re on legs that di

Marble and gold and a mirror that showed her exactly what she looked like: bloodshot eyes, skin gray under the

ed against it, and presse

whispered. "He k

by nightfall - and she had nothing. No money, no family, no name anyone in this city st

c click came f

e far end of the room, a tall figure un

e wore only a black dress shirt,

e?" she gasped, backing

ngs to me," he said,

ugh and still enough that she felt walled in, and the worst part was that some stupi

red dollars

utton of her collar and tugged it down, ju

cash on my nightstand as though I wer

hroat like acid. She

me! I'm Demar

d her back, and pulled her flush against him in one motion, so that her wh

was a dark, lazy laugh against her skin. "You didn't call me your br

ed! It was a

of slate ice. "Then answer me this, Darlen

fr

nce sit there a

lly, "with your fiancé on the other side of that door

She opened her mout

you think I'd

utside. "Darlene?" Demario's voic

nob r

r wrist to the small of her back, and he lifted her - lifted her - onto the marble counter, stepped in

d of blood from her lower lip where her teeth had been. "Let

ng, sulky silence. Then Demario's fo

feet with a deliberateness t

not loo

re he'd put it. Now the screen lit, throw

ming

read simply: C.

beat, the mas

st stopped being a weapon and became just a hand. He looked at the screen as if it were a bomb about to detonate, then muted the call without ans

and the armor sli

ht her

" he said, quiet. "Some ghosts

d not fo

he first crack she had ever seen in Clayton Montgomery - and c