Chapter 24. Blood

The heavy doors of the mansion swung open.

Zayn stepped in with his guards, dressed in his usual black, boots clicking softly on the marble floor. The air shifted the moment he entered — colder, heavier. Every maid and butler who crossed paths with him lowered their eyes. No one dared to breathe too loud.

Behind him, his personal guards walked in silence, flanking him like shadows.

From the corner of the hallway, Claudia — head of the maids — approached quickly. She bowed deeply. “Welcome back, Master Zayn.”

Zayn said nothing at first. His eyes flicked around the hallway once, and he kept walking.

Claudia followed behind him, her steps unsure. “Forgive me for disturbing you the moment you arrived, sir, but… Lucien has not returned.”

Zayn stopped walking and the silence that followed was sharp. His expression didn’t change — no twitch, no frown, nothing. But his stillness said everything.

He turned his head slightly. “What do you mean, he has