“So you’re trying to bargain now.” Isaac gestured to the table. The room was set up almost exactly as it had been last time. The fire, the table, the bed. The only major difference was Isaac himself. He was dressed as he had been at the factory, but his features seemed warmer. His eyes looked awake, alert.

She would not have been able to pick it out before, but Lavinia became suddenly aware that Isaac’s icy eyes had faint dark lines in the iris. Had they been ...