Starling (73 page)

comment sink in. “Everyone has a price. Even you.”
“I will never work with you,” Cass insisted.
“We’ll take what we want, whether you cooperate or not.” Belladonna leaned in close to Cass and stroked her neck, her hand lingering for a moment. “You blood will change the world,” she
murmured.
As she turned away, one of her fingernails caught on the chain of
Cass’s necklace. She pulled the lily pendant from beneath Cass’s chemise and smiled, her green eyes studying the diamond as if it were a
juicy morsel she wanted to devour. “You’ve no more need for baubles. Perhaps I’ll take this in return for your lodging here.”
“No.” Cass tried to reach through the bars and slap Belladonna’s
hand away, but Belladonna was too quick. With a sharp tug, the
chain came loose. Belladonna polished the diamond on her skirts
and held it up for examination. “This is lovely. You are so kind to
surrender it.” Then she lifted her skirts, spun around, and exited out
into the hallway.
Cass swore under her breath. Losing the pendant left a hole in her
heart. It was like losing the last piece of Luca she’d been clinging to
for hope. And though she didn’t want to admit it, Belladonna’s insinuations had affected her. Had Falco or Feliciana willingly led
Piero straight to Cass? Was everyone working against her?
“We’ll never get away.” The girl leaned her forehead against the
bars of her cell.
Cass didn’t respond. As much as Belladonna’s words had needled
her, they had also spurred her to action. The Order couldn’t kill her
if they needed her blood for their elixir. That meant there would be
chances to escape. Cass had broken Luca out of the Doge’s dungeons.
She could figure out a way to get herself out of Belladonna’s makeshift prison.
“
Idiota,
” the girl said. “I can’t believe I’m going to die here.” She
started sniffling and then sobbing, tears running down her face and
falling silently to the stone floor.
“It’s all right,” Cass said. “Don’t lose hope.” She wanted to comfort the girl, and she would need her help if the two of them were
going to escape. That meant she would need her to be calm. “I’m
Cass. What’s your name?” She reached her fingers through the bars
to stroke the girl’s hair.
“Minerva.” Her labored breathing slowed somewhat as she
choked out the single word.
“That’s a strong name,” Cass said. “The goddess of wisdom.”
“I don’t feel very wise right now,” Minerva said. “Sorry.” She
leaned back from the bars and wiped her eyes with her rumpled
sleeve.
For the first time, Cass realized Minerva was dressed in a tattered
formal gown. She wondered if this was one of the girls missing from
Palazzo Dolce. “Are you a courtesan?” she asked.
The girl nodded. “Tessa was too. That’s the girl who used to be in
your cell.”
Tessa. That was the name of the girl who had been found beneath
the Conjurer’s Bridge, completely drained of her blood. She couldn’t
tell Minerva that though. It would send her into another round of
hysterics. “How did you end up here?”
Minerva’s face crumpled, and for a second Cass was worried she
was going to start crying again. “We were so foolish,” she said. “We
met a pair of men at a gala last week. Handsome men. They didn’t