"She's not here," he says, and "good," I reply, a little too firmly. Not the best start. I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "Excuse us a moment, Ms St Stephen?" I draw Micah aside. "Perhaps we should sit down," I say, and find us a seat in a quieter corner of the room. "I'm not sure how to tell you this, Micah," I say, "so perhaps I had better just come out with it at once. Danika is... not a farm girl. Or a girl at all, really. She's - something very old, and dangerous, and cruel."