Starling (130 page)

instead of coffins, the little room was full of treasure. Weapons and
paintings, strands of precious rubies and emeralds, vases and ceramic plates that looked as if they had come from far-off lands. Feliciana lifted a jeweled crown from a velvet-lined shelf, her fingers
gently tracing a network of glittering diamonds.
Stepping forward, Cass found what she was looking for. Beneath
a shelf covered with jeweled swords and daggers forged from obsidian, was a box of black stone. Painted on the cover was a six-petaled
flower inscribed in a circle.
“Is it the book?” Feliciana knelt down next to Cass.
Cass removed the lid from the box. A stack of parchment lay nestled inside. A hundred pages or more, handwritten. She scanned the
top pages quickly. Lists of names. Equations. Research notes. “This
is it,” she said. She almost couldn’t believe it. Finally, there would be
proof. Proof of her parents’ innocence. Proof of Dubois’s guilt. Proof
of the Order’s depraved activities.
The ink blurred in front of her eyes and the parchment felt brittle
beneath her fingertips as she imagined the future. A future without
the Order of the Eternal Rose.
Rowan hollered from the doorway. Cass saw the men assembled
in the corridor.
Luca touched her shoulder. “Cass. We’ve got to go.”
She nodded. She replaced the lid on the box and turned to leave.
Feliciana was staring at a velvet purse filled with gold ducats. She
traced the outline of a coin with one finger, almost as if she couldn’t
believe the money was real. “Perhaps I should run away,” she said.
“Leave Venice. Now that you have what you came for, do you still
wish for me to come with you?”
Cass paused. Feliciana had betrayed her, but she had also helped
her open the secret room. And although what she had done was
wrong, she had done it out of grief and anger. It might take time to
rebuild the trust, but Cass was willing to try. Siena had died to save
Luca. Cass would honor Siena’s memory by giving her sister another
chance.
“Take the coins if you like. I’m certain Dubois owes you,” Cass
said. “And yes, the invitation to leave with us still stands.”
Feliciana tossed the pouch of coins to the floor. “I don’t need his
money,” she said. “I don’t need anything from him at all.” She exchanged a tentative smile with Cass.
Cradling the stone box against her chest, Cass left the secret room
without bothering to try to close the panel. Dubois would know they
had been here, but by the time he came after them, it would be too
late.