Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

houses away, just barely lit by ambient light. He didn’t seem to have noticed her. He was watching the keep, his face too distant for her to read his expression.
    Vin watched him with suspicious eyes. He’d dismissed her meeting with Elend, but perhaps it worried him more than he’d admitted. A sudden spike of fear made her tense.
    Could he be here to kill Elend? The assassination of a high noble heir would certainly create tension amongst the nobility.
    Vin waited apprehensively. Eventually, however, Kelsier stood and walked away, Pushing himself off the rooftop and into the air.
    Vin dropped her bronze bar—it would give her away—and dashed after him. Her iron showed blue lines moving in the distance, and she hurriedly jumped out over the street and Pushed herself off a sewer grate below, determined not to lose him again.
    He moved toward the center of the city. Vin frowned, trying to guess his destination. Keep Erikeller was in that direction, and it was a major supplier of armaments. Perhaps Kelsier planned to do something to interrupt its supplies, making House Renoux more vital to the local nobility.
    Vin landed on a rooftop and paused, watching Kelsier shoot off into the night. He’s moving fast again. I—
    A hand fell on her shoulder.
    Vin yelped, jumping back, flaring pewter.
    Kelsier regarded her with a cocked eyebrow. “You’re supposed to be in bed, young lady.”
    Vin glanced to the side, toward the line of metal. “But—”
    “My coin pouch,” Kelsier said, smiling. “A good thief can steal clever tricks as easily as he steals boxings. I’ve started being more careful since you tailed me last week—at first, I assumed you were a Venture Mistborn.”
    “They have some?”
    “I’m sure they do,” Kelsier said. “Most of the Great Houses do—but your friend Elend isn’t one of them. He’s not even a Misting.”
    “How do you know? He could be hiding it.”
    Kelsier shook his head. “He nearly died in a raid a couple of years ago—if there were ever a time to show your powers, it would have been then.”
    Vin nodded, still looking down, not meeting Kelsier’s eyes.
    He sighed, sitting down on the slanted rooftop, one leg hanging over the side. “Have a seat.”
    Vin settled herself on the tile roof across from him. Above, the cool mists continued to churn, and it had begun to drizzle slightly—but that wasn’t much different from the regular nightly humidity.
    “I can’t have you tailing me like this, Vin,” Kelsier said. “Do you remember our discussion about trust?”
    “If you trusted me, you’d tell me where you were going.”
    “Not necessarily,” Kelsier said. “Maybe I just don’t want you and the others to worry about me.”
    “Everything you do is dangerous,” Vin said. “Why would we worry any more if you told us specifics?”
    “Some tasks are even more dangerous than others,” Kelsier said quietly.
    Vin paused, then glanced to the side, in the direction Kelsier had been going. Toward the center of the city.
    Toward Kredik Shaw, the Hill of a Thousand Spires. The Lord Ruler’s palace.
    “You’re going to confront the Lord Ruler!” Vin said quietly. “You said last week that you were going to pay him a visit.”
    “ ‘Visit’ is, perhaps, too strong a word,” Kelsier said. “I am going to the palace, but I sincerely hope I don’t run into the Lord Ruler himself. I’m not ready for him yet. Regardless, you are going straight to Clubs’s shop.”
    Vin nodded.
    Kelsier frowned. “You’re just going to try and follow me again, aren’t you?”
    Vin paused, then she nodded again.
    “Why?”
    “Because I want to help,” Vin said quietly. “So far, my part in this all has essentially boiled down to going to a party. But, I’m Mistborn—you’ve trained me yourself. I’m not going to sit back and let everyone else do dangerous work while I sit, eat dinner, and watch people dance.”
    “What you’re doing at those balls is important,” Kelsier said.
    Vin nodded, glancing down. She’d just let him go, then she’d follow him. Part of her reasoning was what she’d said before: She was beginning to feel a camaraderie for this crew, and it was like nothing she had ever known. She wanted to be part of what it was doing; she wanted to help.
    However, another part of her whispered that Kelsier wasn’t telling her everything. He might trust her; he might not. However, he certainly had secrets. The Eleventh Metal, and therefore the Lord