Chapter 71Richard laid it out in sequence. The state of the mansion. Obed on the floor. Every capable man in the building incapacitated by a single soldier. Charles beaten personally by the man himself, at length, while his soldier handled everything else. The complete absence of a name or any prior history in Greenville's circles. He spoke without inflection, the way a man recites evidence he has already lived with long enough to stop feeling it — or believes he has."And Charles told you this person was a suitor of Kris," Duncan said."Yes. Which points directly to Uther — the only person in your circle with both the ability to put Obed on the floor and a connection to that woman."Duncan's expression had been moving steadily throughout Richard's account, passing through several stages, and it arrived now at something that was caught between disbelief and a kind of exasperated incredulity. He looked at Richard the way a man looks at a sum that has been confidently totalled wrong."

Chapter 73For a moment, Uther was completely shocked. His one good eye went wide, and his mouth opened slightly as if to protest, but no sound came out. The idea that the man who had humiliated him — the stranger who had walked into the Kardashian compound with nothing but arrogance and a single soldier — could be the same person who had hospitalized Trevor Rodriguez was too much to process all at once.Then his expression shifted.The shock drained away, replaced by something harder. Something defensive. His swollen lips twisted into a sneer that looked painful on his battered face."You're lying," Uther said.Duncan stared at him. "What?""Or you're mistaken. Confused." Uther struggled to sit up straighter against the wall, wincing as his ribs protested. "Master, with all respect — you've been exposed to something. Some kind of drug. A hallucinogen."Duncan's expression went very still. "A hallucinogen.""Yes." Uther's voice grew more confident as he worked through his theory, the

Chapter 75When Duncan saw Adrian standing in the doorway, the ointment bottle slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud. His face went through several transformations in rapid succession—shock, recognition, and finally a bone-deep terror that made his hands begin to shake."You..." Duncan's voice came out as barely a whisper. "How did you... why are you here?"Adrian took another step into the cramped room, his boots crunching over debris. His expression remained pleasant, almost amused, but there was nothing warm in his eyes."Why am I here?" Adrian repeated, as if considering the question carefully. "Well, Duncan, that's quite simple. You failed.""Failed?" Duncan's voice cracked slightly."Your mission," Adrian said, his tone conversational despite the weight behind the words. "I asked you to do one thing. Protect Kris and my sister Celeste. Keep them safe. And what did you do?"Duncan opened his mouth, but no sound came out."You stood by," Adrian continued, tak