I had been warned about Selene Voss.
Not by name, not at first. In Cassian's briefing folder, she appeared on the third page of the social network section under a heading that said simply: Prior Associations, Handle With Care. Half a page. Precise, economical, the way Cassian wrote everything, like a man who understood that the most dangerous information should take up the least space. Former close acquaintance of Lucien Drax. Longstanding presence in the family's social orbit. Nature of relationship: unspecified. Status: ongoing contact, intermittent.
I had read that half page four times. I had decided unspecified was doing significant work in that sentence and filed it accordingly.
I was not, it turned out, adequately prepared.
The charity auction was held on a Thursday evening at a
