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chapel and into the graveyard. Every hair on her arms has risen, every bone beneath her skin<br />
shuddered. Even the roots of her teeth seemed to move a little and she has been left flushed, pure,<br />
and covered with rain.<br />
When she opened her eyes, Konstantin was staring down at her.<br />
“Shit,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”<br />
“Run,” Nicky shouted, but Alix had already sprinted past him, had already fled from behind the<br />
priest’s alcove and was across the wooden floor, knocking the wrapped package which had been<br />
bracing the door open and sending it skidding out into the rain-soaked courtyard. Nicky had no<br />
choice but to chase her. The storm was great now, howling around them and there would be no<br />
acceptable explanation for where they had been, why they would have ventured from the palace in<br />
such weather, how they might have gotten so mussed and so wet. He caught up with her just beyond<br />
the gate to the graveyard and grabbed her hand. He still held the brooch. The great diamond bounced<br />
between them, caught in the hollow of their clasped hands, cutting first into her palm and then into his.<br />
“Do you think anyone really heard?” Tatiana asked. They were still clutching each other in the<br />
bell tower.<br />
“No,” said Konstantin. He was laughing, wiping the rain from her face. “We’re too far away. I<br />
just panicked.”<br />
“But it is time for your boat.”<br />
“Yes. Soon.”<br />
They crept back through the chapel, with a single glance up at the angels who observed them<br />
with no change of expression. They paused at finding the door closed and the package outside, but<br />
Konstantin decided he must not have wedged it well and it had been blown free by a gust of wind. It<br />
lay in a sad state on the cobblestones, leaking puddles of green and pink, which ran together into<br />
larger puddles of gray.<br />
“Leave it,” Tatiana said. “It must be ruined.”<br />
But Konstantin reached to grasp the rough handle that the artist had made, and they walked<br />
across the lawn, down toward the river, not bothering to rush. When one was thoroughly soaked,<br />
there can no longer be any fear of getting wetter.<br />
The servant boat was waiting in its dock. He turned to her. He dared not kiss her, not here so
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