Starling (106 page)

Cass had paid little attention to Cristian’s ramblings as she pondered an opportunity to escape, but suddenly it all made sense. Cristian had stolen the book from Belladonna in Florence, and then he
had stolen it a second time here in Venice. He had either bribed the
guard, or sneaked into the workshop some other way. Dubois probably had the replica made so that Belladonna wouldn’t immediately
discover the theft. Or perhaps he had done it out of malice. Either
way, Cass now knew Joseph Dubois was in possession of the Book of
the Eternal Rose. She just had to find a way to steal it without getting
killed in the process.

Flavia opened the door at Palazzo Dolce, her pretty face immediately crumpling into a mask of tears when she saw Cass. “Capricia! I
thought I would never see you again,” she said. “I thought the vampires had gotten you.” She pulled Cass inside and shut the door.

Cass embraced Flavia, feeling her own eyes begin to water. A rush
of relief flooded through her. When the nun had asked her if she had
a safe place to go, she’d immediately thought of Palazzo Dolce.
Strangely, it felt like the closest thing Cass had to a home now. She
hadn’t spent much time there, but the courtesans had welcomed her
without judgment. She trusted Octavia, Seraphina, and Flavia. She
suddenly felt horrible for lying to Flavia about everything. “It’s good
to be back here,” she said softly. “I’ve missed you.”

Flavia ushered Cass up the stairs and into the portego where Arabella and another girl sat practicing their flutes. “Look who’s back,”
she said.

“Capricia.” Arabella twirled the carved flute between her hands.
“Lovely that you’ve returned.” She glanced curiously at Cass’s attire.
“Have you joined a convent?”

Octavia strolled into the portego. “I thought I heard your voice,
Capricia.” She smiled broadly. “You gave us all quite a fright. When
I saw that your room had been torn apart, I was certain you’d been
taken by the vampires. Where have you been?”

Cass wasn’t sure where to start, but the girls of Palazzo Dolce deserved to know what had happened to Minerva and Tessa. “I was
actually a prisoner,” Cass started. “In a workshop in the Castello
district.”

Flavia’s jaw dropped slightly. “A prisoner?”
“The cook has started to prepare dinner, girls,” Octavia said.
“Perhaps we should let Capricia have something to eat before we interrogate her.”
“It’s all right,” Cass said. “I’d like to share the story. It concerns
what happened to Tessa and Minerva.”
“You’ve seen Minerva?” Arabella asked, her voice resonating
with hope.
Their instruments forgotten, the other girls gathered around as
Cass, without divulging her true identity, told them how she had
been captured and put in a cell next to Minerva. When she told them
how Minerva’s blood had been drained from her body, Arabella
leapt from her seat and began to pace back and forth.
“Why?” she asked. “Why do these vampires prey only upon
women like us?”
“That’s the thing,” Cass said. “They’re not vampires.”
“What?” Arabella’s voice wavered. “What do you mean?”