a Hay

rning in the hearth and the pale, gray ligh

by a dense morning fog that hovered a

g the heavy patc

g by the front win

tton-down shirt from yesterday, his posture so perfect

, completely devoid of the rumpled exhaustion

ll night?" I asked, my

ned around

s completely refreshed, his gl

and placed a sleek, unbranded black

," he said in his low

thing, and a proper mattress for the ca

black card, my

rupt driver. Black cards are private

didn'

cle maintenance and regional travel. I am permitted

, pushing the card

al protection, not financial dependence. I have

irritation crossed

irrelevant abstraction, but to me,

ena," he said, ignoring my re

timber wolves in this valley are aggre

d and stepped out the front door, the

f his truck engine echoed through th

changed into a clean flannel shirt, and prepared for

broken glass from my studio floor

displayed Gene

endent single mother who ran the local maritime supply depot

evieve's voice exploded through the e

ld your soul to a demon, and Billy Tucker is threatening

ted, leaning aga

rday m

ng silence stretc

e, Serena?" Ge

me from, and he looks like an extra from a gothic horror film! You're meeting me at

it's fine,

I'm driving out to that cr

hung

ooking down

with outsiders, but if I didn't introduce him to Geneviev

Julian's number: My best friend Genevieve wants to

Sincl

ber Glass Villa, looking down at the legal brief

e been fully recalled," Bryon reporte

ure notice by four o'clock today. Billy Tuc

the mist drift through the

hone vibrated

reading Serena

rf Gril

tual annoyance ri

at midday was the la

e chaotic thoughts of dozens of humans packed into

a rejection: I

rning-the stubborn pride that refused my money

iend would assume I was an

arry that humi

ted th

here in twe

safe behind the seventeenth-century

ric plate, and the panel slid open t

stial silver, set with an uncut, deep-sea lapis lazuli stone th

ring onto my ri

nergy enveloped my cellular structure, neutralizing the lethal ultraviolet rays

ructed Bryon, pulling a tailored cha

ining i

at me in st

ght, My Lord?

me repeat m