Chapter 3

Then I lifted my eyes and swept the room with a tiny, cold smile. In a voice light as a sigh yet clear as glass, I said, "But this is only the appetizer." The words cut through the ballroom and crushed what little noise remained.

The delicate, vulnerable expression on my face vanished in a tenth of a second. Meekness and sorrow gave way to a metallic coldness.

The moisture in my eyes turned to ice as my scalpel-sharp gaze swept the crowd and settled on the giant screen.

I took a small remote from my clutch and pressed it.…