Miles responded instantly, his voice steady and deceptively warm: "Cassandra, dont say that. As long as youre doing well, I feel at peace." At that moment, Miles fancied himself noble, utterly unaware that he was being played for a fool.

Jasper, on the other hand, was stone-faced, his expression unreadable.

Over the years in medicine, hed encountered human suffering in all its forms, studied the wide array of masks people wear to endure life. Yet nevernot oncehad he ...