Blood and Petals

e city outside. Emilia's footsteps echoed against the stone floor as she made her way through the nave, with her fingers

had often felt cruel and unpredictable to her. But tonight, there was something different about him. The lines o

rchangel. He didn't speak at first, he merely gestured for her to sit. Emilia hesitated befo

ured. His voice was

herself to steel into her tone, though her hands

ome. "Your father's death was not a tragic accident, Emilia." His eyes, they we

y know that," she said, though the bitterness in her voice did littl

pressing together in a silent prayer

i family was

ent, Emilia could only hear the blood rushin

it confirmed everything, and it sent a fres

ispered, barely able t

tegrity, Emilia. He had seen things; he knew things that put him at odds with powerful peopl

s her nails dug into her pa

"I told myself that keeping silent would protect more lives. But my silence only ensured t

e was no way she would let him see her

ice was steadier than how she felt. "Rumors mea

pression. "This contains documents, letters, and photographs. They are evidence of the betrayal. It names names,

elt its weight as though it carried t

n Lomb

lips before she ha

sion darkened. "Be care

rply. "Do you thi

"No. Not directly. But he's still a Lombardi. You

mind, the way he had taunted her, the way he had looked at her

he k

playing he

bruptly with her grip tightening on the en

lled with worry. "Then you must prepare yourself, Emi

w he wa

already made

ch, there was a

he envelope clutched tightly against her chest, she failed to

as unreadable as he watched her. He had been trailing her since she left

d into St. Michael

changed in the

answers. And that

ly she had learned tonight, but if it had anyth

r

for

the envelope as if sensing she was being watched. She scanned the stre

turned, walking briskl

a moment longer, as his mind

ust a game of push a

ing onto dang

t too close t

whether he'd be a

the one forc