“Of course you should, and you will because I refuse to take no for an answer.” She stepped forward, eyes narrowed to pull free a lock of Hannah’s hair. “My hairdresser’s going to have a whack at you, too.”

“That sounds a little ominous.” As much as she longed to, she couldn’t let herself go. The plain and proper Lady Hannah Rothchild wouldn’t have had the nerve to wear such a dress. “Eve, it’s lovely, you’re lovely, but I don’t think I’m made for a dress like this.”

“I’m never wrong.” Eve brushed off denials with a careless flick of her wrist. She may have been a princess for only two years, but she’d always been determined. “I’ve spent too long in the theater not to know what suits and what doesn’t. Trust me, and if that’s too much, do me a favor as a friend.”

They had become friends, no matter what the initial reasons were or the ultimate goal. What harm would it do to accept? It was very possible that she wouldn’t even be in Cordina for the ball. “I’ll feel like Cinderella,” she murmured, and wished it could be so.

“Good. And you should remember the clock doesn’t always strike twelve.”

*   *   *

But it did. Hannah remembered Eve’s words as she and Reeve moved silently through the palace. The game was almost up, and so was her time.

The package had contained the explosives she’d requested and a coded message. She was to make her move that night and meet Deboque’s agent at the docks at 1:00 a.m. The payoff would come then.

“This has to work,” Hannah muttered as she carefully set the first charge. The equipment she used now was ISS-approved. The package she’d received was already being traced. Deboque would soon lose Athens and very much more.

“From outside the walls, it’ll look as though the fire’s burning out of control,” Reeve said, working as quickly and competently as she. “The blasts are rigged for more noise than power. We’ll blow out a few windows and put on a hell of a show while Malori and his men will remain here to bank it if necessary.”

“Is the prince with them now?”

“Yes, Armand is filling the rest of the family in. Malori objects, but I think you’re right. No harm can come from them knowing what’s under way at this point, and a lot of anxiety can be relieved.” He thought of Gabriella. After tonight, perhaps even the nightmares would fade.

“I couldn’t bear to think of Eve waking up to the explosion and thinking it Deboque’s doing. And Bennett? He’s safe in the family wing?”