“Ghost didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. They had him locked away when Loki wasn’t there.” Blaze’s gaze pans across the street as she walks, always on alert. “I don’t know what Reynard was playing at or what he thought it meant. Maybe he just wanted to remind us what a bastard Winter can be. But the Fallen aren’t a problem. There’s a full raid team of Guardians stationed here now. They break the truce, we’ll break them.”

She shrugs, then. “It’s their code. The thing their society runs on, that keeps their Houses together. A Fallen warrior’s honor, and the glory of their House, those are everything to them. Not that different to us Guardians, when you get down to it. Everyone needs something to live by. Something to fight for. Obviously they don’t tell us the specifics. But they’re loyal to each other, and brave. I’ve never seen Fallen abandon each other on the field. Never seen the weakest little dreg turn and run from battle. Every one of them has to fight to prove they’re worthy.”