This was the first quiet moment since Juliet had rushed back from Tunisia and saved them from Loafers.

"I didn't pass," she said.

Butler looked up. She was staring at the floor. They were alone in the room.

Butler struggled to find words. He knew Juliet had wanted to pass but he'd hoped she wouldn't. Not because she'd equal his record, no, nothing that selfish. It was because the blue diamond was the first step to being a bodyguard, to killing, to losing yourself. How could he want that for his little sister?

"Next year," he said. Always next year.