Saeris had said it because the words needed to leave her. Like poison expelled from a wound, it was necessary and healing. Even if every eye in the room dismissed her. Even if every Lycan looked at her like she was nothing but a trembling wolf who had wandered into a den of beasts too fragile to snarl openly.
They underestimated her—all of them.
“It seems the assassin has... removed himself from the conversation,” Vaelen’s voice drawled, almost bored.
That meant one thing.
“Not surprising. The desperate often meet a coward’s end and sometimes, that can be the employee too.”
Lubbow stepped back into formation. It must have been what the guard had come to report. She noticed the sharp line of his collarbone where the fabric had dipped, a large scar—probably ran lower. But her eyes mov
