“Truth can be so much harsher than lies”
“Truth can be so much harsher than lies”The pounding on the door below jolted her awake, brought her up from the floor where she had crumbled.
“Madonna?” Jemma stood in the threshold, eyes bulging.
Viviana stood with a wince and a moan.
“I will see to it, Jemma.” She relieved the girl as the thudding continued. “Stay here. Lock yourself in if you wish.”
Jemma said nothing but stepped aside to allow her mistress to exit.
Viviana rushed down the stairs, fearing not the reaper, but his crier.
The banging stopped only when she threw off the small wooden barricade and wrenched the door open. She blinked at the hallucination upon her stoop.
“Andreano?” Viviana squinted into the growing light of a coming dawn.
“Have you seen my mother, Mona Marone
