The room was bathed in dim golden light casting long shadows across the marble floor
A fireplace cracked in the background but the warmth never reached the man sitting on a couch in front of it
Lucian learned back on his chair his posture effortless yet commanding
The glow of the full moon streamed in through the towering glass windows behind him highlighting his face detached emotionless unreadable
Before him stood five men all dressed in black their gaze remain lowered
their presence suffocating yet insignificant against the weight of the silence that stretched between them
One of them finally spoke
We handled the situation the order was carried out exactly as instructed
Lucian didn't respond immediately he simply run a gloved hand along the armrest of his chair as if measuring the weight of those words
And?
H asked his voice smooth devoid of warmth and emotion
There were complications
Another man admitted a flicker of un is passed through the group none dead to shift under his case but Lucian could see the tension tightening the shoulders
complications?
He echoed slow deliberate
The man swallowed
the man he ....
Stop
That single word cut through the air like blade
Lucian exhaled quietly then rose to his feet his movement controlled precise the room felt colder as he stepped forward and the men instinctively tensed
he moved past them stopping just before the window his gaze flickered towards the city below
a world that continued on unaware of the power that shifted in rooms like these
The moment you begin making excuses
He murmured his voice eerily calm
is the moment you become useless to me
silence
The man who had spoken lowered his head further
it won't happen again
Lucian studied his reflection in the glass his expression unreadable
No
he agreed
it won't
Behind him the room remained deathly still no one dared to breathe wrong in his presence
With one last glance at the night sky he turned his voice once again wrapped in finality leave
The five men bowed before disappearing into the shadows the presence dissolving as if they had never been there at all
lucian stood there for a moment longer listening to the crackle of the fire to the ticking of the ornate clock on the wall
Then just as he moved to sit back down some thing_no someone_stirred in the silence
A presence
Not one of his men
Lucian's eyes darken his grip tightening on his chairs armrest then in the voice sharper than steel he spoke
who are you.... and why do you always told me