Page 104 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

When I finish, she hums. “He sounds exhausting. Being that perfect all the time. Always being what everyone needs.”

I look down at my hands.

I think about Garrett covered in blood, crying in a tunnel. “He’s not perfect. I think he’s just very good at pretending.”

“You’ve been with Clayborne forty-seven days,” Shade says suddenly.

“Yes.”

“Three more to go.”

“I can count, Shade.”

He studies me with those unnerving eyes. “That’s not the face of someone eager for their contract to finish.”

Kitty laughs. “He doesn’t want it to end. Look at him. New clothes, clean hair, Our Wolf’s gone soft.”

“I haven’t—”

“You have,” she interrupts, leaning forward. “You like him. The golden commander.”

“He’s my assignment,” I dismiss quickly.

“He’s your type.” She grins at my expression. “Oh come on, Wolf. We’ve known each other years.”

“That’s ridiculous. “I don’t have a type—” I stop, realizing the trap.

“Right,” she says slowly. “No type.”

She leans back, inspecting me like I’m a mildly disappointing piece of evidence. “Your past lovers just happen to be tall and blonde.”

Is it really that obvious?

Blood rushes to my cheeks. My mouth opens but nothing useful comes out. I feel my face go hot.

Kitty leans forward, eyes bright. “Called it.”

She turns her head toward Shade with a triumphant little smile. “Pay up.”

Shade produces a gold coin from somewhere, slides it across the table without comment.

I stare at it. My face is burning. “You two bet on my preferences?”

“You genuinely had no idea, did you?” She sounds smug with her victorious grin.

They predicted I would fall for Garrett?

Kitty’s expression sobers. “What happens after? When your contracts end?”

“I suppose I’ll go back to the guild.” I remember Garrett’s words about me being something more than just an assassin and choosing a different path. The thought sits heavy and uncomfortable in my chest. It’s impossible and I don’t want to unpack that shit in front of my friends.

“What about you, Shade?” I redirect. “After your hundredth mission?”

“When I complete my hundredth mission, I’ll free my mother from the crypts, then...” He pauses, and for the first time, uncertainty crosses his face. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought past freeing her.”

“I run,” Kitty says. “Far from the guild, from the brothel, from all of it. Maybe the Southern Isles. Somewhere warm where no one knows who I am, somewhere I can just... be.”

I pull Kitty closer. She curls into me, tucking her head under my chin. Her breathing is uneven.