She might've had the skill to get them out of the Hold, but God knew how she'd fare across the desert of Altadas. And God wasn't telling.

Silence fell with night, but Jacob couldn't entirely silence his racing mind, nor speed it up to the finish line.

The silence just allowed the echoes of the question to play out in Nox’s mind, reminding him of his own unwinnable war against the never-ending tide of conmen and criminals. He was trying to clean up these parts, but every time he rubbed away a stain, he found another layer of dirt beneath. So, you could give up—or you could keep on scrubbing.

If you didn’t have your guns, you still had your mouth. Of course, you had to be careful how you fired that off.

Rommond placed his gun upon the table like a writer places an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. There was a hint of finality about the gesture, like an announcement that this was the end of the debate. Taberah must've recognised it, for she didn't sustain her verbal assault. She turned and left, and if silence was her shield, it was also her weapon, leaving a sting behind in the quiet air.