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Under the guise of taking his next sip, Dante moves closer, his body almost curving around mine. He’s shielding my body with his and something cracks and melts inside me.
My fingers dance up his chest and tighten in his jacket. My own little gesture of acknowledgment and appreciation. Even though I’m primed for this fight.
“What are we?—”
The lights flicker.
The music cuts.
And the collar around my throat hums—just once, a strange vibration I’ve never felt before.
Dante reacts instantly, grabbing my wrist. “Move,” he snaps, rising. Clearly, he knows the layout of this place way better than I do because we’re in a hallway in seconds, and he’s pulling me back toward the emergency exit.
“What is it?” I gasp.
“Someone just activated your tag. Your collar.”
“W-what? How is that even possible?” I gasp, but I know. Every damn thing under the sun is hackable. I’ve done morethan my fair share of it. Dante doesn’t respond. And I don’t get to ask again, because suddenly the crowd shifts. Chaos stirs. We arrive at the exit—and Varric is there.
Not alone.
Three men block our path. And they’re armed.
Dante
I push Dahlia behind me,already calculating. Weapons aren’t allowed inside The Gilded Cage—it’s one of the only rules everyone honors—but apparently the rules don’t apply to everyone.
I could take my chances with the assholes, but I’m outnumbered. And the last thing I’m going to do is risk Dahlia.
Options cycle through my mind. Each discarded. And then I feel it—the chill that crawls up the back of my neck. Wrong. Something’s off. A presence I didn’t clock before.
I pivot fast, keeping Dahlia closer to me just as the voice cuts through the red-lit air.
“Dante.”
My blood ices.
She steps forward from the shadows—heels clicking, gun steady, eyes colder than I’ve ever seen them.
Evelyn.
My second-in-command. My fixer. The one who’s handled my dirtiest work. The woman who once joked Dahlia would be my ruin before I even knew her name.
Now she’s pointing a gun at my head.
“Evelyn.” My voice is stone.
She doesn’t blink. “You should’ve let me take care of her the night of the heist. I knew your going to get her yourself was a bad idea.” Her eyes flick to Dahlia, scrutinizing her from head to toe. “She’s got danger-drunk and dick-whipped written all over her, and you’re stupid enough to call it what… devotion? Loyalty?”
Behind me, Dahlia stiffens. I feel the breath catch in her throat.
This is her first time hearing Evelyn’s name. She doesn’t know the history, but she knows betrayal when it slices close enough to bleed.
“You’re with Vesper?” I demand.
“Right from the jump. They pay more than you ever will.” Evelyn shrugs, but her eyes flash cold. “Loyalty doesn’t pay back years of being second-best. Cleaning up your messes. Watching you obsess over one dead girl while you risk your empire over another who gets wet at the thought of ruining you.” Her smile curdles and like it’s a bonus, she continues. “They promised me a front-row seat when it all came crashing down.”
Her eyes flick to Varric, her true boss.