Chapter 126 The Golden Casket Enters the Scene

Chapter 126 The Golden Casket Enters the Scene

A young woman was coming down the spiral staircase.

The banquet hall went quiet for half a second, then broke into a wave of murmurs that no one could hold back.

"Oh my God..."

"She looks even more stunning than her photos."

"I knew she'd show up tonight."

"Man, whoever gets her name tonight is going to be famous in the whole scene."

Ethan stood where he was, watching the woman on the stairs. His gaze paused for a moment.

She wore a long silver-white dress, her hair pinned up with a few loose strands falling by her ears. Her features were striking. She walked at an easy pace, her expression calm, like she'd long gotten used to having an entire room staring at her.

The young men nearby looked like they were about to press their faces to the glass.

Ethan caught himself.

"Hell," he muttered. "This isn't a dinner party. It's a blind date dressed up as an auction."

The curly-haired guy next to him had been staring at the girl on the stairs, but he spun around at that. "New here, huh? You really don't know?"

He straightened his bow tie, his tone dripping with self-importance. "That's Elowen. Valentine family. One of the most valuable names in Boston's upper circles. Beautiful, smart, top-tier background. If you can get her to look at you twice tonight, it's worth showing up."

He glanced back toward the stairs. "Of course, any man who wants to get close to her had better deserve it."

Ethan looked at Elowen on the stairs, his voice flat.

"Then I guess I need to have a word with her alone tonight."

The curly-haired guy blinked, then burst out laughing. A few people nearby joined in.

"Alone? A word?"

"Buddy, what cornfield did you drive in from?"

"Do you have any idea how many people are here tonight? Heirs from half the major families in this city. What makes you think you've got a shot?"

He looked Ethan up and down, grinning wider.

"That face of yours? Or that Dodge parked outside?"

Ethan didn't bother responding. He just shot him a sideways glance.

By then, Elowen had reached the center of the hall.

A host in a tailcoat stepped forward, raised his hand to quiet the room, and put on the kind of polished smile that came with the job.

"Gentlemen, welcome to this evening's private dinner."

"As always, invited guests holding letters will each have a chance to speak with Elowen. The higher the letter grade, the earlier your place in line."

He paused there on purpose, drawing it out.

"Tonight, one special guest holds a gold letter."

The whole banquet hall stirred at once.

"A gold letter?"

"You're joking. There's actually a gold letter tonight?"

"Who has it?"

A spotlight cracked on and dropped directly onto Ethan.

Every head in the room turned.

The curly-haired guy still had the grin on his face. His entire body had gone stiff.

Someone blurted it out.

"Him?"

"The guy who came in with the black Dodge?"

"The gold letter holder skips every round and goes directly to a private dinner with Elowen."

The host's voice carried clearly across the hall.

"Ethan, please come forward."

The curly-haired guy's eyes went wide. His voice came out slightly unsteady. "That's not possible..."

The ones who'd been laughing the loudest had all gone silent.

Ethan walked forward through a sea of stunned stares. He slowed as he passed the curly-haired guy, turned his head just slightly. "Now you know what makes me think I've got a shot."

The curly-haired guy's face fell. He couldn't get a single word out.

At the center of the hall, Elowen was watching Ethan.

There was no heat in her eyes, no shyness either. Just assessment. Her eyes were bright and cold, like she was deciding whether this unfamiliar thing that had appeared in front of her was worth being careful about.

The host gestured toward the corridor.

"Please, this way to the private dining room."

Ethan and Elowen left the hall one after the other, moved through a quiet hallway, and stepped into a private room.

The door closed behind them.

The room was elegant. A record player filled the air with soft music. The curtains were drawn, and nothing from outside could get through.

Elowen stood by the table without sitting down. She spoke first. "I don't know you."

Her voice was lovely.

"But you came in with a gold letter. An invitation at that level could only come from my father, or a few of the most inner circle people in our family. So who are you?"

Ethan didn't answer.

He took two steps forward, then moved fast, closing the distance until he was right in front of her. One hand gripped her waist, the other covered her mouth.

Elowen's eyes went cold in an instant. Her body tensed.

"Don't make a sound." Ethan looked down at her, his voice low. "Stay quiet and I won't kill you."

Elowen stared at him, breath catching, the shock and fury in her eyes clear and sharp.

Ethan kept going. "I'll only ask this once. What's the connection between the Valentine family and The Aeterna Causality? Where is your father right now?"

Elowen didn't answer. Instead she drove her knee straight into Ethan's stomach.

Clean and direct.

Ethan pressed his arm down and locked her against him, eyebrow lifting slightly.

"Quite a temper."

Then —

The dining room door exploded inward. The door itself flew sideways and knocked half a table over. Three figures in black burst through almost at the same moment, moving fast.

Ethan let go of Elowen immediately and stepped aside.

The first one swung a punch straight at him. The fist went through the wooden wall behind where Ethan had been standing, the entire arm sinking into the wall, splinters flying everywhere.

The second was right behind him, sweeping a kick at Ethan's neck. Ethan blocked with his forearm. The floorboards cracked under the impact.

The third didn't pause. Fingers spread like claws, driving straight for Ethan's chest.

Ethan slid back half a step, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted hard.

The bodyguard's arm snapped out of shape. His other hand snatched up a dinner knife and reversed it toward Ethan's eye.

"Good." Ethan shook him off, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Finally, something worth the effort."

Elowen had backed up against the far wall.

She reached up and straightened her collar where Ethan had rumpled it. "Kill him."

All three closed in.

These three were roughly at the same level as the masked men from The Aeterna Causality he'd faced before. Maybe a little stronger. No wasted movement. Pure execution.

The one on the far left launched first, fist hammering straight at Ethan's face. Ethan drove his own fist to meet it head-on.

Their knuckles collided. The bodyguard's arm broke all the way through, but the man still crashed into Ethan's chest, shoulder first.

The other two came from both sides.

Ethan twisted, grabbed the broken-armed bodyguard by the throat, and used him as a weapon.

The one on the right got driven straight through the wall.

The one on the left jumped onto the dining table and charged across it, leg swinging down in a sharp drop kick.

Ethan caught the ankle and slammed him into the floor. The floor dented.

But before the man landed, the short blade in his hand was already thrusting toward Ethan's stomach.

Ethan kicked him square in the chest.

The sternum caved. The bodyguard flew back through the liquor cabinet. The whole row of glass shattered at once.

Ethan spun and drove back the last bodyguard in front of him, then caught movement in his peripheral vision through the broken wall.

A large section of the dining room's side wall had been smashed through. In the banquet hall, guests were scrambling for the exits in a panic. The whole thing had fallen apart.