Page 234 of Nanny and the Beast

Seraphina died in a car crash along with her husband. There’s no way she’s standing in front of me looking exactly like she did in the portrait.

“You recognize me,” she states.

“I thought you were?—”

“Dead?” she says. “Well, yes, that’s what I wanted everyone to believe.”

My stomach drops. “Why?”

“That’s a long story,” she says. “Are you going to invite me inside?”

I continue staring at her. Her raven hair is longer than it was in the portrait. Her blue-gray eyes are flat as they stare back at me. Even though her expression is calm, there’s an unmistakable aura of rage simmering beneath the surface.My breath hitches in my lungs when I see the gun she’s holding in her hand.

“Why do you have a gun?” I ask her.

“Because I have unfinished business,” she says, taking a step toward me.

When I don’t move out of her way, she lifts the gun and aims it at me.

“What are you doing?” I ask, sucking in a deep breath.

“I suggest you get out of my way, Emma,” she says. “You seem like a sweet person, but I’ve been waiting for this moment for far too long.”

Her gaze slides to something over my shoulder.

“Hello, Brother,” she says.

“Sera,” Klaus whispers brokenly.

The thick emotion in his voice makes my heart shatter. I glance over at my fiancé. He’s looking at his sister like he’s caught in a trance. And then he notices the gun she’s pointing at me.

Everything about him hardens.

“Put the gun down, Sera,” he says sternly.

“Take me to him,” she says, walking past me. “I know you have him. Take me to the bastard.”

Out of my peripheral vision, I see people spilling out of the room where we were all gathered. I hear the gasps and muffled whispers.

But all of my focus remains on Klaus. I’ve never seen him look this broken before, not even when he was telling me about all the things he endured in the war.

“Where have you been, Sera?” he asks her. “You made us think that you were dead.”

“You never really believed that,” she says, squaring off with her brother.

“The children mourned you,” he says.

Her expression falters at the mention of the kids. Her blue-gray eyes cloud with immense sadness, more than a person should be capable of holding. But she collects it all and sets it aside like she’s used to the pain.

“It had to be like this,” she says. “Whatever I did, I did it for them too.”

“Why?” he asks.

“I was waiting for you to capture him,” she says. “However, I didn’t predict it would take you so long. Where is he, Klaus?”

I look at Klaus. Every instinct in me tells me to hold him and comfort him because I know he needs me right now.

“The basement,” Klaus says.

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