I let out a long breath. That hadn’t been nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Then again, the green man probably would have disagreed.

Cordus wasn’t entirely right about Justine. She was confused when she woke up, all right, but “angry” would have been more accurate than “frightened.” She basically just sat up in bed and started screaming at me — since I was right there, clearly the whole thing was my fault. The central points of her tirade were that I was going to jail for kidnapping and that she was going to sue me.

I wasn’t surprised. I also wasn’t upset — with what I’d seen in the last week and a half, Justine in full threat display just wasn’t disturbing anymore.

“So,” I said, when I could finally get a word in, “you don’t remember turning into a deer and running off into the woods, abandoning your husband and children?”

She stared at me, seemingly speechless.

“You’re crazy. Oh my god. You’ve gone crazy.”

She bunched a bed sheet around herself and backed toward the door, feeling around behind herself for the knob. The door swung open, and she darted down the hall, yelling for help.

Too bad I couldn’t scare everyone else off that effectively. It’d be nice to be feared instead of fearful, for a change.

I didn’t bother going after her. I had a feeling people didn’t leave Cordus’s home without permission. For the moment, Justine wasn’t my problem. Thank god.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed but jerked my feet up when they touched cold marble. I looked around the room, which I’d been too tired to take in the night before. It was large — big enough to hold two queen-sized beds, a large sitting area, a standing mirror, a desk, and several bookcases without feeling cramped. Daylight streamed through three tall, sheer-draped windows, giving the pale carpets and bedding a soft glow and making the quartz veins in the floor glitter. The dark woods of the furniture stood out richly against the pale fabrics.

In addition to the exit, the room had two doors. Padding over to one, I found a spacious walk-in closet. The other revealed a bathroom with two sinks and a tub separate from the shower. It also had something I guessed was a bidet. The floors, counters, and walls were marble.

I stood in the entrance to the bathroom, looking around and feeling uncomfortable. The place was luxurious, yes, but it felt impersonal, like a hotel. I noticed a thermostat on the wall and went over to kick it up a few degrees, but it was already set above room temperature.