Chapter 6
The corridors twisted with shadows, oil lamps throwing pale light on ruined walls. I could feel it—the pull of fate clawing at me again. Every step I took was a step closer to being exposed.
But I wasn't going to die tonight. Not yet.
Not until I've finished what I came here to do.
The hallway narrowed the deeper I went, the remnants of the gala's grandeur fading into a colder, more utilitarian wing of the mansion. The noise of soldiers shouting orders and dragging corpses grew distant until it was just me, my footsteps, and the steady beat of my pulse.
Two guards stood by a tall oak door carved with the sigil of Hannibal's family crest: a serpent devouring its own tail. Ouroboros. Eternal cycle. It felt almost mocking.
They didn't speak, only opened the door for me.
The s
