“Good morning, Mr. Zuric,” I called, and he shot straight up, banging his head against the metal doorframe.

“Dammit!” he cried, backing out of the shower stall as he rubbed his head. His eyes were wide as he turned to face us, and the sweaty stench emanating from his body turned sour with fear. “Couldn’t you knock first? You scared the hell out of me!”

“Is that so?” I smiled, my fingers grazing the crescent knives strapped to my right thigh as I walked toward him. “And what exactly is it that you have to be scared of?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, his meaty hand drifting to his tool belt. “You just startled me.”

“I would think you’d know it’s stupid to lie to a shifter,” I began, and the man let out a battle cry. He charged me with surprising speed for his bulk, pulling a silver knife from his tool belt, and I moved into a fighting stance, ready to take him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Rylan pushed me back, then twisted around to Zuric’s side and slammed him against the wall. Several of the blue tiles cracked beneath the force of their bodies, and Zuric cried out as Rylan grabbed his knife arm and twisted it behind his back. The knife clattered to the ground, and Rylan kicked it away as he hiked the spy’s arm up higher.

“Fuck!” the man screamed as his shoulder popped from his socket.

“I can do worse if you keep struggling,” Rylan said calmly. “Or you can give up, and let me restrain you.”

“Never!” Zuric hissed, then screamed louder as Rylan pulled again.

The sound of heavy footsteps outside the hall drew my attention, and I turned to see three more guards burst through the door. “Is everything all right, Miss?” the first one asked me, his sword already drawn.

“We’re good,” I said, gesturing to Rylan and Zuric. The spy had stopped struggling. He was sagging against the wall, tears of pain streaming down his ruddy face. “As you can see, my bodyguard has things under control.” I was slightly annoyed that Rylan had gotten to the bastard before I did, but I couldn’t fault him for it—he was my bodyguard. And his reaction time had always been a shade faster than mine. I was going to have to enlist him as my sparring partner—it had been too long since I’d done physical training with any real dedication.

“Actually, I would appreciate a hand from one or two of you gentlemen,” Rylan said as he restrained Zuric. “This man is a spy and would-be assassin who tried to kill Miss Baine with that bomb just a few days ago.”

“This is the spy?” one of the guards asked incredulously, looking Zuric up and down. “I never would have guessed.”