They left the scene of the crime quickly. Old Gustav had collapsed, dead with the force of the blow. Though Phillipe had hit him with the blunt end of the axe, the old man had died instantaneously.

Proserpina hugged Philippe and wondered silently why he seemed to feel no remorse for having killed a man. But the youth seemed frozen and exhausted. Would he become like Lucien, she thought, holding him in her arms, pitiless when it came to his enemies and anyone who threatened his loved ones? For she had watched in horror as, with his hands bound, her lover had tackled the woman holding the gun and brought...