If it had, one of them would have been killed. The blade lay coolly against her neck but didn't bite into her flesh. "You could kill me," Druz pointed out, knowing she was treading thin ice, "but if you did, perhaps you would rob my species of good traits for the next generation." Even as she said that, she realized she might have thrown the druid's own beliefs back in his face too hard. The druid cocked his head. "Perhaps… and perhaps there are traits in you that would be better weeded out to increase the longevity of your species." "I'm coming with you," Druz repeated, though less forcefully than she had the first time. "For the gold?" the druid asked. "Because I want the wolf dead. I saw what it did to that child, and I know how I would feel if I was the boy's…" Druz swallowed hard. "You don't have a choice other than to let me go. The shepherd who hired us has deep pockets. His stock has done well, and the recent war in the Sea of Fallen Stars has insured that he gets the best prices for his livestock." The druid waited, his eyes flicking to the other hunters. "I can tell the shepherd that the wolf has been dealt with," Druz said. She swallowed hard and felt the scimitar's edge bite more deeply. "Otherwise, the shepherd may well fill these forests with hunters." "It would be bad for the hunters," the druid promised. Druz glared at him. "Could you kill them all?" "Perhaps. Patience is its own reward, and I am very patient." "You couldn't get them all," Druz pointed out. "Not before they did considerable damage to this area's wildlife. Besides hunting and killing wolves, they'd also be living off the land. If we didn't come back, the shepherd will put even more men into the hunt. Those men would wreak havoc in these forests. Is that what you want?" The druid's eyes locked with hers for a time, and for just a moment, Druz thought her life was forfeit.