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just under her skin, waiting to be unleashed at the slightest slip of control. “Only on the road. What you do at rest stops is your issue.”
    “It’s your issue if we’re being followed.”
    “We’re not being followed. It was probably highwaymen.” Rox snorted at the irony.
    One of the younger marauders, Tyrius, shifted uncomfortably, making his blonde beard sway in time with his anxieties. He clenched his sword with a white-knuckled hand. “No highwayman could kill Gryert. He was a mage.”
    Calder glared down at Rox, his grey eyes slits of anger. “His sword was taken.”
    “Then the Twins will find whoever robbed him.”
    Tyrius fidgeted, his eyes growing wider as he muttered to a nearby companion. “Or he called up something. Something magical from his sword. A demon from the Fates’ Cellar.”
    “The sword was a way to spy on us, not cast spells,” Rox groused, trying to stop Tyrius’ line of thought before it spread through the party. Gryert had been using small tricks and flashy spells since they’d left the Core to keep the Circle nervous of his abilities. Rox had never taken him seriously. A good magician didn’t need to show off. Still, the Circle was comprised of bullies and raiders; vicious fighters but often lacking in common sense. She could defend the party from physical attackers, but she was powerless against fears of the supernatural.
    Calder wasn’t as easily swayed by as his companions. He wasn’t a member of the Circle because he was a brute with no other path in life. He was a genuine psychopath. Rox had heard once he had been picked up by the Twins before he was to be executed for torturing and murdering his neighbor. Rox wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was true. “That doesn’t change the fact that it would take more than a highway robber to take down Gryert. You should have known we were being watched before he circled back.”
    More eyes on Rox. She crossed her arms over her chest, deadly from head to toe. “I wouldn’t have been hired if I didn’t know how to protect my perimeter. Whatever followed Gryert wasn’t with us before he left and isn’t with us now.”
    Calder stepped forward, keeping his voice low enough to hiss in Rox’s ear unheard by others. “You’re only safe here because you hold a contract with the Twins. If one of us dies, that contract is broken. And what good are you to us if you can’t do your job? You may be fierce, but no one could take all of us. Least of all a woman.” Calder ran his fingers through Rox’s hair and Rox’s stomach turned.
    In a single motion, Rox drew a knife from her sleeve and leveled it at Calder’s stomach, the blade pressing firmly against his leather tunic, piercing the top layer. It would only take two motions: the plunge, and then a twist. Two motions and his threat would be eradicated. But in those motions she would give up everything she’d been working for. “Touch me and you offend the Twins.”
    Calder sneered, his curved, hawk-like nose flaring. “Kill me and you won’t get paid.”
    They stood in a lethal stalemate, eyes locked with warring motives and desires. Rox forced her breath to remain steady, her muscles taut, her eyes narrowed. If there was any doubt that the Twins would honor their contract, death would be the least of her worries. Especially at Calder’s hand. But more than their respect of the Twins, many of the Circle respected her ferocity, her cunning. If the party attacked, she would take many of them down with her, and the dissolution of the party for any reason would enrage the tyrannical mage Twins of the Core. She couldn’t appear weak. Couldn’t slip. Couldn’t give them any reason to doubt her value to their masters.
    The clatter of horses’ hooves, riding fast, echoed through the forest. Another fraction of their party was returning. The sound broke the tension between Rox and Calder, drawing the Circle’s attention. A dozen men, weary from riding hard to meet the rest of