Juliet Aldos stood at the edge of the grand hall, her gaze locked onto the dancing couple at its center, Nathaniel and Ella.
Her fingers curled tightly around the hilt of the dagger hidden within her sleeve, the cool metal biting into her palm. If she squeezed any harder, she might draw blood.
That aura, it seeped from them like an invisible fog, thick and suffocating. To anyone else, the room was filled with music and laughter, but to her, it reeked of something ancient, something repulsive and inhuman that had to be gotten rid of.
She could almost taste it in the air, those filthy creatures…
Her jaw tightened, time was not her ally. If they truly were what she suspected, then every second they remained alive increased the risk of them contacting others like them. Calling reinforcements and spreading their influence like rot beneath polished marble.
No, she would not allow it. Ella had to die.
