I stood at the gates to the Coltrane mansion. The bars parted at the touch of my hand to reveal the garden, now tarted up with torches and hovering balls of magelight. My steps were heavy as I started up the path. I didn't want to go in that house. I didn't want to do this, but it was too late for regrets. Life's a bitch, I reminded myself, and family even more so.

"Sarevok!"

Sis flew down from the house, her heels beating a staccato on the cobblestones. The sleeves of her pale blue gown flapped behind her like the wings of an angel. She was crying again. I groaned inside.

"Hi, Sis. What's wrong now?"

"Oh, Sarevok! Imoen told me what happened at the Farrahd estate, and I've been so worried and... and..."

She hurled herself into my arms and sobbed against my chest. The scent of summer roses perfumed the air around us. I never knew that murder could smell so sweet.

I unwound her arms from my neck. "Is Imoen here?"

"Yes. She's in the parlor."

Sis took my hand and led me up the path and into the house. Fires blazed in each room, taking the chill off of the night air. As we entered the parlor, I saw Imoen slouched on the pink sofa, cooling her heels. She jumped up when she saw us.

"Sarry! Where have you been?" She hugged me and immediately recoiled. "Drinking? Again?"

"Surprised?"

"Not really." She patted my back and put her mouth close to my ear. "I wish you'd come sooner," she whispered. "Mirielle's been a real handful. She's gone through twenty handkerchiefs. The maid's gonna have a fit when she sees this week's laundry."

I would have apologized, but I couldn't be sorry about anything that earned me hugs from two beautiful dames in one day.

"Please, have a seat," said Sis. "Now that we're all together again, can I offer you some tea? As a celebration of sorts?"

"Tea? Who the hell celebrates with tea?"

"Be quiet, Sarry." Imoen poked me in the ribs and smiled at Sis. "Tea would be great, Miri. How about some cakes or something? I'm starving!"

Once the tea had been brought and the maid had gone away to eavesdrop at the parlor door, Sis started talking. "I've been so worried about you two! The story Immy told me was just horrifying! Locking you away in a dungeon... is there nothing that man won't do? You take milk and sugar, right, Immy?"

Imoen nodded. "It was more of a storage space, but I guess it did the trick. If only I could get my hands on that person who warned him that we'd be coming... I'd fireball him from here to Waterdeep!"

Sis wore a strange, sad smile as she shoveled half the sugar bowl into Imoen's tea. I had to hand it to Sis. She'd done one hell of a job pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. Her only mistake had been to come to us in the Crooked Crane that night. She should have waited for us to find out about Kelsey and come to her. She could have done all the crying she wanted, and neither of us would have gotten in the way.

Her hand paused over Imoen's cup for just a moment too long. I reached out and grabbed her wrist. Sis gasped as I forced her hand open to reveal a tiny brown vial.

I looked her straight in the eye. "You already tried to kill us once. Why do you think you'll succeed this time?"

Sis blanched, terror flashing in her baby blues before she recovered her sweet-faced mask. "I... I don't know what you're talking about, Sarevok. Those are just vitamins. I thought Imoen looked a little peaked--"

"Save it, Sis. Anomen talked. He had some interesting things to say, about you, and Saerk, and Kelsey."

Sis shook her head, avoiding our eyes. "Really, I don't think--"

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. But Imoen doesn't, so I'm going to tell a little story. A story about a woman who fell in love with a guy who wasn't her husband."

Sis shot me a wintry glare. "Stop it."

I crushed her hand in mine, enjoying the way she cried out in pain. "Shut up and listen. Maybe this woman tried to be a good wife, I don't know. I wasn't around. But the fact remains that instead of making the best of things, she decided to take care of her little problem. She decided to kill Kelsey."

I paused for effect. It wasn't wasted. Imoen's eyes narrowed, and I could almost see her putting two and two together. I needed to hurry before she stole the show.

"Now, this dame had a lot to lose if word got out about what she was planning to do. So she found herself a fall guy, someone who had every reason to hate her husband. Farrahd. Unfortunately he hated her as well, so she had to find some chump to help her, someone whose handwriting Farrahd wouldn't recognize."

