Eve looked at Damian.
Damian looked at Silas.
"Come to the estate," Eve said. "Today if you can."
"I'll leave within the hour," Vessa said.
She hung up.
Eve set the phone down on the desk.
The pull in her chest was there. Steady and Insistent.
Like something that had been waiting a very long time and had finally decided it was done waiting.
"She knows what it is," Silas said.
"Yes," Eve said.
"And she's been hoping she was wrong," Damian said.
"Yes," Eve said.
She stood up.
Looked at both of them.
"Find Damon," she said. "I don't want him hearing this secondhand."
They assembled in the sitting room at four.
All four of them, Waiting for Vessa.
Damon had taken the news with his characteristic straightforwardness, she'd told him in the corridor, simple and direct, and he'd listened and said "okay" and followed her to the sitting room without drama.
That was Damon.
He saved the feelings for after the facts.
They didn't have to wait long.
