It was a strange sort of catharsis, to know the vision in her head had been a lie.
Not Mikhail at all, but a manipulation.
In the door, the white blister of light seemed to pulse with living energy. She imagined she could see him standing there—Misha, tall and proud.
She touched her fingers to her chin.Thank you.
Lane’s smile was warm. Warm, and undeserved. “You don’t need to thank me,” she said softly, and Vivienne wanted to flinch back from the kindness in her voice. Here was more grace she didn’t deserve. Here was more pity she couldn’t abide.
These were Thomas’s people—Thomas’sfriends—and she’d nearly killed them.
When Thomas held out a hand to her, she accepted it with reluctance, letting him guide her off the shelf. Her hand in his was bloody. Her fingers shook. Beneath her bones, her heart felt like it might break. She wished she’d never kissed him, that day in his room. She wished she’d never let herself hope.
Because now, hope was gone, and it would have been better not to have had him at all than to have had him and let him go.
And that’s what she’d have to do.
Let him go.
He had a whole life ahead of him. And all she had was death.
She moved across the room on unsteady legs, as though she was a newborn calf learning to walk for the very first time. On the floor, Molly and Judd sprang to their feet.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” said Thomas.
“Agreed,” said Hayes, setting a book back onto its shelf.
“If I never see the inside of a church again,” grumbled Colton, “it’ll be too soon.”
They didn’t make it far. Out in the cathedral’s weed-riven lot, they found Philip waiting for them.
He stood just outside the family SUV, dressed in pale blue seersucker and oxfords. And he wasn’t alone. A towering stranger accompanied him, dressed for business in a tailored three-piece suit.
“Colton,” whispered Lane, “is that your—”
“Dad?”
The man’s eyes were coffee dark, his close-cropped curls shot through with silver. He stared disapprovingly down his nose at his son.
“I have no idea how it is you came to be tangled up in this nonsense,” he said coldly, “but I want you back home immediately.”
“Home,” said Colton flatly. “That’s a good one. What are you doing here?”
“I’m in town handling a bit of personal business.”
“You have business in an abandoned churchyard in New Haven?”
“This matter does not concern you, C. J.” His father spat out each word like venom. “You start digging where you shouldn’t, and things will go very badly for you.”
“A threat,” noted Colton. “How fatherly of you.”
Beside him, Philip looked seconds from going apoplectic. Vivienne knew him well enough to know that whatever his relationship was to the stranger, it wasn’t amicable.
“I think you and I are just about done here, anyway,” Philip said.
“Hardly,” bit out Colton’s father. “But I agree, there’s a time and place. We can continue this conversation in front of my lawyer.”
Philip bristled visibly. His eyes darted to Vivienne. “My papers are all in order, Christian. Your claims won’t hold in court.”
