"You should be prepared for death, Sergius," she said softly, almost tenderly. "Because it's already circling this house. You can smell it, can't you?"

Sergius's eyes widened. "Don't dare say that," he snapped, voice breaking. "You don't know what you're talking about-"

But she only smiled faintly, gaze fixed somewhere far away. "Oh, I do. Haspan doesn't kill for pleasure. He kills for pattern. Once his rhythm starts, it doesn't stop until the blood makes sense to him. But still, to ...