The eight brothers stood frozen, looking out the window, then back at me.
The smugness was gone.
The arrogance had vanished.
In its place was a visceral, primal terror.
Arthur Montgomery stared at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
The silver walking stick slipped from his fingers and clattered loudly against the floor.
“What… what are you?”
Arthur whispered, his voice cracking, his face completely drained of color.
“Who are you?!”
I took a slow step forward, towering over the old man.
“I am the reason nobody touched your pathetic family for six years,” I said, my voice echoing like a death knell in the quiet hall.
“Clara loved you.
Because she loved you, I let your miserable little empire exist.
I let you play king in your little sandbox.
But tonight, Arthur… you broke the only thing in this world that kept me human.”
