Miss Virtue’s eyes softened, the gray going from a battling steel to a soft rain cloud. “I met all of you,” she said, emotion thickening her voice. “And you were not gates, you were entire little worlds. You were more important than the use they had planned for you. They don’t understand humans, they never have. I thought—” She shook her head and bit her lip, slicing a sharp look in Vengeance’s direction. “I thought I had more time before they would come. They gave me no warning.” “You thought you could keep us out,” Vengeance snarled. “You fool. We are inevitable.”
