"Visitors at the gate, ma'am."

I look up sharply at the man standing in front of me. Wolfe, the Warlord's personal bodyguard, and by extension, mine as well. He's my guard, my captor, my enforcer, but never my friend. He watches me with longing, but not the hopeless wistful kind. No, like he wants to eat me up, he watches like the wolf he is. Steady, piercing, planning. His look has always made my heart stutter in trepidation. There's a clock between us, slowly ticking down to ...