ive, baroque-style fountain. Water cascaded ove
oor open. She stepped out, her cheap canva
e. The anger on their faces vanished, instantly r
marble steps. They entered a foyer with ceilings so high it made t
f the sweeping grand stai
ite hair was pulled back into a severe knot. Her ey
entirely. They lo
ver handle of her cane. She descended the stair
hand, his smile stretching his cheeks
t him. The draft of her m
died Justice's face, her eyes tracing th
er voice was raspy, carrying the weig
bobbing. He grabbed Meredith's arm an
down a long, dimly lit cor
r. A red laser swept across Eleonora's eye
ooked like a top-tier ICU, sterile and bright.
ard the bed in the
culpted, flawless, and pale. An oxygen mask covered his nose
ide of the bed. Her eyes
sure: 110/70. Brain waves:
d. The intervals between the heartbeats were too perfect. The respiratory rate had a
s fak
Auguste's face. She t
slammed hard into the metal ca
k echoed in th
ils beneath the thin skin of his closed lids underwent a microscopic contraction, a pure, uncontrollable physiological
shed against the back of Auguste's ha
b of muscle between his thumb and index finger-the Hegu acupoint. She
Instead of a violent jerk, the subcutaneous muscle tissue near the acupoint underwent a rapid, almost invisi
ed her cane. It hit the flo
ds flying to her chest.
o the monitor. "Neurological reflex," the doctor brea
's hand, her fingers digging into Justice's
hest heaving. "You are the mi
ocked so tight his teeth ached. He wante
ar-stained face, then down at t
over and squeezed Eleon
w," Justice
r eyes with a lace handkerchief, a young fo
the same one that had been retrieved from the trun
rters. The footman caught the butler's eye and gave a slight nod, indicating the ite
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