1 On my extensive list of enemies, the top two spots belonged to Lavinia Kane and time. One I planned to kill as soon as possible. That is, if I didn’t run out of the other one first. The dashboard clock flipped to 10:01. The ones mocked me like two extended middle fingers. Impatience was my third enemy. I’d already been sitting in the white van parked on a windy stretch of road near Pacific Palisades for twenty minutes. The hood of the van stood open, but the engine idled in preparation for the ambush. “Giguhl, any visual on the car yet?” “Negative.” His voice crackled through the earpiece, but his body was perched in a tree just outside the Dominae compound. I sighed. “Okay, thanks.” “Don’t you mean ‘roger’?” he responded. “Whatever,” I said. “Let me know the minute the gates open.” “Hey, Sabina?” “Yeah?” I said a tad more impatiently than I intended. “Why can’t I have a gun again?” I rolled my eyes. “I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid, G. Now focus.” “I live to serve,” he grumbled. I settled back into the seat. Outside the van, the landscape offered little distraction from my impatience. Scrub brush, low stone walls, and