The flash of lightning disappeared almost the instant Damon recognized the figure seated behind the upper balcony, but that was enough. Duke Arven's hunched silhouette remained motionless in the darkness, partially hidden by the ornate columns of the second floor. Even from a distance, there was something profoundly wrong with his posture. He didn't look like a man observing a battle within his own home. He looked like someone empty. Like a forgotten statue in the dark.
And Morgana saw it too.
Damon realized it immediately by the way she accelerated.
She practically launched herself up the stairs, cutting through the corridor of creatures like a living blade. One of the aberrations tried to grab her leg mid-ascent, but Morgana twisted her body on the last step and buried her father's sword directly in the side of the creature's head before it even touched the ground again. Black blood splattered across the marble steps.
The Duchess recoiled for the first time.
