Dante Volmore did not move.
Not when the tray dropped.
Not when the glass splintered in a scream.
Not even when she did.
He was like stone, standing high in that cold corridor, deep in the silence that hung around him like a second skin. The palace was quiet here. Empty. Too flawless. The kind of quiet that put you in mind of being watched by your own conscience.
One hand clung to the railing, the other clung to a tablet screen he wasn't even seeing anymore. White knuckles. His jaw clamped hard enough he could feel blood in the back of his teeth.
He hadn't breathed—God, how long?
Seven minutes? Longer?
He'd lost count somewhere between her first blast and now.
On the screen, she stormed. Wild. Out of control. A creature that did not exist in this world.
She wasn't just angry.
Sh
