LOCATION: Edenridge Estate – Masquerade Gala

TIME: 9:12 p.m.

The chandeliers dripped crystal like frozen blood.

Music curled through the air like smoke Mozart laced with menace.

Solene stepped into the grand ballroom wearing black satin, a half-mask of obsidian lace, and the kind of silence that made predators stare.

Eyes followed her. Not for the beauty. For the danger they couldn’t name.

Somewhere in this room, Morrow was smiling with her mouth.

Somewhere in this room, someone ...