Sequel opening scene

Threading the Needle 2

I started working on the unnamed sequel to Threading the Needle. Please keep in mind, it’s a draft, not anywhere near final, and subject to change. Very much likely to change.

Opening scene as of 20250525.

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The strange man moved with predatory intent—slow, deliberate strides that ate the ground like a stalking cat, his coat flaring with each step. He stayed in the shadows where the eaves dripped and the slate was slick but advanced with the cold, certain patience of a man with a mission.

Talia stayed low under the awning of Miyamoto’s shuttered teahouse, tracking the man’s path through the early fog. The fog gave her cover, but it was fickle—thinning without warning, betraying her in brief halos of the streetlamps’ glow.

She’d seen men move like that before—men who didn’t mind killing, only whether or not it made a mess. She didn’t need to see his weapon to know it was there.