At the Grand Tribunal, my Donna destroyed my first operation in front of every capo, soldier, and associate the Falcone Syndicate had ever claimed.
She withdrew her hand from the table. "Without your network, let's see how you survive on loyalty alone."
But what I heard was the voice inside her head, sick and frenzied:
With the operation gone, he's nothing. He'll have no choice but to cling to me, day and night. My little caged bird.
Descending the stone steps of the compound's main hall, her step faltered and she fell.
The voice surged again: Does it hurt him to see this? Hurry, come help me up! Just reach out your hand and I'll forgive everything. I'll even let you touch my face...
She pushed herself up, brushed off her black coat twice, and didn't look at me.
Gabriel Renard came over with a burner phone and pressed it into my hands. "Senior associate, the Donna is only doing this for your own good. Once you get used to working without resources, it's really no worse than running a full crew."
I took the phone and bowed my head. "The Donna's correction is just. I acknowledge my fault."
Back at the main estate on Sovereign Hill, Seraphina Falcone had my network of informants, safe houses, and escape routes dismantled and reassigned the revenue streams to Gabriel.
Cry. Just shed one tear. Beg me once, and I'd give you my life.
I packed my things into a duffel bag and moved to the servants' quarters at the back of the compound.
Seraphina stood in the doorway. Her left hand went to her wrist, rotating it slowly, as though adjusting a bracelet that was no longer there.
Why won't you beg me? Are you trying to make me die of heartbreak? Fine. Let's see how long that stubborn pride lasts. When you can't take it anymore, you'll come crawling back, crying for me to hold you.
She didn't know the extraction had been arranged.
Seven more days, and I'd be free of this lunatic. Home for good.
What I didn't expect was that the moment I truly vanished, that lunatic would appear in my bedroom drenched in blood, her fingers locked around my ankle like a vice, laughing.
...
I set the pot of antiseptic solution over the portable burner.
For a handful of medical supplies, I'd dragged my wounded body through the back lots of Falcone territory for four hours, scrounging from every contact who still owed me a debt too small for Seraphina to notice.
The wooden door exploded inward, kicked off its hinges. Splinters rained down.
A polished leather shoe came down on the pot.
The vessel cracked apart. Brown antiseptic splashed across the floor.
Scalding dregs hit the back of my hand, raising angry red welts.
Gabriel Renard stood in the doorway, grinning.
"Senior associate, that chemical stench is unbearable. What if it upsets my finch?"
Behind him trailed soldiers from the enforcement crew, every one of them men I'd once trained.
Now they stood with arms folded, hands near their holsters, not sparing me a glance.
Gabriel plucked the half-used vial of coagulant from the floor.
"Perfect. My finch has been off its feed. This stuff is common trash, but it'll do as a treat for a pet."
That was pharmaceutical-grade coagulant. Black market. Nearly impossible to source.
Five years ago, when Seraphina was gravely wounded after the ambush at the Hidden Port, I'd fought my way into rival territory and bled half my body dry to bring back that single supply.
She'd glanced at it once and said, "Adequate."
Now I was on my hands and knees in the back lots scrounging for scraps, and Gabriel was feeding them to a bird.
Before, I would have drawn on him and fought him over it. Now I just watched the countdown running in my mind.
Time remaining until extraction from this world: six days.
I stepped back, making room for Gabriel.
"If it pleases you, junior associate, take it."
Gabriel's smile froze. He hadn't expected compliance. He laughed, a half-beat too late, his eyes darting to the soldiers behind him to gauge their reactions before committing to his own amusement.
His fingers stroked the fur-lined coat draped over his shoulders.
That was Snowball's pelt.
My closest companion. Raised for ten years. Fed on my own protection and resources since she was small enough to fit in my coat pocket.
Yesterday Gabriel had mentioned he was cold. Seraphina had her killed and skinned.
Gabriel pulled the coat tighter and nuzzled his face into the fur collar.
"Senior associate, this pelt is so warm. I really must thank the Donna for spoiling me. Don't blame her, though. An animal getting to keep me warm? That's the best fate a beast could hope for."
A stab of pain in my chest. Then nothing.
I stared at the muddy water on the ground.
A few more days. Then this would be over.
Seraphina appeared at the courtyard gate in her black ceremonial coat, the one she wore for sit-downs and sentencings.
She stepped into the small yard, a crease forming between her brows. The smell of mildew, probably. The servants' quarters were a long way from the main house, and the compound didn't waste upkeep on rooms meant for the forgotten.
She looked at me.
"It was just a beast."
