ROWAN
I could smell him before I saw him.
The stench of rot simmering under skin that hadn’t seen clean water in weeks. Rogues didn’t always smell like that, but the unhinged ones did.
I stepped into the holding room, where two guards had chained the rogue down against the stone wall. His wrists were rubbed raw from straining against the iron cuffs, but he didn’t seem to notice. His head snapped up the moment I entered, eyes glowing rabid yellow.
“What the f**k do you want?” he snarled, lips peeling back to bare his teeth. I shook my head. Should he really be the one asking that question?
His spit flew as he continued sputtering nonsense. “You’ll never get anything out of me!”
Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly. The reek was suffocating, clinging to the back of my throat. This wa
