Lucian
I sat there, numb.
Lacy’s words kept echoing in my head, each one hitting harder than the last. I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe the stupidity, the depth of her betrayal, or the sheer cruelty that tied it all together.
Was she telling the truth?
I wanted to scream. To tear something apart. For years, I’d believed my mother’s death was fate—or at worst, politics. But no. Her killer had been circling us all along. Feeding off our lives like a parasite.
Alaric. Chase. That bastard.
I felt my pulse pounding, my hands trembling. Sweat was breaking across my brow. I could barely think. Barely breathe.
I loved Darian, and he only existed because of that night—because of what happened between Martha and my father. But that didn’t erase what Alaric had done. He’d murdered my mo
