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Alchemists and the emirs did the same. But some of the nobles drew their swords, commanding their guards to follow suit. Some of the Alchemists had Immortal bodyguards, and the black-armored soldiers advanced toward Caina, while the Alchemists themselves started spells. 
    A half a million bezants was a fortune, even to an Alchemist or an emir. 
    Yet the fleeing men got in the way of those coming to kill Caina, and the Immortals that had pursued her from Vaysaal’s palace burst through the door. The common room dissolved into a chaotic mess, men bellowing instructions and curses and women screaming and shouting.
    And Caina ran through the chaos. A set of spiral stairs rose to the balconies, and she scrambled up them. A stout merchant in a fine robe reached for her, eyes wide with greed, but a punch to the jaw dissuaded him. As the merchant slumped, Caina passed the second floor, and then the third. In the ceiling she saw a wooden trapdoor – her gamble had paid off. The buildings in this portion of the Alchemists’ Quarter stood close together, with only narrow alleys between them. If Caina hastened she could escape over the roof.  
    The tingle against her skin was the only warning.
    She felt the surge of arcane power, and threw herself to the side just as one of the Alchemists cast a spell. A blast of psychokinetic force struck Caina, the power of the impact slamming her against the railing. Pain shot up her hip and left leg from the impact, but she kept running. Another surge of arcane power washed over her, and a second Alchemist cast a spell, one far stronger than the first.
    And beneath her boots the polished wooden stairs turned yellow and gritty.
    Transmutation. The Alchemists had sorcerous powers of transmutation.
    Which meant the Alchemist had just transmuted the wooden staircase into sand. 
    Caina felt it start to disintegrate beneath her. With a final burst of strength she took one running step forward and jumped. Her right hand caught the trapdoor’s handle as the stairs collapsed into a spray of sand. For a moment she dangled, trying to gain additional purchase, and her weight pulled the trapdoor open. The jolt rocked her, and her right shoulder howled in protest, but she reached up, her left hand gripping the rough boards of the trapdoor, and pulled herself up. Her right hand caught the lip of the trapdoor, and Caina heaved herself onto the roof. The Alchemist’s spell had inadvertently given her an advantage. No one could immediately follow her, not until they found a rope. If she started running over the rooftops…
    Steel flashed, and Caina threw herself to the side. A dagger blurred past her face, and her attacker’s forearm smacked against her temple. She struck the roof and rolled, coming back to her feet, her head ringing from the blow as she yanked the daggers from her boots.
    Anburj stalked towards her, scimitar and dagger ready, and Caina whispered a curse behind her mask. He had been clever enough to anticipate that she would go to Vaysaal’s palace, and he had been smart enough to guess that she would try to escape over the rooftops. Caina was not sure she could defeat him. She could handle herself in a fight, but she preferred to attack from the shadows. Anburj was a Kindred assassin, and far stronger than she was. For that matter, he didn’t need to fight her. He only needed to hold her at bay until the Immortals arrived.
    Already she heard the clanking of armor as the Immortals began climbing the walls. 
    Anburj glided towards her with the deadly grace of a hunting predator. There were no taunting words, no questions, and his black eyes were hard and cold. He meant to take her alive, or barring that, simply to kill her and present her head to his master. 
    So Caina ran.
    She sprinted for the edge of the roof, and Anburj pursued. Caina reached the edge just as an Immortal pulled himself up, grunting with the effort, and reached for her ankle. Caina responded by stomping on his face and