I couldn’t handle much more of this. More stress and panic and confusion.
I’d never seen someone who could suffocate a room with his very arrival. Never seen someone as beautiful as him—but just like beauty could make people commit awful mistakes, his beauty promised cold-blooded murder.
Pale, flawless skin, dark eyes narrowed with arrogance, and black glossy hair that matched the panther currently purring loudly at his bare feet. Just like his house blended East and West, he straddled the two worlds perfectly. His face savagely handsome with sharp cheekbones, perfect lips, and aristocratic eyebrows that wouldn’t look out of place in old dynasties.
His eyes swept the crowd.
Even my thoughts were choked to silence.
My heart stopped completely as he smirked. A tight, violent little smile that ached with scorn and hate and disdain.
The panther noticed its master’s tension, hauling itself back up and stretching out its sinuous spine. Its claws scratched the marble floor as the man slowly descended the steps again, this time into the midst of the potential killers and concubines, heading right for me.
Chapter Eight
THE WOMEN SCURRIED OUT OF THE way, bowing their heads and acting perfectly meek. He smiled again, shaking his head as if he knew exactly why most of them were here and wouldn’t fall for any of it.
Stopping in the middle of the crowd, he slowly turned on bare feet, eyeing each of us. Up close, his skin seemed even more perfect. His gaze even more shrewd. His thick, black hair long enough to touch his collar, the ends flicking upward with a hint of a rebellious curl.
My heart pounded against my ribs, fast and fierce.
I swayed a little as my vision greyed again. It took all my strength to remain standing as he suddenly turned to face a girl I hadn’t spoken to and smirked that violent little smile. “You.” He cocked his head, his voice as effortless and seductive as the panther’s purr. “Why are you here?”
The girl swallowed hard, her white freckled skin going bright red. Her hands wrung together, her chest heaving beneath the pretty floral dress she’d chosen to wear into this den.
“Me?” She forced a giggle. “I’m here to serve you, Mr. Ashfall. To—”
She never got to finish as his hands lashed out, wrapped around her throat, and snapped her neck.
She dropped to the ground like a pile of discarded bones.
The panther sniffed her corpse, its whiskers bristling.
Screams rang, piercingly loud in the echoey ballroom.
Chaos broke out as the women who’d been brought here under false advertising, bolted toward the double doors and vanished into the palace. The women who’d been groomed to come here and had a mission didn’t follow. Fighting against instinct to flee, they elegantly dropped to their knees, surrendering to his murderous whims.
The screaming stopped as one by one, the girls balled their hands on their thighs and huddled like garden statues.
And me?
My body completely forsook me.
I couldn’t run like I wanted.
I couldn’t scream like I needed.
I barely stayed conscious enough to sink to the floor, landing heavily on my left hip, my bare legs sticking to the cold marble below.
My vision sputtered in and out as my headache made the room flex.
My fingers fumbled for my raindrop pendant, clutching it tight as Lucien Ashfall set his sights on his next victim and toed her with his bare foot. “You.” He smiled tightly, cruelly. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here...” The stunning blonde, dressed in a navy maxi-dress, trembled. The clack of her teeth echoed as she glanced at the dead woman and tears glossed her eyes. “I...I’m here—” She swallowed hard.
Lucien smiled.
Ducking to his haunches in front of her, he whispered softly, seductively, “Only the truth will save you.”
