Early morning.
Alec groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck, the dull ache spreading through his skull.
"What the…?" His eyes snapped open as last night's events flooded back into his mind. He bolted upright, panic flashing across his face.
"What the hell happened?"
He scanned the room. Bodies lay scattered across the floor — his soldiers, all still unconscious. Strange patterns were drawn across their faces, and faint black lines coiled around their throats.
At first, Alec wanted to believe it was some kind of prank. But the thought barely formed before it vanished. No one in their right mind would go this far.
His face turned ashen. "If it's not a prank," he muttered, "then someone did this on purpose…"
He didn't need to guess who. There was only one force in Black Tortoise City capable of something like this — the City Lord's Mansion.
Ta-ta-ta.
Footsteps thundered from the corridor.
