inn

pale, grey light filtered through the window. I handed the man a small can

tact sent another one of those disorienting jolts th

asked, his voice still rou

tone as cool and grey as the morning. "I don'

avy leather pouch. He untied it and emptied its contents ont

ayment," he said.

urces, and I was about to walk back into a viper's nest with nothing but the clo

flannel shirt and rough denim pants that had belonged to the cabin

brimmed hat that would

I could feel his gaze on me, a tangib

rst ferry leaves at sunrise. Give him this." I held out a worn, tarnished silver

"You know the ba

run learns how to stay in

e to disguise the raw power he radiated. He looked less like a d

look in his eyes had changed. The wariness was gone, replaced by

two long strides. Before I could react, hi

the hilt of the dagger tucked into my belt. It wa

shing. His thumb moved, stroking gently over the thin,

collected. His fingers traced the delicate links until they f

eyes darkened, the pupils dilating until they were almost black. His wolf was at the su

d, his voice a low command

rm. With a sharp twist, he snapped it from the bracelet. The sound o

nd anger surging through m

small piece of silver. His expression was resolute, u

whisper, a promise and a threat all in one. "I will find y

is eyes. He was a dangerous man, and pushing him now, when he was cornered and wounded, would be a foolish risk. My plan, my

ed my hand from my dagger. I

ail of my face. Then, without another word, he turned and slipped out th

k on my bracelet. A strange sense of loss, sharp and une

nsaction. He paid in gold. I

swift and methodical. I stuffed his blood-soaked clothes and the used

nger named Garrett, I watched, my face illuminated

time to begi