The Templars were single-minded of purpose, dedicated only to dominance and death—his. There was only one way out, and it would be a bloody miracle if it worked.
His heart was slamming against his chest, his lungs heaving, his body taxed to its limit because in the end, he was only human, wasn’t he, no matter what kind of training he had, no matter what sort of DNA was floating about in his blood. And he didn’t slow, couldn’t slow, couldn’t allow that logical, analytical, rational brain of his to interrupt the signals from the deep primal instinct of survival. Couldn’t let his brain overrule his body.
Because his body knew what was called for. And it knew how to do it.
A tree branch exploded right beside him. Splinters grazed his face, drawing blood.
The fate offered by the Templars behind him was one of heartless certainty. The stone roof that encircled the edge of the rooftop garden of the London office of Abstergo Industries offered a wild, desperate chance.
If he had the faith to take it.
He didn’t slow. As he approached the wall, he surged forward, clearing it like runner would a hurdle, his long legs pedaling in the air as he arched his back, spread his arms—
—and leaped.
ABOUT CHRISTIE GOLDEN
Award-winning and eight-time New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden has written fifty-one novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. She has earned wide critical acclaim and a devoted fan base for both her original work and her authentic and skillful literary treatment of many beloved film, television, and gaming franchises.
Golden has written more than a dozen Star Trek novels, and about the same number of World of Warcraft and StarCraft novels. She has written three books in the Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi, which she co-wrote with Troy Denning and the late and greatly missed Aaron Allston, as well as Star Wars: Dark Disciple, the novelization of the unaired episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, cited as one of the best of the new canon novels.
Golden has been an aficionado of the Assassin’s Creed universe since 2014, and has already written two books for the franchise: Blackbeard: The Lost Journal, a companion book to the video game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag; Assassin’s Creed Unity: The Abstergo Employee Handbook and Assassin’s Creed: Heresy, which published in November 2016.
Christie Golden has been publishing books for twenty-five years. The TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 was launched with her first novel, the bestselling Vampire of the Mists, which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. To the best of her knowledge, she is the creator of the elven vampire archetype in fantasy fiction. Among her original fantasy novels are On Fire’s Wings, In Stone’s Clasp, and Under Sea’s Shadow, the first three in her multi-book fantasy series The Final Dance. Her very first original novels, Instrument of Fate and In Stone’s Clasp, are currently available in digital form nearly fifteen years after their original publication.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Christie Golden currently lives in Virginia. You can find her online at christiegolden.com, on Facebook as Christie Golden, and on Twitter @ChristieGolden
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