Starling (128 page)

special
blood.”
“Feliciana!” Cass’s lower lip began to tremble. “They would have
killed me if I hadn’t escaped.”
Feliciana’s eyes were wet. “You should have died with my sister.”
“That’s not true,” a voice said from behind Cass.
She spun around. Luca stood in the center of the room, his mask
askew. He was breathing heavily, but appeared unharmed. “Dubois
and his guards are locked in the butler’s office. He says he’ll die before give up the location of the book. Rowan seems eager to call his
bluff.”
“I know where it is,” Cass said. “Let him be. The Senate can deal
with Dubois.”
Feliciana had her back against the wooden panel now. She turned
from Cass to Luca, her knife still extended. “I won’t let you have it.
Both of you should have died with her. You don’t get to have everything you want while my sister gets nothing.”
“You don’t understand,” Cass said. Perhaps it was time to tell Feliciana the entire story. There had been enough lies and half-truths.
“In dying, Siena got something she never could have had while alive.
She sacrificed herself for—”
Luca beat her to it. “Me.” He turned to Cass for verification.
She nodded. “I didn’t realize you knew.”
“I always sort of suspected, but she never did anything untoward.”
Realization began to dawn on Feliciana’s face. “You?” She arched
an eyebrow at Luca. “You were the man Siena was in love with? She
would never tell me his name, only that he was highly inappropriate
for her.
Caspita.
Now I see why she became so distraught in Florence
as your execution date drew near.”
“I didn’t tell you, Feliciana, because I didn’t wish to speak ill of
the dead,” Cass said. “It is like Luca told me at Palazzo Dolce. No
woman can control her thoughts.”
Feliciana’s lips tightened into a hard line. “But she can control her
words. You never even apologized.”
Was that true? Cass might not have said the words, but surely Feliciana had recognized her grief. If not, she would fix that immediately. “I’m so—”
“No.” Luca slashed at the air with his arm. “Cass did nothing
wrong. Even after Siena was mortally wounded, Cass turned to go
back for her. I had to drag her from the corridor, carry her to the
quay and throw her into the water.”
Feliciana looked back and forth between Cass and Luca. The
knife wavered in her hand.
Now that was
definitely
true. Cass had struggled to remember
exactly what had happened between the moment Siena fell to the
ground and the moment she and Luca were ensconced beneath a private dock, but she would never forget the impulse to turn toward
Siena as her handmaid fell. Ever.
“She would have died with your sister,” Luca continued, “but you
know that isn’t what Siena would have chosen. If we had all died, her
death would have been meaningless. Your sister’s brave act would
have been nullified. That’s not what you would want for your sister.”
He leaned in. “You know I’m right. Now give me the knife.”
Feliciana didn’t speak. Her shoulders slumped and her hand fell
to her side. Luca reached out and gently removed the kitchen knife
from her grasp.