Mina opened her eyes, blood clotted now in her eyelashes. She dismissed Jones' handkerchief politely. No need to mess up the pretty lace. Instead, she ran her thumbs under each of her eyes, doing a reasonably good job of tidying up. Ironically, it had been on the night of her escape from Chicago that she last saw a vampire cry. Poor Rosa, mortified as she finally confessed that she was working so hard to protect her brother, his wife, and her nieces from DiMarco, of all people. It had been easier then. Mina was the elder and she knew how to comfort the poor girl. But now...she was just out of her depth.

"Well, I'm sure you and McBride dealt nicely with the son of a bitch." She covered her mouth. "Pardon my language." Whatever else Jones was, she was still a lady.

Carefully, Mina stood up again, smoothing down her shirt and composing herself as best she could. "I suppose there's hope," she said. "If you saw me in Chicago on that night, three weeks into my future, perhaps that means there is an escape from Baedal after all. Maybe I will be sent back in order to return to Chicago."