s*x in death
But in the reflection, a monster stood behind me.
It was draped in the same fine, midnight-blue velvet coat Julian had worn yesterday. It wore the Valerius signet ring on a bony, yellowed finger. But where Julian’s face should have been, there was only a hollowed-out skull, its jaw hanging open in a silent, eternal grin. Small, writhing shadows pulsed behind its empty eye sockets like black flames.
"Did you think you could hide from me, Elowen?" The voice didn't come from a throat; it vibrated inside my own skull, rattling my teeth. "Did you think a few scratches in the wood would save you in the tenth hour?"