nna

has a

like coppe

I craved. It felt as though every inch of skin from my shoulders to my

in my bed. Someone had m

. I collapsed back into the silk sheets, gasping as the move

re aw

ry. Like a child who ha

ned m

She was applying my lipstick, smacking her l

. My throat felt lin

spinning around on the stool. "But I t

not si

smile that didn't reach her eyes. "We share e

ward the bed. She was hold

dle o

Not

ri

l cello

mach l

ound her fingers. "I always hated the sound of th

lled the sheets tight against my flayed skin, send

"He went to the Commission meeti

do you

re you understand

hand. The hand that pressed the stri

you still have this arrogance about you. You still th

"Because I don't need to steal s

face t

eel A-string arou

in the cave," s

art s

u k

found his journal years ago. He wrote about the girl's voice

ll fin

at he wants to believe. And he wa

d the str

bit into

," I

gers to play, don'

ya

cre

in, grinding down to the bone. B

nd back, but she was strong. Fue

string around

slapping me

wire

ic

r trying to tak

ic

ack. My fingers were mangled, bleeding freely. The nerves were s

ve him. You have every

d simply. "And you aren't allo

tood up and wiped her palms on he

sked. I needed to k

door. She looked bac

was so noisy in the dungeon. Screa

lled m

did yo

ocently. "But Dante's men... they have

pped h

took he

tilted o

," she continued. "So they put a bullet in her hea

n. It was the sound of a wounded anima

My

ed and discarded like

Principessa,

osed t

e pool of m

pped. The sob

tic, beating thing that had hoped f

d

omething cold and s