Bellatrix looked at the fallen Death Eaters, a savage grin spreading across her lips. "I can feel their fear, Master. I can feel every person's fear—their heartbeats, their breathing, the sound of blood flowing through their veins. I can see what they cannot see, hear what they cannot hear, feel presences they cannot feel."
She rose to her feet, and all those eyes turned at once, sweeping over every corner of the stone chamber and the Death Eaters kneeling on the ground, trembling from head to toe. Wherever her gaze fell, they instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to meet her eyes—no, not daring to meet any of the eyes on her body.
"I am your apostle, Master." Bellatrix turned to Voldemort, her eyes filled with devotion and fervor. "I am your eyes in this world, an extension of your will. The power you bestowed upon me—I will use it to clear away every obstacle for you—the Raven, Grindelwald, and Dumbledore. I will make them understand the price of offending you."
Voldemort looked at her in silence for several seconds. Then he raised a hand and lightly patted her shoulder. The gesture was gentle, casual, yet it made Bellatrix's entire body tremble as more dark crimson tears welled up in her eyes.
"Go," Voldemort said, his voice calm and cold. "Prove your worth."
Bellatrix knelt, pressing her forehead to Voldemort's toes. All those eyes closed at once, as though in prayer, as though swearing an oath. "As you command, my master."
She stood and turned toward the exit of the stone chamber. The eyes across her body blinked, rotated, watched. Every step she took carried an eerie, unsettling rhythm. The Death Eaters kneeling on the ground hurriedly moved aside, terrified that any one of the eyes on her body might