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"No wonder he hasn’t answered any of my letters," Daniel said "It looks as if the doctor has ed her finger across a dusty spine "Do you think one of these booksfor?" Luce asked, pulling one from the shelf: Canzoniere by Petrarch, typeset in Gothic font "I’ a look around if it could help us find the desi--"

She stopped speaking She’d heard so--the soft croon of a woels eyed one another as another sound reached the, ca wheeled Daniel moved to the open doorway and Luce followed, cautiously peering into the hallway

A dark shadow stretched toward them Candles flickered in the pink stone alcoves of the curved, tunnellike hallway, distorting the shadow,

The shadoner, a thin woan, and very high black heels, walked toward the a fancy silver tea tray on wheels Her fiery red hair was pulled up in a chignon Elegant golden hoops glittered in her ears

So about the way she walked, the way she carried herself, seemed familiar

As the wohtly, casting her profile in shadow against the wall The curve of the nose, the upward swoop of the chin, the short jut of the brow bone--all gave Luce the feeling of déjà vu She searched her past for other lives where she ht have known this woman

Suddenly, the blood drained from Luce’s face All the hair dye in the world couldn’t fool her

The wo the tea cart was Miss Sophia Bliss

Before she knew it, Luce had her hands around a cold brass fire poker resting in a stand by the library door She raised it like a weapon, jaw clenched and heart ha, and barreled into the hallway

"Luce!" Daniel called

"Dee?" Arriane shouted

"Yes, dear?" the wo at her She jue

"What are you doing?" Daniel whispered

"She’s--she’s--" Luce struggled against Daniel, feeling his grasp burn her waist This woman had murdered Penn She’d tried to kill Luce Why didn’t anyone else want to kill her?

Arriane and Annabelle ran to Miss Sophia and tackled her in a double hug

Luce blinked

Annabelle kissed the woman’s pale cheeks "I haven’t seen you since the Peasants’ Revolt in Nottingham

as that, the 1380s?"

"Surely it hasn’t been that long," the wo the same kindly-librarian way it had early on at Sword & Cross, when she tricked Luce into liking her "Lovely time"

"I haven’t seen you in a while, either," Luce said hotly She jerked away fro it were so more deadly

"Not since you murdered my friend--"

"Oh dear" The wo at her and tapped a slender finger to her lips "There must be so Luce from Miss Sophia "It’s just that you look like someone else" His calm hand on her shoulder made Luce pause

"What do you ave Luce a sad sht she e should have told you that transeternals often look alike"

"You mean, she’s not Miss Sophia?"

"Sophia Bliss?" The wo sour "That bitch is still around? I was sure someone would have put her out of her ed at Luce "She is e of the rage I have accu"

Luce laughed nervously The fire poker slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor She studied the older wo si at the same time--and differences Compared to Sophia’s black eyes, this woolden, ean

The scene with the fire poker had eainst the curved brick wall and sank to the ground, feeling empty, unsure whether she was relieved not to have to face Miss Sophia again "I’htly "The day I encounter Sophia again, I’ll grab the nearest heavy object and bludgeon herout a hand to help Luce up, pulling her so hard her feet shot off the ground "Dee’s an old friend

And a first-class party aniht I add Got the ht the Crusades to a grinding halt the night she seduced Saladin"

"Oh, nonsense!" Dee said, flapping a hand dismissively

"She’s the best storyteller, too," Annabelle added

"Or she was before she dropped off the face of the earth

Where’ve you been hiding, woolden eyes dampened "Actually, I fell in love"

"Oh, Dee!" Annabelle crooned, clasping the woman’s hand "Hoonderful"