I stared at Liandrin, certain I’d misheard her.
The air in the room was already thick with tension, but her words sliced through it like a serrated blade.
“You.... want to kill a Lycan?” I asked slowly.
Liandrin nodded, looking perversely satisfied. “Yes. You should be grateful I’m only asking you to kill one and not the whole lot of them.”
A humorless laugh escaped her lips, hollow and cutting.
Lorraine stepped forward, brows pulled together. “Aren’t you a Lycan too? Why do you hate your kind so much?”
Liandrin’s mismatched eyes shifted toward her. For a mont, she was silent, then she exhaled as though speaking was a burden.
“Lycans,” she began, “are too myopic. Too arrogant. Too proud. Empty vessels parading themselves as leaders of a kingdom they barely understand.” Her lip curled. “Their kind thinks power is strength. When in reality, it is nothing more than noise. Posturing. Shallow vanity wrapped in muscle.”
She looked away.
A shadow fell over her expression, so old rage brewing beneath her skin.
I wasn’t sure exactly what happened to her in her past, but whatever it was, it had carved her into this brittle, volatile creature.
“Fine,” I said, straightening. Her head snapped toward . “I’ll help you kill whichever Lycan you want dead.”
Lorraine sucked in a sharp breath, but I kept talking.
“But not now,” I said firmly. “First, I need to rescue Varya.”
Liandrin’s eyebrows lifted, amused by my boldness.
“She is my friend,” I continued. “Since childhood. She has always fought beside and for , she has always helped . I will not abandon her. Especially not when the only reason she’s even here, dragged into all of this.... is because of .”
Liandrin tilted her head, genuinely studying now, as if seeing sothing she didn’t expect.
“You are a loyal one,” she murmured. “Unlike the rest of your kind.”
Then her expression sharpened, cold, calculating.
“But forgive if I still do not trust you completely.”
My jaw tensed. “What does that an?”
“It ans,” she said, pointing at Lorraine, “that while you go and fetch your little friend, I will keep your feral girl here with .”
Lorraine stiffened. Felix’s eyes widened. Alistair took a step forward.
But Liandrin wasn’t done.
“And her too,” she added, jabbing a finger at Kaelani.
“What?!” Kaelani practically shrieked. “Why ?! Why will you keep here? I have nothing to do with them! Kieran doesn’t even care about , I’m also a victim here!”
Liandrin’s laugh was a low, dark hum.
“They said you are the daughter of the leader of the Elites,” she replied. “So if Kieran suddenly decides not to follow his heart anymore, I’m quite sure he still won’t want to ignite a war between Lycans and Elites. A war that would certainly begin if I kill their precious princess.”
Kaelani gaped. “So you’re using as.... as leverage?!”
“Collateral, darling,” Liandrin corrected. “If he doesn’t return within twenty four hours, I’ll kill you twice over. Both girls.”
Lorraine flinched. Kaelani choked out a sound of horror.
Liandrin moved closer to , her long white hair trailing behind like dead vines.
“Everyone says I am completely heartless,” she whispered. “But look at , I am giving you ti. A chance. Twenty four hours to save your friend. Fail to return...” She tapped her chest. “I kill your feral girl. I kill the Elite princess.”
She paused.
“And then I activate the blood oath you took, and kill you.”
The room went dead still.
I didn’t doubt her for a second.
Lorraine stepped forward, her face pale but determined. “You guys should go,” she said softly. “We’ll be fine here. But you must go, Kieran.”
She moved right in front of , touching my arm. Her fingers squeezed gently, grounding .
“Go save Varya,” she whispered. “You must not let her die.”
I felt sothing in my chest tighten, sharply, painfully.
I already knew what I needed to do, but hearing her say it....
It anchored .
Lorraine had never asked anything from , not like this.
And goddess, I could not fail her.
I pulled her into an embrace, gentle, yet I held her as if the world were trying to take her away from , yet again.
“I’ll be back for you,” I murmured into her hair. “I promise.”
She nodded against my shoulder.
A wet sniffle ca from behind us.
“Oh, so I don’t get a say in any of this?” Kaelani protested. “You’re all just deciding my fate like I’m a bag of flour?!”
Alistair sighed, rubbing his temples. “Kaelani, have so empathy. We’re talking about saving soone here.”
Kaelani spun toward him, eyes blazing. “You an the sa soone who snapped my neck on our first eting?! Forgive if I’m not enthusiastic about putting my life on the line to save her!”
Felix snorted. “To be fair, you aid an arrow at our heads on your first eting. And yet Varya still put her life on the line to save you. Honestly, if it were up to , you would have been captured by the Crimson Hunt instead, not her.”
Kaelani sputtered, searching for a coback.
“That’s enough,” I cut in sharply.
Everyone stopped talking imdiately.
I looked at Felix and Alistair.
They straightened.
“We’re going to save Varya,” I said.
My voice left no room for argunt.
Felix nodded. “Absolutely.”
Alistair responded with a resolute, “Yes.”
Then I turned to Liandrin.
“I’ll be back before the twenty four hours are up.”
My gaze moved to Lorraine. She t it without fear, even now, her trust in was very evident in her eyes and I knew I couldn’t afford to fail her.
“I promise,” I finished.
*****
The office was dimly lit, the shadows long and reaching across the marble floor like the claws of sothing ancient. Adrian sat behind the massive desk, the sa one The Leader ruled from, his fingers drumming lightly against its polished surface. The room slled faintly of old incense and dried blood, remnants of the man Adrian had brutally replaced.
Now, the office was his.
His throne.
His victory.
His beginning.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Enter,” Adrian said without looking up.
The newly appointed commander stepped inside, broad shouldered, stiff, and still visibly terrified of the man who’d murdered the last commander without blinking. He bowed deeply.
“My lord,” he began, voice steady though his hands twitched at his sides, “I just received word from so of our troops stationed in the Lycan territory.”
Adrian finally looked up, interest piqued.
The commander continued, “They captured a girl who was seen moving with Kieran Valerius Hunter and Lorraine Anderson.”
At those two nas, Adrian shot to his feet. The chair slamd backward into the wall with a sharp crack.
His expression, calm just seconds ago, twisted into sothing razor focused, a gleam both dangerous and eager burning behind his eyes.
“Who is the girl?” Adrian demanded.
“They have yet to confirm her na, my lord,” the commander replied, keeping his gaze low. “She is still unconscious. But they reported that she’s a Lycan.... and she has red hair.”
Adrian didn’t need amy more description.
“Varya,” he breathed.
Then his eyes sharpened, the calculating gaze returning .
He stepped toward the commander, voice dripping with command.
“Tell the troops nothing must happen to her. Not a scratch. Not a bruise. Bring her to alive. Imdiately.”
“Yes, my lord.” The commander bowed again, lower this ti, and rushed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Adrian turned back toward the desk, but this ti, he didn’t sit. Instead, a slow smile unfurled across his face, dark, anticipatory, triumphant.
“Well, well....” he murmured to the empty office. “Things just got really interesting.”
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