Damian's amusement vanished instantly.
"Care to explain?" he ordered, his voice shifting into the tone that meant someone's life was about to end.
Max straightened instinctively, every muscle in his body snapping into readiness, despite the fact he was hundreds of miles away.
"They're laying groundwork," he said, his voice brisk and professional. "Nothing explosive yet. Whispers through the Commerce Guild. Minor nobles are stirring dissent in the lower ministries. There's talk of Gabriel being an unstable consort. Whispers about his past."
Silence crackled across the line like the moment before a blade strikes.
Max pressed on.
"When would you lift his contract?"
There was no immediate answer.
Max briefly believed the call had been dropped, but he could still hear Damian breathing on the other end, steady, deliberate, and lethal.
When Damian finally spoke, his voice was a low growl, stripped of courtly polish.
"When it's safe."
Max closed his eyes briefly.
Safe.
