da

but the Rat hiding among them had already been marked. I turne

I had to expose the sn

pulling my most trusted Associates, Rosa and Siena, close. "We

assigned to the outer perimeter. "Matteo is too rigid as head of security," she purred, tracing the rim of a crystal g

w maids. "Carmela is too slow," Rosa whispered, handing Lucia a stack of silk c

ridors like a starved hound, aggressively turning away two maids sent by other Collaterals with bribes for inform

hallway, I watched the frantic

norina," Rosa whispered bes

owels with chilling indifference. "In our world, a true Rat is already well-fed with blood money. They don't

ust had to wait for Carmel

male resident was required to attend the gathering in the Solarium, hosted by Geraldine Blackwell, the former

pt my skin bare. I cultivated the fragile, hollowed-out exhaustion of a woman who had been ruthlessly consumed by the

he heavy glass doors of the So

urves-a desperate, pathetic attempt to catch Dante's eye. Her

roughly pinch my chin. "You look like a washed-out corpse. Do you honestly t

stared at her with the dead, chilling calm of a

authoritative thud of a silver-ti

lanked by four heavily armed Soldati. She wore a deep burgundy velvet gown draped in snow

Geraldine commanded, her

ng her hand back as if

an graced with my son's Claiming Gift is not subject to the petty judgments of a lowly Collateral," the Matria

draining of all color. The surrounding women immediately

red bow of respect. She gave me a curt nod

e lowered, playing the part of the exhausted favorite. But as I

phant smirk played on her lips, her eyes gleaming with the anticipation of tearing me down,