My skin crawled. I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, but I opened my system interface in my peripheral vision, aiming it right at the rogue walking shoulder-to-shoulder with me.
[Target: Rolf]
[Analyzing...]
[ERROR: Target level exceeds user. Higher level required.]
My eyes widened.
Error?
My breath hitched.
If Rolf's level exceeded my analytical threshold... Shit. Is he really that much more powerful than me?
I swallowed hard, keeping my expression perfectly blank as we walked.
Rolf suddenly leaned a little closer to me, his voice dropping to a casual, conversational whisper.
"So... you were just relieving yourself back there, right?"
The question wasn't innocent.
It was a probe. He was checking to see exactly how much I had heard.
A spike of raw adrenaline shot through my system, but I ruthlessly clamped down on my emotions and offered him a tired, convincing nod.
"Yeah. Just needed a minute away from the blood."
"Ah. Right, right," Rolf chuckled softly.
