He had been there, had spat at her, cursed her, struck her before the fire consumed her.
Now, that face stared back from her daughter's eyes, smiling with cold vengeance as the world turned upside down.
The last sound he heard was the wet splatter of his body hitting the cobblestones below.
Silence fell, heavy and absolute.
Kiara stepped lightly over the broken rail, her uniform dusted with stone grit.
She exhaled, slow and steady, her fingers smoothing the hem of her blouse as if preparing for a lecture.
"Messy," she murmured, her tone clipped, almost annoyed.
Her eyes dimmed back to their natural icy blue, the pink glow fading, but her lips curved, soft and hungry, a predator sated for now.
She glanced down at the crumpled form below, the garden shadows swallowing Renval's broken body.
"You should've known better," she whispered, her voice barely audible, a private judgment.
