Chapter 13 - The Conservatory
They went in at nine dressed like guests with nothing to hide. Mara wore her green dress again, repaired at the torn seam. Adrian wore a dark shirt open at the throat, his tattoos impossible to miss. Lucian wore the same black suit, now with a clean cuff and a dirty conscience.
“Try to look relaxed,” Mara whispered.
“I am relaxed,” Adrian said.
“You look like you're planning to murder the centerpiece.”
“It's an ugly centerpiece.”
She almost laughed. Almost.
Inside, the conservatory glowed with candles and rare orchids. A pianist played beneath the glass roof. Celeste stood at the center of the room, smiling as she accepted a donation for vulnerable children.
Mara tasted bile.
Lucian peeled away toward the security controls. June waited in a surveillance van across the street. Adrian offered Mara his arm.
“Dancing?” she asked.
“Surveillance.”
“Then lead.”
He drew her onto the floor. They moved in a slow circle, counting cameras and doors. His hand at her back was steady. Hers trembled against his shoulder.
“You can still leave,” he murmured.
“And let her win?”
“No. And live.”
She looked up at him. “Those don't have to be different things.”
A woman's laugh cut through the music. Celeste approached them with a glass of champagne.
“Adrian! And Miss Bennett. What a surprise.”
“Not a good one, I hope,” Mara said.
Celeste's smile sharpened. “You have Evelyn's eyes. She was very stubborn, too.”
“Funny. I hear that about everyone you try to kill.”
The music stopped. Two guards shifted closer.
Celeste didn't look at them. “Careful. People can vanish in rooms full of witnesses.”
Adrian stepped forward. “Where is Sophie?”
Celeste sipped her drink. “You're asking the wrong question, darling.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Why would your brave little friend bring me the only key that could destroy my life?”
Mara felt for the seam of her dress. It was empty.
May you like
Somebody had taken Evelyn's key while they danced.
THE LAST DANCE AT BLACKTHORN HALL •