Imoen beat me to the punch. Damn! "Someone like Anomen Delryn."

"Leave him out of this!" Sis snapped. Her frightened eyes glittered like chips of ice.

"Forget it!" said Imoen, sticking out her pert chin. "We all know that Ano would do anything for you, and with all the bad blood between his family and Farrahd's, it would be super-easy to convince him to play along."

"Anomen was a fool," I said, "but not Farrahd. He wouldn't just charge right in and kill Kelsey, knowing he'd be in for a little session with the hangman when he got caught. No, a little spell was needed, to make emotions run high."

"And Miri must have done something so that Kelsey couldn't fight back." Imoen bit her lip. "Something in his dinner? His wine?"

Sis flicked her eyes up and quickly back down, a slow flush creeping up her white throat. Her face was a closed book, and there were no jacket blurbs to give her thoughts away. I continued, knowing she'd crack sooner or later.

"After Kelsey kicked the bucket, she had more work to do. Being the paranoid soul that she was, she decided to bump off Farrahd so that he would have no chance to sing like a canary and expose their dirty little secret."

"Why would he?" asked Imoen. "He'd come off just as bad as Miri."

I waved that aside. "If Farrahd figured out that he'd been played for a stooge, he'd want to get even. Getting her pretty head in the noose would be a perfect revenge for knifing his father and sister."

Sis closed her eyes, but she couldn't hide the guilt written on her face. Imoen's head snapped around like a speeding sling bullet.

"You killed them," she breathed. "I thought something was going on that night, but I didn't want to believe..." She pursed her lips in disgust. "Saerk and his daughter... oh, Miri, how could you!"

"Because he deserved it." Sis spat the words through clenched teeth. "All men die eventually. I just hurried it along."

"And Surayah?" Imoen leaned forward. For a moment, I thought she was going to turn on the waterworks. "She did nothing, nothing to any of us!"

Sis shrugged. "She got in the way. Ripped a hole in my prettiest shirt, too, the little bitch."

I'd been wrong about Imoen. She wasn't about to cry after all. She was livid, her eyes spitting fury. I let go of Sis and got ready to run, just in case a fireball was headed our way.

"Gorion taught you better than that! I know he did!"

"How is this different from all that killing we did during the Bhaalspawn wars? We have murder in our blood. You can't deny it."

"I can. Sarevok could. Eventually." Imoen crossed her arms over her chest. "And I thought you could, too."

"Oh, what do you know? Love is just another four-letter word to you!" Two hectic spots of color danced in her cheeks, and Sis balled up her hands into perfect porcelain fists. "I've suffered for so long and done so much for Faerun. Can't I have a little happiness in return?"

"You should have left Kelsey if you hated him so much."

"I didn't hate him, Immy. He was cute, and sweet, and had this wonderful talent for making money. I like my silk dresses and enchanted jewelry. Why would I leave him and jeopardize all that?"

It made sense, at least to me. Amnian law was very clear on divorces—it wasn't the thing to do. Wives who left their husbands got nothing. Husbands who left their wives paid a bit of support, more if there were children, but this often meant next to nothing. But if the husband dropped dead, a grieving widow just might hit the jackpot.

It seemed like Imoen had reached the same conclusions. She didn't look thrilled. "You never needed Kelsey's money, Miri. You had plenty left over from our adventuring days. At least you did the last time I saw you..."

Sis spread her hands. "Well, setting up a household can be so expensive. If you buy the wrong china, you'll be the laughingstock of polite society. And there were so many dresses that I just had to have. All that time on the road meant my wardrobe was at least three years out of date!"

Imoen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you telling me that you spent all of that money on dishes and clothes?"

"And handbags."

"Handbags?"

"Everything needs to match, Imoen! It's a fashion commandment!"

"You should have become a god," I said, "and saved yourself this trouble."

"I couldn't. Being a god would be so boring, all those togas and frumpy robes... and I couldn't leave my Anomen..."

