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of my pants, I headed toward the door. My sword belt was lying against the wall. I strapped it on and made my way downstairs to whatever fate awaited me.

    * * *
    W hen I reached the foyer , there was no one there. I looked around, wondering just where they had gone, when the sound of raised voices came from the parlor to the right of the entryway. Heading in that direction, I heard my name mentioned more than once, in the company of some vile words. When I stepped into the room, all conversation came to a stop.
    One man rose from where he was seated and, with a look of utter hatred, began to speak. “Just what kind of guard are you that you couldn’t keep the vault safe for just one night?”
    “The kind that is still alive to tell you about it.” From the shade of red growing under his collar, I was to assume that that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. It was just something I had a special knack for, making a bad situation worse by running my mouth. The fact was I hadn’t requested this assignment, and after the events of last night, they should be damn happy they had someone to question.
    “I think we could do with a little less mirth. The artifact that was stolen was priceless. Do you have anything outside of the fact that you are alive to report?”
    I thought for a moment before speaking. It was a rare occurrence, but from the glares I was getting from the other four men in the room, this time may be a warranted one. “I have plenty to report, but what I have to say must be relayed directly to Adam.”
    “I am the commander of the retrieval team, and you will report it to me.” I was wrong in thinking that his face couldn’t become redder. His face had reached a shade of red I would have referred to as radish as long as he couldn’t hear me or I had ten good men standing behind me. My delayed response seemed to have pushed him further over the edge, and now he had added a throbbing vein on his forehead into the mix.
    “With all due respect, I must decline. Adam has entrusted me with the protection of this item, and I have failed in my duty. With that failure, I have stumbled across some sensitive information that would be best heard by his ears first.”
    “If you would prefer to make it Adam’s problem, then so be it.” The men around him laughed.
    We all knew what normally happened when something became Adam’s problem. Normally those problems disappeared, and the stories were told to others as a cautionary tale. I hoped that this time it would be different. I was much too handsome to die. I also didn’t want to give this prick the satisfaction of seeing me wither under his gaze.
    “I will need one of your horses.”
    “So you have failed at your one duty and now you are requesting the use of one of our horses.”
    “Unless you would like to explain to Adam why I was delayed, then yes.” Now I was laying it on thick, but if I backed down now, there was no telling if I would make it out of this room intact.
    “Dimitri, get your horse ready.” One of the men beside him stood and strode toward the door. As he went by, he made sure to slam his shoulder into mine.
    “I have my carriage being prepared. One of you can ride back with my things.”
    The man bristled at the thought of him or one of his men being relegated to watching over my possessions. I was going to pay for that later, but watching the pulsing vein in his forehead had become just too fun for me to stop making it pulse now.
    “Your horse awaits. Good day.” He spun on his heel and turned back to his seat. The three remaining men crowded around him, and they began talking in hushed whispers. Every now and then one of them would look up at me and then turn back to the group. With nothing left to do but leave, I turned smartly and headed for the door.
    I stopped to thank the doorman and to press a coin into his hand. “Do you know the families of the guards who haven’t been seen today?”
    “I do, milord.”
    “Can you see