Then once we were up the stairs and Pierce looked back at us both, his smile was a quiet scaffold. “Give me ten seconds, and when you hear a bit of a crash, slip across the room and out the door.” Victoria was watching Pierce intensely, like he would save her from any eventuality. I frowned. “What are you going to—?” But Pierce had stepped out and… Crash. Grunt. Rush of voices. My heart jumped out a window and straight onto the pavement of my stomach. “Good heavens, are you all right?” a man asked. “He just took a terrible fall!” said an older woman. “Isn’t he the fellow with the limp?” Then a
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