This was not a good thing, nor was it a bad thing.It was whatever Cal made of it.The critical detail, and the one he kept reminding himself of, was that they were on the same side. A close second to that was the confirmation that his mission was condoned by the emperor himself. Knowing that he wasn’t currently trespassing was a relief, and while he’d love to further process that, the woman stalking toward him didn’t leave much room for that.As she neared, he knew one thing had to be made clear.“I’m going to ask you not to call me that,” he said in a firm tone, keeping his uncertainty at bay.There was a line he had to straddle. He didn’t want to be difficult, but if he was too cooperative, he was worried she’d take it as a sign of weakness and dictate the future herself. He was not willing to surrender that to a stranger.Like last night, there was too much to lose.“Seems you’re house-trained,” she said with silent steps. “Then if not son of death, what should I call you?”The jab rolled off him, and the name followed. This was too important to be ruined by her.“Callum will be fine,” he offered, noticing how her advance hadn’t slowed.For a brief instant, he had been tempted to return the verbal barb. A very, very brief instant.Her thick eyebrow rose, but that was the extent of her reaction.“A snake will be a snake,” she said, shifting her next step to the right. Her weapons were held loosely in (...)