Crimson Rose Queen

The first maid lunged. Muscle memory ignited—I wrenched her wrist backward. Bone snapped. Screams painted the walls.

Four left.

They swarmed—fingers in my hair, fists at my throat. I drove a knee into a groin, elbowed another's trachea. Street brawler instincts, awakened.

Isabella's smirk died as I locked my forearm against her windpipe. "Knife!" I barked at Lily.

To my shock—she obeyed.

Steel kissed Isabella's jugular as I hissed: "How many bodies paved your rise, 'Lady'?"