Chapter 4: Florian's Turn

Dominik poured my wine himself, the way Vincent had said he would.

"A small one," he said, and set the glass beside my plate. "To settle your stomach."

Four men watched me lift it.

I put the rim to my lips and tilted it, and I did not swallow.

The smell was sharp and bitter under the grapes.

"Good girl," Florian said under his breath, and Felix's fork scraped his plate.

I carried the glass to the porch for air, as I had done the night before.

The fern took it all.

I stood there with the empty glass until my hands stopped shaking.

When I came back in, I swayed against the door frame on purpose.

"I'm so tired," I said. "I don't know why."

Vincent sat at the far end of the table and looked at his plate.

Dominik was out of his chair before I finished the sentence. "Come on. I'll take you up."

"I'll take her," Felix said quickly.

"Florian will help," Dominik said, and that was the end of it.

They put me on the bed in my clothes. I let my head fall sideways and my mouth fall open.

The lock turned.

For a long moment nobody spoke, and I lay with my heart slamming against my ribs.

"She's gone," Dominik said at last.

"Already?" Florian sounded delighted. "Lena? Lena, hello?"

A hand patted my cheek. I did not flinch.

"My turn," Florian said. "You promised."

"You can have her mouth, you can have her chest," Dominik said. "But I'm watching. And Florian."

"What?"

"If she wakes, you stop."

"I always stop."

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