Time split around the dagger.
“Caroline!" Nolan shouted.
I didn't move fast enough to choose. Albert did. He hit Joanna from the side with a clean, brutal shove that redirected the blade into air. The knife clanged against marble. Joanna spun, heels skittering, and pinwheeled toward the stairwell.
“Grab her!" Taylor yelled, too late and too far away.
Joanna's foot missed the top step. She tumbled—dress, hair, pale hands—down the short flight like a dropped doll. The last step caught her face. Blood slicked into the creases of stone and brightened the room.
Half the chamber screamed. The other half gasped.
“Hold!" the guard captain barked, adrenaline finding its manners. “Nobody move!"
Joanna rolled onto her side, a shocked animal. She touched her cheek and stared at the blood on her
