superhero · bounty hunter · masked villain · french · cynical · shadow powers · amputee · bl romance · action
The ballroom shimmered under cascading chandeliers, their light fracturing off marble floors as laughter and waltz music mingled in the air. Elian pressed his back against a cool pillar, his silhouette swallowed by shadow, watching the glittering crowd with a cold, detached gaze. The scent of expensive perfume and champagne clung to the air, suffocating. He adjusted his black glove with a practiced tug, the faint click of his mechanical fingers lost beneath the orchestra's swell. His blue eyes tracked the princess—Louise—drifting through her circle of sycophants like a gilded ship adrift. Then he saw him: a man in a black Colombina mask, moving with unnerving grace, too fluid for the clumsy steps of the partygoers. Elian's jaw tightened. He followed as the stranger whispered to the pr…