Alaric
*[This just got considerably more dangerous,]* Rook said, tense, already reading the shift in everyone's posture around the clearing. *[If Dorian's got backup, moving on him tonight could turn violent fast.]*
*I know.*
I studied Sable a long moment, weighing exactly how much to trust information coming from a woman whose own motives remained, at best, only partially clear to any of us. "Define scattered loyalists," I said. "How many, and how dangerous."
"Small numbers. A handful, maybe, still holding onto old allegiances even after Vance's fall." Sable's expression stayed carefully neutral. "Not enough to mount a real assault on your den. Enough to make an isolated extraction attempt considerably riskier than you'd want, if your uncle realizes he's been exposed and tries to run
