Renata went down before she reached the porch steps.
Rohan caught her before Elena could move, one arm under her shoulders, lowering her to the ground with a care that surprised Elena even in the panic of the moment. Blood soaked through the shoulder of Renata's coat, dark and slow, and up close Elena could see the woman's hands were shaking too hard to be steadied by anything. The porch light caught the side of her face, pale and drawn, years older in that one moment than she'd looked serving drinks in a ballroom just the night before.
"Get the healer," Rohan snapped, and Elena was already moving, pounding on the door they'd just walked out of.
The old woman didn't waste time asking questions. She had Renata inside and laid out on a low table before Elena had finished explaining what l
