"Adrian!" Derek barked, his voice sharp and urgent, cutting through the chaos like a surgeon's scalpel.
Nobody listened.
Nobody could.
The grand hall was still reeling from Kaelo's piercing scream. The metallic scent of fresh blood hung thick in the air, mixing with the acrid smell of gunpowder.
Blood continued to soak through her expensive clothes and pool across the pristine marble floor in a spreading, glistening crimson stain. People were still processing how everything had spiraled so catastrophically out of control in less than thirty seconds. One moment there had been tension. The next, violence had erupted like a long-suppressed volcano.
Then...
Pah!
The sharp, resounding sound of a slap echoed through the vast hall.
Every head snapped toward Seraphina.