Sis bowed her head, and we sat around in uncomfortable silence.

"So how'd you kill Kelsey?" I asked, careful to keep a note of admiration in my voice. Sis had always liked to show off, and now would be a great time for it. "Poison in his nightcap, I suppose?"

She looked up, a proud gleam in her eye. "Extract of white cloud mushroom. Rashemi warriors use it on their spirit quests."

"Nearly undetectable, except for a faint mineral taste," Imoen murmured. "So that's why he didn't cast any spells. He was already tripping."

"The vial cost me two bags of gold, but it was worth every copper. Once the effects started, it was cake to cast my new bloodboil spell. The boys never knew where it came from."

"Nice. And Farrahd?"

"A simple teleportation spell to get into his study. Anomen stood guard at the door while I helped Yusef take his medicine." She smirked. "Some guys just can't hold their bittersweet."

My chest grew heavy and cold as I watched her. This was the dame that I'd fought for and believed in? I'd thought she was better than me. She hadn't left her Tamoko behind to rot. She'd given up godhood for the one she loved, or so I'd thought. What a chump I'd been. I almost knew how Anomen felt. "Nice," I repeated. "That shows real class."

Mirielle simpered at me. "I thought you'd appreciate it, Sarevok. I'm glad you approve."

"Who said I approved?"

She blinked, an actress who'd been thrown the wrong cue. "Well, I thought--"

"You thought wrong, Miri!" Imoen crossed her arms. "You're going straight to the big house. Better pack your fancy wardrobe... there's no mink where you're headed."

"No!" A big fat tear rolled down Mirielle's cheek. "Haven't I suffered enough? You guys caught me, and Anomen won't even speak to me..."

That wouldn't last, I knew that much. Sure, Anomen had been kicked in the teeth, but with time and encouragement, he'd come crawling back for more.

Imoen shook her head. "No. Sorry, little sister."

"But... but I'm a hero!"

"Forget it, Miri. You can't murder two people and then try to kill me and expect that I'll let you off. I've stood by you through a lot, but this is just too much."

Sis decided to try her chances with me. Her tears dried up as if by magic, and her voice softened to a kittenish purr. "And how about you, my darling Sarevok? Are you going to turn me in to your friends?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

The air steamed as she shot a sultry glance my way.

I snorted. Sis had a body to die for, but that price was too high to pay. "Forget it. I'm not like Anomen, you said so yourself."

"Fine." She rose in one fluid motion and sashayed over to a polished oak cabinet. Her fingers quickly unlatched the enameled pink clasps as she spoke. "Then I'll give you what you love most."

"Yeah? What's that?"

Sis opened the cabinet and pulled out a leather sack almost as big as her head. With a visible effort, she upended it over the tea table. A cascade of clear gems clattered onto the dark wood, nestling around our teacups, glistening like pieces of a shattered rainbow.

"This," she said softly. "Reasons two through two thousand."

I let out a long, low whistle. I'd only seen that kind of loot once before, and that was in a dragon's lair in Tethyr.

Imoen was less impressed. "Diamonds? Oh, please. Sarry doesn't want those."

"Shut up, kid." I stirred a finger through the clicking pile, my senses reeling at the sight of such wealth. The diamonds seemed to whisper to me, telling me what I could do with them.

Imoen poked a finger in my chest, breaking the spell. "You're going to let her off? For those? Come on, Sarry, I thought power was the only thing you wanted."

She didn't get it. After all this time, she still didn't get it. Wealth was power in Amn, as Sis well knew. I'd had a lot of cash after parting ways with the crew. It had trickled away over the years, spent on stakeouts, booze, and women. It sure would be nice to have some more. I'd worked out a plan, yes, but I'd be a fool to pass up this offer, and I was no fool.

I looked up at Sis. Our gazes locked, and I knew she knew what I was thinking. Her full lips curled back. There was a hard light in her eyes that I'd never seen before. "Well, brother? What do you say?"

I could have said a lot of things, but I didn't. "You've got yourself a deal."