c.r.a.p. Not the time to remember that. Her heart seemed to thud in fits and starts, and there was a roaring in her ears.

"Come on now," Tom said. "It's a good lesson for them." He raised the eyebrow with the scar running through it. "And you can look adorable in front of your boyfriend."

"He's not-"

"Ready, then?" He put his hands on her shoulders and turned toward the kids. "So say I've grabbed the incredibly beautiful Honor here." He wrapped her in an abrupt hug, pinning her arms at her sides, and adrenaline spurted into her limbs. Her breath left in a gasp. Was it hot in here? "And then I shove her against a wall. No way out." He pushed her gently against the corner post and leaned in. "Give me your money, or are you alone, sweetheart-you all get the idea, right?"

Why was she so nervous? Her legs were shaking, and gray spots were floating in front of her.

"She can't get away, she's totally helpless, she's just a soft little female, or so I think. Okay, love, on the count of three, a right uppercut, bend your knees, turn that gorgeous-"

Her left fist appeared out of nowhere, slamming into his eye. Tom staggered back, one hand covering his eye. The kids gasped, hands flying over their mouths. Honor's hand-her nonviolent hand-was over her mouth as well.

"Oh, my G.o.d, she hit him!" said one girl. "That's so mean!"

"Are you all right?" he asked her. She tried to answer and couldn't find her voice, nodded instead.

He was bleeding. Blood was pouring down his face. It seemed her engagement ring had cut him under the eye. Goggy clucked in concern and handed Tom a tissue, which instantly bloomed with red.

"I guess I was wrong about the soft helpless bit, yeah?" His voice was tight.

Her knuckles started to throb. Carlos Mendez was suddenly in the ring with a towel, and blood was dripping onto the mat. Brogan, too, came through the ropes. "You okay?" he asked, putting a warm hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she said to Tom, her voice thin and shaky.

"I'm fine, gang," he said to the kids. "Honor here proved a good point. You're all quite strong enough if the situation demands it, yeah? Her engagement ring caught me. Nothing to worry about. Shows the importance of blocking, doesn't it."

"You're gonna need stiches, bro," Carlos said.

Tom glanced at her, his eye already beginning to swell. "Feel like a run to hospital?" he asked. "Kids, cla.s.s is over for today. Good job all around. Abby, would you mind driving Charlie home?"

"LOOK, I TOLD you I didn't want to do it," Honor snapped.

"And clearly you were sincere," Tom snapped back, lifting the gauze the nurse had given him when they came in. "Quite the hotshot, aren't you?"

"Yes! I am! The thing is, you were right," she said, looking away. "Most women don't fight for fun. I didn't want to do it, I was nervous. I told you not to make me do it, but you wouldn't listen."

"Blame the victim, that's it. Does 'on the count of three' mean nothing to you, darling, or was there another reason for that punch?"

"I was nervous! I'm sorry, okay? I'm really, really sorry."

He gave her a one-eyed glare, the flesh around his eye puffy and red. "You're welcome to make it up to me, darling. I can think of about ten things you can do for starters."

"Don't be a jerk," she said, even as a hot, tight nervousness grabbed her insides.

"h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo!" The door to the exam room opened, and a tiny Asian girl came in, roughly five foot nothing, ninety pounds and perhaps twelve years old. Honor instantly felt like an Amazon. Not in the good way. "I'm Dr. Chu, and what have we here?"

"A bit of a cut," Tom said. "My girlfriend has a mean streak."

"There was a slight accident," Honor ground out.

"Dude, that's awful!" the doctor said. "b.u.mmer."

"How old are you?" Honor asked.

"Um, twenty-three?" she answered. "I started college when I was, like, sixteen. A complete trip. But I'm totally a real doctor. Well, sort of. I'm an intern? And I've never done st.i.tches before, so I'm totally psyched."

"Great," said Tom. "I have absolute faith in you."

"Cool!" she said, turning on the water. "Washing hands, check. Pleasant demeanor, supercheck. So what happened, Mr., um, Barlow?"

"My fiancee punched me," he said.

"OMG! That's horrible!" She turned to Honor. "Are you his mother?"

"No!" Kill us now, said the eggs. "I'm the fiancee."

Tom grinned. If she'd felt sorry about hitting him, it was fading. Fast.

"Really? Mr. Barlow, do you mind if she stays?"

Tom pondered the question. Honor sighed. "You'll protect me, won't you?" he asked, smiling at the tiny doctor.

"Totally! Yeah! Plus, I can always call Security?"

"Then I feel safe." He c.o.c.ked his good eyebrow at Honor as Dr. Chu pulled on exam gloves. "So sixteen when you started college, eh? I bet you're really smart."

"Not to toot my own horn? But I did graduate first in my cla.s.s at Stanford."

"Congratulations," he said. "That's incredible."

"Thanks! So let me get to work here. Um, she punched you? Is that all? Like, how did you get this cut?"

"From her engagement ring."

"Wow. So ironic," Dr. Chu said.

"You're telling me."

The two shared an adorable smile.

"He was teaching a boxing cla.s.s and asked me to hit him," Honor said. Dr. Chu didn't so much as flicker a glance in her direction, too busy lifting the gauze off Tom's eye.

