The silence in the room was suffocating.

Drusilla stood frozen, her lungs seized, as the tip of Seraphina’s cane stopped mere inches from the scrap of fallen silk. It sat mockingly atop the dark rug, a shimmering shard of evidence that could end Drusilla’s life before the sun finished its descent.

Her soul seemed to leave her body for a heartbeat, but the instinct to survive, and the loyalty she felt for Arielle jolted her into motion.

"Forgive me, Luna! I am so clumsy today," Drusilla ...