Julian, oblivious to the Archduke's sudden homicidal urges, stepped closer to the table.
"Oh dear," Julian said gently, pulling a pristine white handkerchief from his breast pocket. He leaned down, bringing himself to Seraphina's eye level. "It seems I startled you, little one. I apologize. Chocolate stains are dreadfully stubborn."
He reached out, his long, elegant fingers gently taking Seraphina's small hand, intending to wipe the chocolate smudge from her knuckles.
His touch was light.
His smile was warm.
But inside Seraphina's mind, every single alarm bell she possessed was screaming in absolute, deafening terror.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
Her breathing stopped entirely.
The hairs on her arms stood straight up, and a cold sweat broke out across the back of her neck.
She stared into his beautiful golden eyes, and her supreme Dark Core violently, desperately recoiled, curling into a tight ball of pure survival instinct.
