Russ

ach, sharp as a blade. I gripped the

ou should head t

s narrowed and calculatin

justing his cuff. "I need a historic v

passed clean through, leaving

g port

"There's a gothic estate on the outskirts of the cit

." It wasn't a request. "I'm cas

od oath was iron.

be t

ment my apartment door clicked shut behind me, my legs gave out. I c

tchen. She slid across the f

la

y sobs tore out of me, eac

t my soul away from his." I choked o

ng me with a fierce, desperate stre

ied to a chair in a warehouse. Silas stood over me, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, his hands dark with fresh blood. "Why did you betray the Famiglia?" he demande

ing, my lungs burnin

nd. A single text from Silas: "

riorating frame. I swallowed a handful of painkil

n the gravel drive, flanked by four armed soldiers. A thick morning fog

ough the mist, it felt like no time had passed at all. Like

, and the illu

sionally polite, utterly distant-as if I we

thing to

g. I was unfinished b

-