“I know that, John,” he snapped.
“What is going on?”
Alcroft and Lucian immediately turned my way.
“We woke you.” Alcroft looked apologetic. “There’s been another murder.”
“John.”
Alcroft shut his eyes. “She needs to know. Gildon is in an uproar.” Opened eyes pinned me. “The gilded squares are calling for your brothers’ heads. The trial is being moved forward again.”
“Spirits be damned, John!” His voice was harsh.
“She has toknow, Gabriel.”
An uproar and the gilded squares caring meant one thing. “Who was murdered?” I walked farther into the room, the cold floor seeping into my feet.
“Anastasia Rasen.”
A pink fluttering bird flew across my mind. I knew her. Not well, but I knew her. And a pair of eyes from Worley’s wall would fit her face.
“They are blaming Ferris? What about Thorne Worley? The drawings on his wall?”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Alcroft grimaced. “I can only imagine from what Gabriel described.”
If Anastasia was the fifth woman on his wall, that only left the lady in the veil, the central figure of the altar.
“We need to appeal to the papers. Whisper in the right ears. Reinvigorate the watch, put Dresden further on Worley’s trail. There is still a chance.”
I wanted to hug Alcroft.
Lucian’s eyes were focused on the floor, but his gaze was vacant. Gabriel was staring at his brother’s bent head.
“Why Anastasia Rasen?” My hands knotted in my robe. “And what about the sixth woman—the lady in the veil?”
Lucian’s mouth opened, but Gabriel cut over him. “We don’t know. Get dressed.”
Closed and unapproachable, not how I’d thought the morning would go.
His eyes closed briefly, then reopened pained. “Please. We need to hurry.”
Alcroft and Lucian’s faces lit with surprise. I nodded and hurried back upstairs.
~*~
GABRIEL
John whistled. “You are enamored.”
Lucian nodded in agreement, eyes narrowed.
“I don’t have time to deal with that,” I said, pushing aside their curiosity. “Tell me, what is happening? What do we need to contain?”
“The gilded are beside themselves, as can be expected, knowing the identity of the victim,” John said. “It will be even worse if they figure out the rest. Time is limited. You only need to know one to unravel the set. You need to catch the man responsible.”
I didn’t look at my brother. “Lucian, fetch the carriage.”
Lucian stalked from the room without a backward glance.
