Page 123 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

His face falls. I hate myself for it. “Why not?”

“Because I need to coordinate with the other Grimsbane when they arrive.” The words come fast and defensive. “The smallest mistake can get you killed. You’re my responsibility. I can’t afford distractions.”

For a long moment, he just looks at me. Then his expression goes carefully blank.

“Of course,” he says quietly. “You’re right. Professional boundaries. Thank you for reminding me what this is.”

He turns back to his desk. I stand there uselessly for another heartbeat, wanting to take it all back.

Tell him yes. Tell him I’d go anywhere with him.

Instead, I turn toward the door.

“Wolf.” His voice stops me before I can leave.

I pause in the doorway.

“I’m glad you at least admitted something,” he says.

I turn back, confused. “What?”

He looks up from his papers and there’s that familiar charming glint in his eyes. “That I’m a distraction to you.”

Damn it, Garrett.

Chapter Sixteen

The other six should have arrived by now. We need the reinforcements to stack the odds and turn this into something survivable. I stand at the window in my room watching the street below.

The evening light casts long shadows across the courtyard. Guards patrol in pairs and children chase each other down the street. Everything looks normal.

But it’s not.

I’ve been standing here for the better part of an hour, watching the road that leads to the eastern gate. I’m waiting for six figures in dark cloaks to appear. We need them to balance the scales. Their presence will make this impossible situation slightly less suicidal.

They’re not coming.

I know it in my bones before Kitty appears in the doorway without knocking. Her face tells me everything before she opens her mouth.

“They’re not coming,” she says, confirming what I already knew.

My hands curl into fists against the windowsill. The wood creaks under my grip. “You’re certain?”

“I checked every drop point in the city. The warehouse by the docks, the abandoned mill, the wine cellar beneath the Willow Bear.” She steps into the room and closes the door behind her. “I even went to the safe houses outside the walls. Nothing. No messages, no supplies, no Grimsbane.”

A sharp, ugly disbelief flashes through me before anger follows it.

“The guild made their assessment, Wolf.” She exhales slowly, like she’s been carrying the answer the whole walk here. “They’re not wasting resources on a lost cause.”

The Guild of Assassins doesn’t bet on losing sides. It’s a business, not a charity. Lord Clayborne’s gold bought him two contracts—mine and Kitty’s. That’s all he gets. The guild won’t throw good assassins after bad odds.

I turn away from the window to face her properly. “So we’re on our own.”

Kitty crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back against the door. She knew this was coming. My friend probably knew it the moment she heard about the Archon challenge. But she still chose to stay and help me anyway.

“The Wiolants will choose Damnation. You know they will. They’ll destroy Lord Clayborne’s house completely. Burn the estate, kill everyone inside, salt the earth where it stands.” She watches my face carefully. “Everyone dies. The children. The servants. Garrett.”

My fingers drum once against the windowsill.