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The an to curl around her wrist she pivoted, sliding her hand out through his so quickly he ended up with only a little soil in his palthe floor, until she

Korvel looked over her shoulder The long green sack had been fashioned out of velvet and eolden thread A symbol worked in the fabric, a tiny triad formed of three circles, had been stitched over and over to for cylinders side by side

"What is it?" he asked her

She re the sack The hasp on one side of the case had been carelessly pried apart, and when she opened it he saw that the inside had been lined with the sareen velvet

Whatever the case had once held, however, had been removed

With some difficulty Korvel bent and picked up the sack to exa the fabric sent an unpleasant tingle through his fingers, but it faded alement of the two embroidered cylinders, however, finally made sense to him "This was used to hold the scroll"

"It was" The nun’s eyes shifted up, and in thee weariness "Who are you?"

Since she knehere the scroll had been, she had to be an ally, but he would be sure of it "I ertips against her throat "Give me your name"

"Simone Derien" She turned her head and took a deep breath "You smell of larkspur"

She had a Frenchwo nose; the few mortal females he encountered remarked most often that he smelled like a pastry shop Korvel frowned as his body swayed, and only then realized that his leg was buckling The nun was too slight to bear the brunt of his weight, so he ree of a plant stand to brace himself "Were you sent here?"

"I was su all over the ground, Englishlanced at the small, wet red pool in which he stood "So I a over at that moment, and took Korvel with it He marveled that such a flimsy object could fell hi the guard had ever achieved

He landed on his side, his vision alternately blurring and sharpening, which allowed hilimpses of Sister Simone as she dropped down beside him Why had he not noticed until this reen of her eyes was, or the intense perfection of her fair, delicate skin? Every feature on her face shouted purity, from the smooth arch of her pale brows to the sweet bow of her full, rosy lips

"It is good that you chose the Church," he told her "You have the face of an angel"

"You are delirious," she replied, re her head veil to reveal what seeold "Were you shot in the leg?"

"Stabbed" And with him on his back as he was, she could not reer seeaze on the wondrous treasure she had been hiding "God in heaven Is that your hair?" He tried to touch it, but his ar, capable-looking hands tore a long strip froo The others will notice the sht of her doing the sa back a o TheUnless you re her fingers through the blood that had soaked through his trousers and then lifting them to her nose "You are one of the Kyn"

"Aye Korvel, seneschal to Tre the words, and seized her wrist, using the last of his strength to drag her down atop him His blood loss had filled the air with his scent, but he focused, releasing even o dark "You will not leave me like this You will take the copper out of htfall" He kept his eyes on hers until he heard her slowly agree with hiel"

"I don’t get what the big deal is," Nicola Jefferson said as she peered through the bulletproof glass between her and the portrait on the museu; she’s s out on the sly with her brother-in-law or her best friend’s husband or soed on one of Nick’s white curls "The lady’s contereat beauty of her time"

"A beauty?" Nick made a rude sound "She doesn’t even have eyelashes or eyebrows" She glanced at hiet it You knew her?"

"Her name was Lisa del Giocondo, and no, I never met her," he admitted "The artist, however, accepted an invitation fro and came to stay at Clos Lucé, near my home in Amboise"

"You met Leonardo da Vinci" Nick chuckled "Get out of town"

"I did meet him several tio walking at night" Gabriel eyed so her arm "You would have liked him, I think The two of you share many qualities"

She followed hi I’an snapping photos of the Mona Lisa, Gabriel bent his head and brushed a gentle kiss against her lips "As old as he e er man You could look into his eyes and see all the passions and fires inside hiain "Exactly like yours"