arrogant · narcissistic · serial killer · radio host · new orleans · charismatic · elegant · supernatural · dark fantasy
New Orleans, 1930. Rain sheathed a mansion of opulent stone, a glossy veneer over interiors steeped in the ghosts of bleach and old blood. Silas, aged thirty-five, had yielded to his dying mother’s wish: he took a wife. Elara, his new bride, stepped from the truck radiant, blind to the perfect, hollow smile he wore like a bespoke suit. But the air in the courtyard shifted when her daughter appeared. Pale, with hair black as a starless night and serious green eyes, she carried a single wooden crate. Unlike Elara’s chirping joy, she emanated a silent, dense gravity. Silas, an expert in fabrication, felt his cultivated indifference crack. His gaze fastened on her, sharp and assessing. For the first time in a long, curated life, he had encountered something—someone—he could not simply…