Sterling had caught the threat. Damon had ended it. The distinction sat between them like a line drawn in sand and both men knew who had crossed it.
Blair watched Damon release the broken finger the way a woman watches a man reveal a skill set she hadn't inventoried. Her expression gave the room nothing. Her pulse gave her everything.
"The Princess has asked you three times what you were referring to when you said 'half-blood's mark.'" Damon's voice had dropped the measured interrogator tone. What replaced it was something that belonged in a room with fewer witnesses. "She has also asked you about 'surviving an extraction.' About 'matebond severed before.' About 'told Solandris the vessel has three now.' And about a 'kill switch.'"
He let each phrase land on its own. Five grenades. One pin per sentence.
"You have five seconds to explain each, or the middle finger matches. Then the ring finger. Then the pinky. Then we start on the other hand. Go."
