“Maybe they can, I’ll have to ask Margaret the next time I see her.” She added, “But I’m cautiously optimistic about everything at the moment. That’s not how the day started out, so I’ll take it.”

“You were worried about that Skype with Reardon tomorrow.”

She nodded curtly. “I don’t believe I can find a way to stall Masenak. I’ll have to see.” She drew a deep breath and lifted her chin. “But I have to look on the bright side. I talked to Alisa today, and she’s well and going to help save the horses. That’s all good. And Chaos might even begin to like you and not try to kill you. I’d say that’s very good, too.”

“I agree.” He was smiling over his shoulder as he moved toward the door. “I particularly like the bit about him not killing me. So tomorrow can’t be all that bad, either. Good night, Sasha.” The next moment, the door shut behind him.

She turned away and went back to Chaos’s stall. She was exhausted. She’d try to get to sleep and then wake early and go shower. She wanted to be alert for whatever she was going to have to face with Masenak and Reardon.

Because she was almost sure there wasn’t going to be any bright side to be found tomorrow no matter how much she searched.

*  *  *

“She wants you to save the horses?” Korgan asked Alisa after he’d cut the connection after talking to Gilroy. “You can’t say your Sasha isn’t consistent.”

“Of course she is,” Alisa said jerkily. “That’s been her mantra since the day I met her. Don’t think about me, I’ll be fine, save the innocents. That’s why I knew I had to find a way to get those four horses away from Zeppo or she’d never leave that damn circus.” Her lips twisted. “And then when I thought I had her safe, she found some other innocents to save at St. Eldon’s.”

“Deplorable,” he said lightly. “Why on earth didn’t she follow your example and be completely selfish?”

“I was selfish,” she said impatiently. “I wanted Zeppo to lose his meal ticket, and I wanted to see her happy. I did what I had to do to get what I wanted.”

“There’s something slightly askew in your logic.” He waved his hand. “But I’ll let it go for now. You made a promise. I have to fulfill it. Do you have any idea how I can do that?”

She shook her head. “It was my promise.”