Chapter 21 — One Second Too Long
The tunic came away in Kade's fist, and four hundred wolves saw the back of the man's neck.
The ink started below the hairline and went down out of sight — old, crude, prison-work: a snarling jaw, and under it a row of short vertical strokes. Not decoration. A tally.
The hall made a low, ugly sound.
"Crimson Fang," said Cole Maddox, into the silence. "Those are kill-marks. I count nine."
"Twelve," said Kade. "Three are under the shoulder seam." He dropped the ruined gray on the flagstones and stepped back. "Bring me a wet cloth and a lamp."
They brought both. Nobody asked what for.
Kade crouched, took the man's shaved scalp in one hand and held it still, and scrubbed hard at the stubble above the ear with the wet cloth. The prisoner didn't resist. He
