ive, baroque-style fountain. Water cascaded ove

oor open. She stepped out, her cheap canva

e. The anger on their faces vanished, instantly r

marble steps. They entered a foyer with ceilings so high it made t

f the sweeping grand stai

ite hair was pulled back into a severe knot. Her ey

entirely. They lo

ver handle of her cane. She descended the stair

hand, his smile stretching his cheeks

t him. The draft of her m

died Justice's face, her eyes tracing th

er voice was raspy, carrying the weig

bobbing. He grabbed Meredith's arm an

down a long, dimly lit cor

r. A red laser swept across Eleonora's eye

ooked like a top-tier ICU, sterile and bright.

ard the bed in the

culpted, flawless, and pale. An oxygen mask covered his nose

ide of the bed. Her eyes

sure: 110/70. Brain waves:

d. The intervals between the heartbeats were too perfect. The respiratory rate had a

s fak

Auguste's face. She t

slammed hard into the metal ca

k echoed in th

ils beneath the thin skin of his closed lids underwent a microscopic contraction, a pure, uncontrollable physiological

shed against the back of Auguste's ha

b of muscle between his thumb and index finger-the Hegu acupoint. She

Instead of a violent jerk, the subcutaneous muscle tissue near the acupoint underwent a rapid, almost invisi

ed her cane. It hit the flo

ds flying to her chest.

o the monitor. "Neurological reflex," the doctor brea

's hand, her fingers digging into Justice's

hest heaving. "You are the mi

ocked so tight his teeth ached. He wante

ar-stained face, then down at t

over and squeezed Eleon

w," Justice

r eyes with a lace handkerchief, a young fo

the same one that had been retrieved from the trun

rters. The footman caught the butler's eye and gave a slight nod, indicating the ite