Alarice,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to see you.”“Can’t say the sentiment’s returned.

If she died today, she died making her brother proud. But she didn’t want to die.

You could have me hanged,” Alarice offered. “If there are no witnesses, it never happened.

Serena whirled, turning toward Lorelei, her eyes wild as she considered the second choice she had just been offered. Lorelei gave her a small nod.  She shifted to Kary, silently begging her younger sister to have mercy.  

It was funny to feel so at peace - enough to ponder such trivial things - when she was about to send hundreds of men to their demise, and while she too was facing death.

It’s your imagination,” she told herself, “you’re not turning into a demonic cat.

She fell into their booth, right on the lap of a fallen angel. 

Right. Well, I wouldn’t know.” Sophia dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “It’s not like you speak anything other than English with me.” “You only know five words in Spanish and they’re all insults.” “They’re the most necessary of the words.” Sophia shrugged and gave the green-eyed girl a playful glare.

Now he had come to know that Kary was utterly irresponsible. What else could explain her coming back relentlessly to the place that had almost led to her assassination?