Back in the main hall, the lights went out all at once. The beautiful chandeliers died, plunging the entire banquet into complete darkness.
Derek stiffened in his seat. The sudden darkness swallowed the room whole. Soft gasps and worried murmurs rose around him as people began to whisper to one another. Glasses clinked nervously. Chairs scraped against the floor.
Voices grew louder around him. "What happened to the lights?" "Is it a power cut?" "Stay calm, everyone."
His beast howled inside his head, an urgent warning that something was very wrong. This was no ordinary power failure.
Kira.
She had gone to that bathroom alone. The timing was too perfect—too convenient. His enemies had waited until his wife was vulnerable, away from the protection of his side, to strike.
He shoved to his feet so fast that the chair behind him toppled over with a loud crash. The sound startled the people around the table. Heads turned toward him in the dark.