"Awesome! That's some cut! Plus I think you're gonna have a black eye! Kind of s.e.xy, hopefully?"

"Whatever you say, Doctor." His crooked tooth flashed, making him look like an incredibly appealing, adult version of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist.

"Awesome! So, like, let me get st.i.tching, okay?"

It was clearly the best day of Dr. Chu's brief life. "Suture kit, check. Sterilizing the field, check! This is fun."

"I love a woman who loves her job," Tom said.

"I totally love it! And what do you do, Mr. Barlow?"

"I'm a professor of mechanical engineering."

"That rocks! Okay, this is gonna sting. So sorry about that. Sympathetic att.i.tude, check."

"Very sympathetic indeed."

"Supercheck, then!" Dr. Chu giggled, then raised a needle of painkiller to inject under the cut.

Guilt wasn't an emotion Honor was used to.

Honor looked at her hand. It was slightly swollen, which she supposed she deserved. It was also the first time she'd ever hit someone in her entire life.

Well, no. She'd smacked Dana, hadn't she? She was building quite the reputation.

"Do you have a regular doctor?" Dr. Chu asked. "He or she can take out your st.i.tches in about a week. Or I can totally do it! You just have to come back here. I can give you my number if you want to see when I'm on duty."

Tom glanced at Honor. "You can go to Jeremy," she said. "He's a family friend."

"I'll do that, then," Tom said.

"Sure! Just look at these gorgeous sutures, right? Listen, it was so nice meeting you!" Dr. Chu said. "I'm just gonna ask my attending one thing, okay? I doubt we need X-rays, but I want to be supersure."

"Thank you," Tom said.

"You're totally welcome! Back in a flash!" She practically skipped out.

Honor forced herself to look at her fiance. "Not bad," she said. Dr. Chu's st.i.tches were small and neat, for all that she talked like a love-struck tween.

"Good. Such a pretty face, I'd hate for it to be ruined."

"I'm really sorry. As I believe I've said fifteen or twenty times."

"Don't worry about it. Sorry I put you in that situation." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor.

Out in the hall, they could hear the noise of the hospital, the clatter of gurneys and the hiss of the automatic doors. A baby was crying.

"Why were you so scared?" Tom asked unexpectedly.

She shrugged, her heart rate surging once more. "I don't know." She started to speak, then stopped. "I was mugged once. He, um, shoved me in a doorway. Just like your little scenario."

His eyebrows jolted upward. "Are you b.l.o.o.d.y joking?" he said. "That would've been really good to know."

"You didn't ask. And I didn't think to mention it."

"Why the h.e.l.l not? I wouldn't have pretended to be a.s.saulting you if I'd known that, Honor! Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know! Don't yell at me. It was a long time ago, in Philly when I was in grad school. He grabbed me, asked for my purse, I gave it to him, he left. He had a gun, so I just did what he said. It wasn't a big deal."

"You were held up at gunpoint, but it wasn't a big deal?"

"You can stop yelling anytime, you know. I thought you Brits were all about keep calm and carry on. And don't tell anyone I was mugged," she added in a softer voice. "No one else knows."

He was staring at her, mouth slightly open. "Yes, G.o.d forbid you should let anyone know you're human."

"And what does that mean?" she snapped. "Are you an expert on me all of a sudden?"

There was a knock on the exam room door, and in came Levi, dressed in his police uniform. He jerked to a stop at the sight of them. "Oh. Hey, you two."

"Hi, Levi," Honor said, glad for a friendly face. "What are you doing here?"

He drew in a breath. "Uh, I have to ask Tom some questions."

"What for?" Tom asked.

"The doctor suspects domestic abuse," Levi answered. "And I did just hear yelling."

First a catfight, now this. "Do your thing," she said wearily.

"Mate, it was nothing," Tom said. "She was helping out at the self-defense cla.s.s and caught me off guard."

"So really, this is kind of your fault," Honor said. "Since the cla.s.s was your brainchild."

"I'd have to agree," Tom said. "It's certainly not Honor's."

Levi did not look amused. "Let me talk to Tom for a second. I have to follow procedure, even if you're Faith's sister. Especially because you're Faith's sister."

"You bet." She slipped out and stood in the hallway. So now her brother-in-law/supercop was investigating her. She sighed, then force-smiled at an old man with an oxygen mask over his face. He didn't smile back. Poor guy. Honor looked away.

Hospitals had always creeped her out, ever since Mom had died. That had been the worst day, of course. The worst day in her life. She'd been the one to answer the phone; Dad was in the fields, and she was waiting for Mom and Faith to return from Corning. They'd been late, and Honor was jealous, imagining them out to lunch somewhere, or bopping into the cute little shops on Market Street.

"Is your father there, sweetheart?" Chief Griggs had asked, and Honor knew in that second that something horrible had happened. "I need to talk to him."

"Why?" Honor asked.

"I just do, honey."

A white, icy fear flashed over her. Her knees buckled, then straightened. "Are they dead?" she whispered.

"Sit tight, okay? Is your dad home?"

"Yes."