His call with the duchess had ended.

He was gone, and someone had cleaned the broken glass off the floor.

I followed the sense of him into the adjoining study.

He sat behind his desk, attending a meeting on his computer.

One hand rested loosely at the edge of the desk, a cigarette between his first two fingers.

The ember glowed and faded. A length of white ash formed, unnoticed, then crumbled.

Like a little snowfall nobody saw.

A few strands of hair lay across his brows.

Something an employee said made him smile.

On that beautiful face, the expression was almost demonic.

He took a drag and spoke in fluent French.

Low. Slightly rough. Cold enough to be seductive.

Unfortunately for him, French was one of the languages I spoke well.

“What’s the fun in simply bankrupting them? The best part of a hunt is watching the prey run, bleeding and terrified, until it realizes there’s no way out.”

So that was how he saw me.

I laughed softly at myself.

I had already died once, and I was still naive enough to trust a man. To expect something from a lunatic like Lucian.

He hadn’t been helping me.

He was playing a more exciting hunting game.

I was his prey.

His alone.

The man was completely mad.

Alive or dead, I had only myself to rely on.

I looked down at my hands and remembered Flora’s warning.

Two chances left.

I would wait for the right moment.

I would make them count.

For now, I wanted to get away from Lucian.

Earlier, worried about Ellie, I had left Julian and followed Pearl without anything happening to me.

Perhaps I could choose to follow anyone who possessed something of mine.

A personal belonging.

Or a part of my body.

I concentrated.

The room began to change.

When it settled, I was standing in the backyard of the Whitmore house.

“Are you nearly finished?”

Pearl’s trembling voice came from behind me.

I turned.

She was staring nervously around, as though a ghost might leap out at any moment.

A heavyset man in ceremonial robes stood about ten feet away before an altar, holding a wooden ritual sword and chanting.

He grabbed handfuls of rice and flung them at her.

“Evil spirits, depart! Let no ghost approach!”

Apparently, my little intervention had left quite an impression.

She had hired an exorcist that very night.

For a moment, I worried he might actually catch me.

Then I stood directly in front of him.

Nothing.

A useless fraud.

“Pearl, what are you doing?”

Vivian appeared, drawn by the noise. Her face darkened.

“Where did this con artist come from? Pack up and get out before I make you regret it.”

Once she had chased him away, she turned on Pearl.

“You should be sleeping and taking care of your face. Why bring a charlatan here in the middle of the night?”

Pearl clung to her arm.

“Mom, you have to believe me. I really saw a ghost today. At Starlight Academy. It nearly killed me.”

Something flickered in Vivian’s eyes.

She caught Pearl’s hand.

“Did you see what it looked like?”

“No. I couldn’t see anything. But it was horrible. It threw me more than thirty feet. Look at these cuts. It did this!”

Pearl grew more frightened as she spoke.

“That’s why I brought someone to destroy it. I don’t want it following me.”

She tightened her grip on Vivian.

“I haven’t killed anyone. Why would a ghost come after me? Mom, do you think Stella died out there? Do you think she’s come back?”

Vivian didn’t answer directly.

She stroked Pearl’s head.

“Don’t be silly. There are no ghosts. Someone must be playing tricks on you.”

“But—”

“And even if that bitch has become a ghost, what is there to fear? You have me.”

Her voice hardened. Her fingers moved over her prayer beads.

“I kept her under my feet when she was alive. If she comes back dead, I’ll destroy her soul. She’ll never be reborn.”

The murderous intent coming from her was unmistakable.

Faint black threads curled around her body.

I had seen the same darkness around Slade.

But even that vicious killer hadn’t carried as much as Vivian.

This woman was worse than a murderer.

I realized, bleakly, how far I still was from taking revenge alone.

“It’s late. Go to bed.”

Vivian gently touched Pearl’s beautiful face.

“Remember, this face and this body are your best assets for winning Lucian. Take good care of them.”

At his name, Pearl smiled shyly.

“Mom, do you think he hit my car on purpose? To give himself an excuse to see me again?”

I stared.

She really was an exceptional idiot.

He had knocked out her front tooth, and she was fantasizing about romance.

Vivian actually considered it.

“A man like Lucian rides in custom-built luxury cars. A careless collision like that shouldn’t happen. Even if it did, he could leave everything to his assistant. There was no need to show his face.”

“And he asked if I was all right!” Pearl added eagerly.

Perhaps he wanted to check whether you were dead.

The more she talked, the more convinced she became that he had engineered a romantic encounter.

“He’s never taken the initiative with another woman. I’m different!”

“Of course you are.” Vivian smiled. “You’re Pearl, the artist he idolizes.”

Her confidence in her daughter was absolute.

“Even if he isn’t in love with you yet, he must like you. Be more proactive. Plenty of women would throw themselves at a man like that.”

Pearl took that advice to heart.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll have him.”

I followed her upstairs.

Her room was plastered with protective charms she had bought from the fraud.

To me, they were wallpaper.

She changed into pink lace sleepwear and began posing for selfies.

I could barely stand to watch.

An hour later, she finally finished.

From dozens of photographs, she selected the most suggestive one, showing just enough skin, then carefully retouched it.

She sent it to Lucian.

Such a cheap way to seduce a man.

Still, I was curious about his reaction.

I returned to his room.

He was asleep. His phone lay beside the bed.

In the darkness, the screen silently lit up.