Chapter 1 The Wife They Just Buried

"He killed her."

That whisper cut through the chapel. sharp, thin, and once it was out there, it couldn't be unsaid. No one turned. Not all the way, anyway. Grief demanded you keep yourself together, and keeping yourself together meant pretending you didn't hear things that made the room feel colder.

"They all die," someone muttered. "Every single one of them."

A man next to the speaker hissed, "Angela, keep your voice down."

"Why?" The first voice didn't drop. "Everyone's thinking the same thing."

Eloise Laurent heard every word, though. Her hand tightened on her handbag until the leather squeaked, but she let go before anyone noticed. She kept her face forward, her expression calm, like she belonged there in all that black silk and polite mourning.

She didn't.

She wasn't family. Not a friend. No invitation. She was just curiosity dressed up for a funeral.

Up front stood Cassian Blackmoor. The man rumor had turned into something part flesh, part ghost story. He stood beside the coffin of his latest dead wife.

Closed lid. White roses. Silver handles so shiny they caught the candlelight and shook it like nerves. The whole setup looked intentional, elegant, and expensive.

So did he.

His suit fit perfectly, like it'd been sewn just for him. Broad shoulders, straight back, hands at his sides, still in a way most people never are unless they've practiced. Black hair slicked back, jaw set. not in anger, not in grief, just steady. Controlled.

He didn't look strong.

He looked worn out in a way sleep couldn't fix.

The priest talked quietly about peace and mercy, about how death wasn't really the end. The words drifted around, light as smoke. Nobody clung to them.

Eloise didn't listen. She watched Cassian.

She didn't mean to. She couldn't help it. Something about the way he stood pulled her attention. Not wrong, not guilty. something stranger. Like gravity bent toward him, like the air itself played by different rules around him.

Another mourner leaned in close: "I heard the last one fell down the stairs."

His companion whispered back, "This one, they said it was fever."

Eloise didn't turn. The voices didn't matter. The words did.

Every single one.

Her eyes went back to Cassian. Seventeen marriages, people whispered. Seventeen funerals. All different stories. Accidents, sickness, bad luck, fate. Patterns hide themselves well.

The priest's voice softened. "Please stand."

Chairs scraped. Fabric rustled. Somewhere behind her, a woman sobbed, too raw for a room this careful. Someone hushed her. Someone sighed.

Eloise stood with the rest.

Cassian didn't move.

Not when the prayer ended. Not when the first mourner stepped forward. Not when the condolences started up, soft and practiced.

A gray-haired man squeezed his shoulder. Nothing.

A woman dabbed at her eyes and tried to say something kind. Cassian didn't nod.

A younger man gripped his arm. Cassian didn't blink.

It wasn't indifference. It was something else, like he'd locked away something dangerous and thrown out the key on purpose.

Eloise's pulse thumped once, hard, in her throat.

She should've been scared.

But really, she just felt aware.

She noticed his stillness, the way people gave him space, the heavy air around him, as if it pushed back when you got too close.

One by one, mourners left, their whispers trailing out with them.

Eloise stayed put.

Leave, she told herself.

Her feet wouldn't obey.

The last mourner stepped away. Silence settled.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Eloise stepped into the aisle.

Her heels made a single, soft click on the floor. She shifted her weight and tried to walk more quietly. She went to the coffin first because that's how it's done.

A photo stood on an easel. The dead woman smiled behind the glass. Bright eyes, smooth skin, beautiful in that permanent, untouched way only pictures manage.

Eloise met that smile for a moment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, not sure who she was talking to, or why.

Then she turned to him.

Up close, Cassian was worse.

Not scary.

Just present.

He was tall enough that she had to tilt her chin up, and his presence hit her like warmth from a fire she hadn't noticed until she was too close. He kept his eyes down, somewhere over her shoulder, refusing to see her or anyone else.

Eloise swallowed.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said, keeping her voice low.

She made sure it didn't waver. That mattered to her.

Cassian didn't respond.

She wondered if he'd even heard. Then his fingers curled at his side, just once, slow and careful, like he'd caught himself before anything could slip.

Her stomach dropped.

He saw her.

Not out of politeness. More like instinct.

Eloise dipped her head, cutting the moment short before it turned into something else, and started to go.

One step.

Another.

The chapel lights flickered-just a blip. Probably nothing, but she caught it. Her eyes lifted to the chandeliers overhead, their crystals still and glittering above all those bowed heads.

Nothing moved.

She kept going.

Behind her, fabric rustled. Barely a sound. Just a shift in the air.

Cassian turned.

He didn't hesitate. Every move was precise, like he wasn't asking permission from anyone.

Eloise felt it, even before she saw it.

She glanced back.

His eyes were on her.

Not lazy. Not curious. Focused. Unblinking.

Her breath snagged.

He didn't look gentle. He looked like he'd just noticed something that didn't fit.

His gaze swept over her face, quick and clinical, never resting long enough to be rude, like he was scanning for answers only he could see.

Eloise's back straightened on its own.

The rest of the chapel faded.

Cassian lifted his hand, not reaching for her, just turning his ring hard against his finger, like the metal burned.

Then his eyes darted past her.

Checking, searching.

Eloise shifted, trying to follow his gaze.

Nothing. Just mourners in black, heads lowered, the kind of hush that pretends to be respectful.

She looked at him again.

For the first time, his composure slipped.

Only a flicker, nothing anyone else would catch.

But she saw it.

A flash. Urgent and sharp.

His lips moved.

No sound.

Run.

Her heart hammered.

She didn't move.

Cassian's jaw clenched.

Someone shifted behind him.

Eloise's eyes jumped past his shoulder and landed on a woman alone in the front pew.

Black pearls. Perfect posture. Makeup untouched. Bright eyes, curious in a way that had no place at a funeral.

The woman met Eloise's stare and smiled.

It wasn't friendly.

It was known.

Cold washed down Eloise's spine.

She stepped back.

Cassian watched her, calculating distance, time, risk.

The woman in pearls tilted her head, like she'd just confirmed something.

Eloise turned and left.

Not rushing and not running. Just steady, measured steps toward the doors. Every sense stretched thin, aware of every sound, every shift in the room.

Behind her, the whispers started again, sharp and eager.

"Who is she?"

"Did you see him look at her?"

"She came alone."

She grabbed the door handle.

Pushed.

Light spilled in.

For a moment, she thought she'd made it.

Then the reflection in the glass caught her. The woman in pearls, right behind her.

Still smiling.