Some of the arrogance leaked from his face as Don muffled a laugh.
Didn't like that, did he? Good.
“You can’t know that,” he said.
I didn’t answer, simply smiled.
A rumbling noise came from his chest.
"Enough," the captain barked.
The others fell silent.
Owen settled back, his lips thinning as he crossed forearms the size of my head over his chest.
I was surprised he obeyed. He seemed a little less civilized than the rest. He wasn't the type to follow someone else's lead unless he respected them or feared them.
Which did the captain inspire in him?
It hadn’t escaped me that the captain was the de facto leader of this little operation—even if the rest of them didn't realize it.
Take him out and the rest would fall to infighting.
When no one else spoke, his attention landed on me with the weight of a boulder. How had I never noticed that before?
He'd always contained a charisma that made officers, even several levels above him, stop and listen when he spoke.
I thought it was because he was good at his job. That he had that certain something that made him a leader of men.
Now, I saw it had more to do with the magic encasing him. I'd just been too blind to see it before.
"Who are you?" I asked.
The captain spread his hands. "Most have called us the Scattered throughout the ages."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Yeah, I'd already guessed that.
He continued, his smile much pointier than I remembered. "An unfortunate name that references the fact we no longer have a realm or home to call our own."
Again, not telling me much more than I already had put together all on my lonesome while stuck in that statue.
"From what I hear, you're nothing but mercenaries and assassins," I challenged.
"Don't listen to every rumor you hear, girl," Owen rumbled
"So, none of you work as either of those things?" I sent an arch look at Callie and Don. Sure could have fooled me. That snatch-and-grab had been damn near professional.
Liam's enforcers weren't easily led astray, yet they'd separated us with little effort. I'd admire their technique if I wasn't the victim.
"Many of us haven't had a choice. It was either be something others feared or let them enslave and kill us," Callie said.
I grunted. She could call it whatever she wanted, that didn't change what she did for a living—and all the gods help me, I was in their less than merciful grip.
"Why am I here?" I asked abruptly.
I didn't really care who they were or why they did what they did, I simply needed to know how I'd gotten unlucky enough to draw their attention.
"Doesn't beat around the bush," Owen said. "That's refreshing."
