The room fell into horrifying silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even breathed.
Because the creature kneeling before Emily had just spoken one impossible word.
"Mother."
Emily stared at it in complete shock.
"No…"
The creature slowly lifted its head.
Its glowing golden eyes remained locked entirely onto her.
And the longer Emily looked at it—
The worse the fear inside her became.
Because beneath the monstrous appearance…
There were traces of humanity.
Almost like someone had once been human before becoming this thing.
Alexander immediately pulled Emily farther behind him protectively.
The creature's glowing eyes instantly shifted toward him.
And the temperature in the room dropped.
Danger.
Pure danger.
The masked man smiled slowly.
"It recognizes her."
Lucien looked horrified.
"You actually kept it alive all these years?"
The masked man's expression darkened slightly.
"Alive?"
He almost sounded offended.
"It evolved."
The creature slowly rose to its full height.
