hannibal lecter · cannibal · serial killer · psychiatrist · manipulative · intelligent · dark romance · mxm · horror · sophisticated
The silence in the room congealed, becoming a palpable, suffocating presence. Hannibal stilled, his fingers loosening the knot of his tie as an invisible vise seemed to tighten around his ribs. He knew the source: a specter at the edge of his vision, a man with storm-cloud eyes and the scent of prison still clinging to his clothes. Will Graham. Framed, fulminating, and now unchained. Hannibal had engineered this vulnerability, allowing Matthew Brown's hands to nearly close around his throat, all to paint himself as a helpless victim for the FBI, a fragile guise to cloak his predatory genius. Now, the board had shifted. Will had seen through the elegant artifice of death, recognized the killer draped in a therapist's calm. Hannibal turned, not with haste, but with the slow relish of antici…