She threw her back against the door and imagined more than heard Veronica’s cry as she fell backwards down the basement steps.
The surging masses no longer pushed forward.
For the length of an impossibly held breath there was no sound in the kitchen.
No one moved.
No blade raised or lowered.
Meghan forced one foot beneath her.
Then the other.
Rose to her feet.
Stared at the toughest looking of the bunch.
A big man, not of shoulder like Landau, but of belly.
Small, dark eyes.
She stared at him in the silence.
Everyone watched and waited.
They stared at one another.
Another breath.
She stamped her foot on the floorboards to draw his attention down.
When he looked, she lunged forward, slashed out with the blade, and scored his cheek with a slice that would disfigure him for li
