to the man's body half shoved under the desk and rolled it over face up with his thick boot. "You've been more trouble than I think you're worth. You're not young enough or pretty enough." His English was good but had a heavy accent I couldn't place. Not Turkish or Russian but not Middle Eastern either.

"You're right, I'm not worth it. Why don't you go home?"

"Not my call, Darling."

"Really? And whose call is it?"

His lips curled in a slow warning. He planted his feet wide apart, commanding the largest space in the center of the room then looked down at Yisu again. "Now, that one is a shame, sweet... young. I bet she was real energetic."

The hairs on my arms stood up.

"Pity," he said with a shrug, then reached out toward me.

I pulled away from him. "I thought I was too old."

"You are," he answered. "But someone seems to think you might have some special talents."

Where the hell was Ezra?

His fingers clamped down onto my arm just below my shoulder, digging deep. I flinched and kicked at him. He jerked my arm down roughly, nearly pulling it from the socket.

"Don't make a fuss. You're just a job. You're valuable, but not that valuable."

The light flashed and shifted. The room was white. Too white and I could hear water running. The man was standing a few feet behind me in a shower. His body was strong and heavily muscled and marred with scars from his neck down to his hips like a map. His shoulders slumped, weary, and quivering as the water rippled and dripped in a thick stream down his skin. He pressed his forehead against the tile and sighed again as the water fell across his eyes and down past his chin.

His hand curled around my arm, crushing into the bone as I snapped out of the vision. I yelped loudly and then collapsed my knees, forcing him to step forward to brace his weight against mine. I curled my head around in the next second toward his arm and bit down hard. He howled as blood pooled into my mouth. He punched me hard against the side of my head with his left hand. My ears buzzed, and the room filled with fog. He let me go, jerking his arm away, and I fell back.

I braced myself, thrusting my hands out behind me. He cursed in another language while he covered the bleeding crescent-shaped bite mark with his left hand.

"I'm ordered to bring you to Istanbul. Preferably alive." His mouth curved into a slight grin as he raised his gun. "But it's not required."

His finger twitched as he squeezed the trigger. The gun jerked upward and exploded.

Damn.

Think this has something to do with OG Esther?

TEASER: I kept screaming. "Stop this! Stop! Just let her go."