Hermina looked like a wet rat. Her silk dress clung to her body, revealing the rigid shape of her corset.

She waved the guards away. They were useless in the stampede anyway.

She walked toward Delphine. She opened her arms. Her face twisted into a mask of tragic love.

"Oh, my poor baby!" she shouted over the alarm. "You are hallucinating! Come to Mommy!"

Delphine stood shivering. She let her shoulders slump. She looked at the floor.

Hermina got close. Too close.

She turned her body so the remaining guests couldn't see her right hand. The hand sliding a fresh syringe out of her sleeve.

"It will all be over soon," Hermina whispered.

Delphine stepped into her embrace. She hugged Hermina tight.

"I missed you," she whimpered.

She felt Hermina's muscles tense as she prepared to stab the needle into Delphine's side.

Delphine's left hand shot down and clamped onto Hermina's wrist. Her grip was iron.

Hermina gasped. She looked down at Delphine. Delphine's eyes weren't vacant anymore. They were clear. Cold.

Delphine leaned up to Hermina's ear.

"Mommy's bubbles bite," she whispered. "They make you go sleepy-bye."

Hermina's eyes widened in shock.

Delphine didn't give her time to process. She dug her thumb into the nerve cluster on the inside of Hermina's wrist. She twisted, using a technique she'd practiced a hundred times on a rubber dummy.

A sharp crack.

A sickening, wet click. Hermina dropped the syringe as her fingers went numb.

Hermina opened her mouth to scream.

"Mommy!" Delphine wailed, louder than Hermina's cry. "Don't let the monsters get me!"

She shoved Hermina away from her.

Hermina fell to her knees, clutching her useless hand. She was hyperventilating.

Delphine dropped next to her. She patted Hermina's wet cheek, digging her nails in slightly.

"Witch!" she shrieked, scrambling backward on her butt. "The witch bit me!"

She held up her arm. There was a red mark where she had pinched herself earlier.

The guests who hadn't fled stopped staring. They saw a grieving stepmother attacking a traumatized girl.

"Hermina!" Senator Miller yelled. "Control yourself!"

Hermina couldn't speak. She was rocking back and forth, the pain blinding her.

Beatrice was at the coffin. No one was stopping her now.

She reached in.

Delphine stopped breathing. She watched Beatrice's hand touch Cedric's face.

If he was dead, this was all for nothing. If he was dead, she was just a crazy widow who was about to go to jail.

Beatrice gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth.

The sprinklers sputtered and died. The fire alarm cut off, leaving a ringing silence in its wake.

All they could hear was the drip, drip, drip of water falling from the chandeliers.

"He..." Beatrice's voice trembled. "He is warm."

Hermina struggled to her feet, cradling her dangling wrist. "It's the chemicals!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "Heat reaction! Don't touch him!"

Dr. Sterling, the family physician who had signed the death certificates, pushed through the crowd. He looked terrified.

"Dame Beatrice, please," he said, reaching for her. "This is disturbing the remains."

Delphine jumped up. She placed herself between the doctor and the old woman.

She tilted her head. She smiled a goofy, lopsided smile.

"Doctor bad man," she said. "Gave Cedric sleepy juice."

Sterling paled. "She's delusional."

He tried to shove past Delphine.

She grabbed the stethoscope hanging around his neck. She yanked it hard, pulling his head down, then ripped it from his ears.

She shoved the earpieces into Beatrice's hands.

"Listen to the butterflies!" she giggled. "Listen to the butterflies in his chest!"

Beatrice looked at Delphine, confusion warring with hope. She put the stethoscope in her ears.

"Let her check!" someone shouted from the back.

Sterling froze. He couldn't stop her without looking guilty.

Beatrice leaned over the coffin. She pressed the cold metal disc to Cedric's chest, right over his heart.

They waited.

One second. Five seconds. Ten.

Beatrice's shoulders slumped. The light went out of her eyes. She pulled the stethoscope away.

"Nothing," she whispered. "It's silent."

Delphine's stomach dropped.

No. She felt it. She felt the pulse. It was faint, but it was there.

"I told you," Hermina spat. "He is gone. Delphine is mad."

"We must close the casket," Sterling said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The body is degrading."

Two guards moved toward Delphine with a straitjacket.

She backed up until her legs hit the wood of the coffin. She reached behind her. Her hand found Cedric's hand.

She squeezed. She dug her nails into the soft web of skin between his thumb and index finger. Hard. Cruel.

Wake up, you bastard.

The guards reached for Delphine.

Then she felt it.

A twitch. A distinct, sharp jerk of his thumb against her palm.

It was electric.

Delphine looked up. Her eyes locked with Hermina's. She dropped the smile.

"He pinched me!" she shouted. "The prince is awake!"

The guards grabbed Delphine's arms. They started to drag her away.

"No! He's alive! Check him again!"

They didn't listen. They dragged her across the wet floor.

"Close it!" Sterling yelled.

Workmen lifted the heavy, cracked lid. They moved to slide it back over the coffin.

The shadow fell over Cedric's face.

Hhhhhuuuh!

The sound was terrible. It was the sound of a vacuum seal breaking. A desperate, violent intake of air.

The workmen jumped. The lid slipped from their wet hands. It crashed down, landing squarely on Cedric's shins.

The pain did what the adrenaline couldn't.

Cedric sat up.

He didn't rise gracefully. He jackknifed upward, stiff as a board. His eyes were wide open, the pupils blown so large his eyes looked black.

He stared straight ahead, seeing nothing.

The room went dead silent.

Hermina let out a small squeak and slumped to the floor in a dead faint.

"Cedric?" Beatrice fell to her knees in the water.

Cedric blinked. Once. Twice.

He turned his head slowly. The movement was mechanical. He looked at the water dripping from the ceiling. He looked at the guests cowering by the door.

Then he looked at Delphine.

Delphine was being held by two guards, her hair plastered to her face, her dress torn.

Recognition flickered in his dead eyes. He saw the situation. He saw the threat.

He opened his mouth. His voice sounded like gravel grinding together.

"Let. Her. Go."

It wasn't a shout. It was a command. Low, flat, and hoarse.

The guards dropped Delphine's arms as if she were on fire.

Delphine stumbled forward. She didn't act crazy this time. She ran to him. She grabbed his wet sleeve.

"Bad witch tried to bury us!" She pointed at Hermina's unconscious form.

Cedric looked at Hermina. He looked at Dr. Sterling.

He tried to stand, but his legs failed him. He sat on the edge of the coffin, swinging his legs out.

He stared at Sterling.

"Mr. Hays..." Sterling stammered, backing away. "It was a mistake... the vitals were..."

Cedric raised a hand. Silence.

He turned to the head of security.

"Lock the doors," Cedric said. His voice was weak but carried an unmistakable authority.

The guard hesitated. He looked at Hermina, then at the man who had just risen from the dead.

"Do I look dead to you?" Cedric asked softly.

The guard swallowed hard. He ran to the double doors.

Click. Clack.

The bolts slid home.

They were locked in.