Chapter 23 · The Second Son's Mark

"Hands up. Slow." The blade touched Ivy's throat before she finished turning. "Try anything, and I open you from ear to ear."

"Don't." The guard captain pressed harder. "Name. Now."

Ten men blocked the tunnel, steel catching the torchlight. Ivy counted them twice. The passage was too narrow for all ten to swing at once, but the knife at her throat made that math useless.

"You're Victor's men," she said. "Not Frosthollow's. You've got no business down here."

The captain leaned closer. Sour wine hit the back of her throat. "Curfew gives us business everywhere. Name."

"Touch her again, and I burn every contract your captain signed."

Ryan's voice came from the dark behind them. A lantern swung at his side as he walked into view, steady and unhurried.

The captain kept his blade in place. "You're the ledger boy. Cute tricks with numbers don't cut throats."

"No." Ryan stopped several paces away. His jaw was tight, but his gaze stayed cold. "They cut pay."

A guard snorted. Another shifted his spear.

Ryan lifted a folded sheet. "All ten of you are three weeks late on wages. Victor's Company of the Red Hand, contracted through Ashford Trading.