Regret Has Fangs

worth home without anyone noticing, the way a

r room had a worn dent in the cushion shaped exactly like her. Mr. Buttons, the gray rabbit with one chewed ear, sat on the highest shelf of her bookcase, reti

way on business, he practically was. Damien, twenty, still had the messy hair and the quick temper, though he had learned to aim his anger at things that deserved it. Julian, nineteen, could charm a stone in

not to be proud. When she caught a cold, Julian brought her tea and terrible jokes. When a boy from her literature class asked her to the autumn dance and then

twelve years, and she had never once thought t

lled her down to the kitchen and told he

r dark hair catching the light. "Mrs. Hale has been with us for years, and her knees are not what they were. This new woman comes v

her toast. "

I thought you might like the company. You have been surrounded by boy

nough to visit the house. A girl her age living down the hall felt st

Eleanor said, and

ng drive and stopped with a groan beside the porch. Lyra watched from the

faded blue dress with a darned hem and carried a single battered suitcase in both hands. She looked up at the house, at the tall windows

d her imm

le ducked her head and said, in a voice so quiet that Lyra had to lean in to hea

warmly. "And you won't be any

ehind her pale eyes, a quick, bright, measuring look, like a cat watching a bird. Th

d loud, with grass on Julian's sleeves and Damien arguing about a foo

ew maid's daughter. She and her mother will b

ng. Julian grinned and said, "Welcome to the madhouse." Ki

Lyra's surprise,

ver her face, shoulders shaking, her small suitcase tipping against her leg. "I'm so sorry," she gas

ping forward. "Of course we are. Come, sit d

h a handkerchief. Damien's expression softened in a way Lyra had not seen in a while. Adrian clear

rs and managed a wobbling smile. "Thank

it was only that she was used to being the one the boys fussed over. She pushed the feeling a

aking the suitcase. "I'll show you to your

up at her, eyes

," she said softly. "I hop

ds. She learned the household routines with startling speed. She knew exactly when Adrian liked his coffee, how Damien took his tea, and which

en on warm afternoons. She even offered her a cardigan one chilly morning, and Camille accepted it with such grateful,

e the other thing

ched how Julian saved the last piece of cake and slid it across the table without a word, and how Kieran, wherever he was in the house, always seemed

d exactly what she was looking at. She was looking

th day, she

small, choked sound from the landing. She turned and found Camille standing with he

ied over. "What happ

," she said, wiping her eyes. "Please, Miss Lyra, i

You don't have

mile that seemed to cost her a great deal, and t

r. Adrian was standing at the top of the staircase, a pen stil

amille? Was

a said. "I'll bring her some tea l

back to his study. Lyra thought nothing of it. She went to her room and s

ttom of the stairs, wiped her face dry with her sleeve, and listened. She had heard Lyra's

mille

ious boy see her cry. That was enough for one day. Lies, she knew, were like

her book, and the house went on being warm and loud and

thing