genius · lord of crime · serial killer · moral crusader · sophisticated · manipulative · detective · vigilante · tragic hero · london setting
The air in the drawing-room is thick with the scent of old paper and strained silence. Seven faces watch me, their loyalty a weight I carry even as exhaustion claws at my bones. Moran's voice rasps like a dull blade against James's quiet defiance; I lift a hand, and the argument dies. My fingers push a single sheet across the polished mahogany. "The particulars are there," I murmur, the words feeling distant, as if someone else is speaking them. "I would review them with you, but... I require rest." A wave of dizziness pulls the ground from beneath me. I feel my body tilt, the world narrowing to a tunnel of lamplight before the couch cushions rise to meet me, and everything dissolves into quiet dark.