Dante glowered and took a step toward Seth. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Jerome came up with the Canada thing on the fly. She wasn’t supposed to be caught in the middle of this. The plan was for her to wait out the stasis like everyone else, and then return to normal once Grace was in power. Grace messed up when she told Nanette about her meddling, but then Grace made sure Nanette wouldn’t fuck with her again. I worked to keep Georgina safe.” Cedric had told the truth. He really hadn’t told Nanette about my theories; Grace had.

“Yeah, you did a great job.”

“It’s not my fault!” yelled Dante. “Say what you want about me, my reasons were noble. Whereas hers”—he pointed at me—“were in keeping with the selfish little whore she’s been her entire life.”

And then . . . the unexpected truly happened. Seth sprang forward and punched Dante. I didn’t know what was more surprising, that Seth would be so aggressive or that he could throw such a clean punch. He’d thrown himself at a mugger once, and while it had been wonderfully brave, it hadn’t been nearly as precise or coordinated. I had no idea where he’d learned that. Dante appeared as startled as me. He staggered back from the blow and took a moment to recover. Then, with a snarl, he leapt toward Seth. Seth only partially dodged the blow—on purpose, it seemed—and fell back with the impact, causing both men to collapse to the ground.

They grappled around a bit, trying to get leverage and blows in, and for a moment, I was too stunned by it all to react. Then, finally, Seth’s words hit me. The watch. I hurried over to them, careful not to get hit by a flailing limb. Seth caught a glimpse of me and did his best to grab a hold of Dante’s wrist and thrust it toward me. Dante kept squirming, however—I had a feeling he’d been in a few more fights in his life than Seth had—and increased his struggles once he realized what was happening.

The watch. It made sense, really. Grace wore her part of the seal around her neck. Dante would want to keep his safe as well, and why not hidden in the only accessory that he—by his own admission—ever wore?

At last, Seth managed to immobilize Dante’s wrist just long enough for me to get my fingers under the watch’s straps. I gave a hard jerk, using more strength than I thought possible, and the strap broke. The watch came away in my hand, and I scurried back as Dante yelled in rage. Seth eased up on restraining Dante, now that our goal was achieved. As soon as he was free, however, Dante came after me, and Seth shot up to catch a hold of him.