Time’s almost up: the Council meets tomorrow, and Daphne Vane risks being forced into an unwanted marriage, as does her sister, unless Daphne can convince the Council that she’s of unsuitable birth. Trouble is that Daphne’s still very shaken by what’s happened to her the last few days. Finding out one is not entirely human and then killing a demigod will do that to some people.

Will the meeting between Daphne and Vesta go this far?
(Source: Wellcome Collection)

Only one person has a greater stake in the Council’s meeting. Vesta Fox, the head of Enforcement, needs Daphne’s help if she is to prevent the strife that will be caused by All-Father’s plan to marry Agatha Vane from ripping the Council apart. And Vesta is a very determined woman. See just how determined in “Vesta Fox doesn’t need to use torture,” the ominously titled chapter 19 of To Ride the Lightning Bolt, my weekly serial about a young woman’s desperate attempt to avoid forced marriages for her sister and herself.