"You are a liar, Black Fang."
Black Fang did not move, and neither did the man holding her chin.
Snow had quit the garden and the coals had quit the brazier, so the only light left in the dawn dojo came off the moonlit drifts outside and the thin violet burning in her eyes.
His fingers stayed where they were, her palm stayed flat against his chest, and the cold went on pouring off her into a hall that had already given up everything it had to give.
The accusation stood between them, spoken twice and not once denied.
"I am done waiting," Black Fang decreed suddenly. "We settle everything once and for all."
"Everything...?" Quinlan's eyes began to blaze, like banked coals given air. Did 'everything' include that bet of theirs?
"Yes," she replied, eyes locked onto his. "Everything."
"Where's the rush?" His thumb stroked her chin. "A few more weeks and you win by default. You've been patient for centuries. A month is nothing."
"A month is not nothing."
