MINA LOOKED ASKANCE at the black blade as the crowd in the museum swirled around her. She clasped her hands behind her back, the nails of one hand digging into the knuckles of the other. This time she'd anticipated the song of the blade and braced herself against it. Or so she'd thought. Instead it was louder, its pull stronger. She closed her eyes for a second, rocking back and forth on her feet. Her mind screamed at her to jump over the cordon, smash the glass and grab the blade, then fling it against the tile and shatter it into a million pieces, heedless of what that might unleash. But another part at the base of her skull whispered at her to take it and drive it into the nearest beating heart, just to feel the warm blood pulse over her fingers, oozing with raw power. Her stomach roile
