Page 23 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

“What’s your name?” he asks. “Your real name, not whatever the guild calls you.”

“Wolf is all I have.”

“No family name? No clan?”

I hesitate. “The Sylverin clan.”

His eyebrows rise. “Sylverin. I know that name. Northern werewolf clan, decimated about fifty years ago in a territorial dispute. I thought there were no survivors.”

Fuck. Too much information.

“There weren’t,” I say flatly. “I wasn’t there.”

“Can you shift?” he asks. The question comes lighter than the others.

“No,” I say.

His eyes narrow. “Interesting. A wolf who can’t shift.”

I don’t want to talk about this.

I pull against the chains. “Release me.”

“No,” he says simply. “Why would I when you can do it yourself?”

Ice floods through my veins.

He knew?

“The chains aren’t difficult for someone with your training. You could have freed yourself in under a minute.” The certainty in his voice is damning.

My face burns hotter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His mouth curves into a smile. “Guild-trained assassins learn to pick locks before they learn to kill. Those chains? Child’s play for someone like you.”

Fuck.

“You knew,” I say. This fucker knew the entire time.

“I was curious how long you’d pretend.” He’s enjoying this. “You could have run when you woke up. So why didn’t you?”

I want to die. Right here. Humiliation burns through me like fire.

But I keep my face neutral. “I was disoriented. You hit me pretty hard.”

He quirks an eyebrow.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” I try.

“No?” He watches my reaction. “So it had nothing to do with the fact that you enjoyed what I did to you?”

Now I want to sink into the floor and cease existing. I can’t look at him. I can’t meet his eyes.

But the longer I stay this way the more awkward it gets. I jerk my hands away from the chains. My wrists come free easily. The lock mechanism was simple. Basic pin tumbler.

Yeah, I could have done it blind with my hands tied behind my back. Have done it, actually, multiple times during guild training. I did stay chained on purpose…

The chains pool at my feet with a metallic clatter. Suddenly, my legs give out. Everything tilts and I’m falling. Garrett catches me before I hit the ground. He is surprisingly strong for someone so lean. For a moment I’m pressed against him. His arms wrap around me and the rich scent of sandalwood fills my nose.