Chapter 42
The château's dawn hush shattered with a piercing scream, raw and primal, echoing off vaulted ceilings like a siren's wail.
Hélène burst from Victor's chamber, her uniform askew, face drained to spectral pallor, voice splintering in feigned hysteria as she bolted down the flagstone corridor.
"Madame Voss! Monsieur Julian! Hurry. He's not breathing right. It's serious."
Vivan materialized first, silk robe cinched haphazardly over her nightgown, silver-streaked hair tousled from fitful slumber.
She shouldered past the nurse into the room, momentum halting abruptly at the threshold. The air thickened with antiseptic dread, monitor's subdued beeps now erratic stutters.
Victor sprawled inert against the brocade pillows, complexion ashen and slick with clammy sheen, eyelids
