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His mouth turned downward. “Are you saying no?”

“I’d like to be aware of all my options.”

Aneirin smiled, slow and knowing. “If no is your answer, I’ll simply have to try again until you see it my way.”

Taly knew a threat when it came.

It was strange—this swell of anger and fear, yet without the usual signs. No racing heart. No surge of adrenaline. Her body was still far away and sleeping.

What remained was raw emotion flooding through her like a current with no anchor.

Around them, the crowd shifted, murmurs rippling.

But it was Luck behind the bar who drew Taly’s eye.

She’d smirked through most of the conversation. Now, though—her attention was diverted.

“Go away,” Luck muttered, her gaze flicking to a part of the room where the shadows deepened. She paused, as if listening. “Well, tell her I don’t care. A real hero wouldn’t be about to cave. She backed the wrong horse. It happens.”

Taly felt it then. Like a shiver.

The inkling of a bad idea.

Well, not bad… noteverypart of it.

Her eyes flicked to her host. “Aneirin.”

“Yes?”

“A-nei-rin.” She rolled the name around, testing its weight. “Anie? Or maybe Renny? No, that doesn’t quite fit.” She clicked her tongue. “You know who you remind me of? That one guy in the old epics whose name meantcursed disappointment.What was it? Oh, right. Billamire.”

His smile froze. “I’m sorry,” he said smoothly. “But what are you doing?”

“Just finding something that suits you,” Taly replied breezily. “I mean, if we’re going to be working together, shouldn’t we drop the formalities? And something about you just screams…Bill.”

The look of horror on his face brought her more joy than she’d been expecting.

Names were important to him. Admiration wasn’t just a desire. It was a necessity. He’d brought an audience to watch her yield.

Which only made her want to bring him to his knees.

The newly namedBillchuckled, a hidden edge underneath. “It always amazes me how indistinguishable bravery is from stupidity.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“It would please me very much for you to call meAneirin.” That affably charming smile became strained.

“Oh, I’m sure it would. But I think I’ll stick with Bill,” Taly said, setting her glass down. “My answer is no.” She rose from the table. “Tempris is my home, and there’s nothing you could give me that would make me stand with the man who slaughtered her people.”

Her fingers brushed the pistol at her hip.

“Nothing.”

Taly drew and fired. The gunshot cracked through the air.

Bill’s body hit the floor as his chair tipped and sent him sprawling.

A heartbeat of stunned silence.