ened t

at a lot later. But Dominic had said let her in, and

, and walked past her into t

Dominic shaking hands with a minister. She slipped off her heels and lined

s going to

er breathing was slow, her voice low and plea

me to apologize,

Vivian smiled. "He belie

er finger. She turned it once

'd keep it a secret." She tilted her head. "Do you know how many nights I've sat in that study whi

She had carried it in from the cab pressed a

you to

cked that box, and I saw it from the car, because I'm not stupid. You think I don't kn

ing you. I'm

go, he starts asking why. Then he starts asking me. I spent eight years making sure Dominic

n the hall

ina said. "Dominic put them

corner. Her smile got wider. "They went down at nine f

n the dark. Her stomach drop

e

er. But some stubborn part of her thought, my room, my lock, the phone o

, bare feet. No ladylike ga

and Vivian's hand closed around her wrist. Iro

it t

t g

it t

Vivian didn't even glance at it. She backed Seraphina against the banister, her face inches awa

hatever happens tonight, he'll believe me.

a second before it happen

an. D

id, soft as someone shutting

she p

ht her hip. Then

when she was just in the air, and s

olor than a sound. Her head hit the ninth and the world went white and rang like a bell. She couldn't stop rolling.

t on the marbl

h her mouth open and nothing moving in or out. Far above, s

. She looked down with a sort of tender interest, t

veryone saw. It was such an awful nig

to speak. Blood

d, almost fondly. "I'm going to call him now. I'll be c

rt. It was extraordinary. In less than a second, a calm w

ll down the stairs, I tried to grab her

went gray

osed over her was the torn sketchbook page lyin

antiseptic and a machin

was strapped tight around her ribs, and every breath scraped like grave

in the chair

y too many hands, dark smudges under his eyes. When she turn

d wrist, a concussion. You were out for six hours.

told

Give it to me. The push. I'm so sorry, Sera. The whole time she watched h

he didn't say any

last. "She was hysterical. They had

min

he window and put a hand flat on the glass. "I'm saying I need to se

hina lay still and listened to one side of i

y low, and she had learned in five years that w

red the

urn around. "Every camera. Wiped clean. No damage

Seraphina thought. F

his face wasn't the one he wore for the rest

. I'll turn this city upside down. Whoever touched

spital bed with her ribs on

s phone

linched behind his eyes. An old reflex.

e meeting her gaze. "She's asking for me. It's a b

ed at him for

ned her face

osed softly

a thin, bruised pink. Dominic didn't come back. A nurse changed he

rty, her ph

arranged private transport, they'll come to your room at

aughed. Home was w

er, and she didn't have a car. She let the

the dot, som

, with a clipboard, a polite smile, and a wheelchai

ong. She was too t

r, out through a back door she'd never have found by hersel

ere. No hospital logo. No

ars. Dominic's driver. Sixty years

e's H

n said easily. The s

es sat on the bench, big men

hammering agains

my husband," she s

he polite smile didn't change at all.

shed h

nd her. In the dark, sh