Chapter Fifty-Two
LUCIEN SHOVED PAST UNCLE WEN AND brOKE into a run.
Leaping down the two steps, he bolted around the central tree, flew over the lip of the circular exit, and vanished in the time it took me to suck in a breath.
Oh shit.
Dillon.
Dillon was here.
In Lucien’s domain.
Not good.
Not good at all.
“Lucien!” I flew after him, wincing as the pavers bruised me. I was barefoot but at least I was dressed. However, each breezy stride kindly reminded me I wasn’t wearing underwear. “Lucien! Get back here!”
I ran as fast as I could, following his scent of burning cedar and smouldering amber. The tether around my heart tugged, leading me through the labyrinth of corridors.
I glanced at Whisper who appeared beside me, keeping pace with a lazy lope. “You’re as much of a nightmare as he is.”
He just rolled his eyes as if I should’ve known better.
I mean...I knew introducing Lucien and Dillon wouldn’t come without its risks but...how had Dillon found me so fast? My phone was still dead because I’d left my rucksack behind and I didn’t have my charger—
A loud shout tore through the estate.
“LUCIEN!” I ran harder. “Don’t hurt him!”
Whisper shot forward, leaping through another round gateway leading toward the main courtyard. Memories of the staff all bowing to Lucien as the returning prince hovered like ghosts in my periphery.
Charging after the giant cat, I skidded to a stop and almost had a heart attack. Standing in the middle of the courtyard with its curved roofs, carved pillars, and glowing lanterns, the two most important men in my life prepared to go to war.
“Rook!” Dillon broke toward me the moment our eyes met. “You’re actually alive!”
All those wild goose chases I’d put him through.
All the weeks where he’d catch me at some resort, only to lose me the moment his back was turned.
It wasn’t that I went out of my way to make his life hell.
..just that whenever I was around him, I couldn’t stop suffering the guilt and sorrow of running away from everything.
“Did I say you could look at her?” Lucien grabbed Dillon by the front of his black jacket, hauling him off his feet.
Oh shit.
Smoke appeared from his shoulder blades, preparing to flare into those incredible fire-etched wings that appeared whenever we slept together. My heart squeezed in panic as I glanced around the empty courtyard.
If the staff saw.
If Lucien lost his temper—
“Put me down, you lunatic!” Dillon hooked his foot around Lucien’s knee and twisted in a karate-type move that sent Lucien buckling.
With a snarl, Lucien let him go, tripping backward and finding his balance.
It gave Dillon just enough time to dart away and curl his fists, ready for a fight.
The two men squared off against each other.
More smoke pulsed from Lucien’s back—not enough to be completely clear it was from him but enough that I rushed closer. “Okay, okay, how about everyone just calms down?”
Locking eyes with me, Lucien hissed, “Why does he think he has the right to take you away from me?”
“Because you’ve been keeping her hostage!” Dillon snapped.
“Leave,” Lucien spat, heat dancing around his body. “Before I make you.”
“You’re going to be sorry you threatened me, asshole.” Dillon smiled tightly then flicked his hand in a come-hither motion. “Go on then. Make me. I’d love to see you try.”
“Lucien, don’t. Dillon...” I shot him a scowl. “Also don’t.”
“He started it.” Dillon pointed at Lucien.
Lucien bared his teeth and Whisper joined in the fight with a pillar-rattling roar.
Great. If the staff had been sleeping, they weren’t anymore.
“Rook. Come here,” Dillon commanded in his best pissed-off voice. “Let me make sure this asshole hasn’t hurt you.”
“He hasn’t hurt me.” I stayed right next to Lucien as the fire grew hotter beneath his skin.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Dillon strode toward me and I wouldn’t put it past him to scoop me up like a bag of dirty laundry, toss me over his shoulder, and haul me out of Ashfall Cliff kicking and screaming.
Almost as if Lucien heard my thoughts, tiny flames gathered around his fingers. “I won’t tell you again,” he seethed. “Leave.”
“Let her come with me and I’ll leave right now.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Whisper snarled as if he agreed with his slightly deranged master.
“See? That just confirms what I think of you.” Dillon narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck do you want? Why did you kidnap her? Who are you working for?”
“Leave!” Lucien trembled as he fought for control. “I won’t ask again.”
“I told you. Let her leave with me and—”
“She’ll never go with you.”
“Ah see, that’s where you’re wrong.” Dillon smirked. “You’re playing with fire, asshole. I’ve already summoned backup and when they get here, they’ll—”
“You’re right.” Lucien cut in with a tight smile. “I am playing with fire. Want to find out what I can do without backup?” His smouldering fist came up. That scarlet ring of warning appeared around his pupils.
Okay, this had gone on long enough.
“Lucien.” Hugging his arm, I yanked his body toward me. “Calm down.”
He staggered a little, catching my eyes. “But he’s trying to take you away from me.” The scarlet ring around his pupils flickered and I saw what this was really about.
Fear.
Animalistic fear that’d rotted his soul, thanks to spending every day of the past two decades on his own.
His arm burned beneath my fingers as he whispered for my ears only. “I’ve finally found you. I finally have you, and I’ll kill him if he tries to take you away from me.” Fire ignited around his collar as if he’d kicked the furnace door down inside him. The marble pavers cracked beneath his feet.
For the first time since I’d lost my pendant, I slipped into the icy ocean that now existed within my heart—a glittering lake that promised infinite power if I only asked.
And so, I asked.
I gave myself over to the overwhelming feelings that made me human—feelings that’d always granted such agony—and arrowed all of them into Lucien.
He shuddered as a web of ice enveloped him, lacing over his clothes, his hair, his face—swallowing his fire and stealing his rage.
For a second, he just stared at me with relief and awe, then snatched me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. “See? What the fuck would I do without you, huh?”
He didn’t seem to care Dillon was watching. Didn’t seem aware of anything apart from the bond as it yanked so, so hard between us.
My heart answered every furious throb of his and I shivered as his emotions bled into me. Hot spikes of jealousy. Sharp stings of loss. Powerlessness of being trapped for so long. All wrapped up in horror of what he was capable of if I wasn’t there to stop him.
“It’s okay.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed.
“I’m not going anywhere, alright? He can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do, and I don’t want to leave you.
” Pulling away a little, I reached up and cupped his cheeks, his skin so hot.
“You will never be trapped again. And you can control it.”
Whisper twined around us as Lucien slowly nodded.
But the moment was ruined as Dillon cleared his throat and Lucien stiffened all over again. His temper flared as he grabbed my wrist and jerked me behind him.
I scowled at his overprotection but as long as he touched me—as long as I touched him...we’d be fine. Cancelled out. Nullified. Normal.
Peeling Lucien’s hand off my wrist, he frowned as I wove my fingers through his and moved to his side instead.
I could tell he didn’t like it.
But...tough luck.
Dillon was here because of me.
And despite my questions about his loyalties—despite my nervousness at everything that’d happened—he was still my friend and protector.
“Hi, Dil.” I plastered on a sunny smile, all while squeezing Lucien’s hand to behave. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“If you dare ‘Hi, Dil’ me again, I swear I’ll put you over my knee.” Dillon stepped toward me, his eyes locking onto mine and completely discounting Lucien and the panther.
Lucien bordered a bonfire again as Dillon swept his gaze over me—from head to toe, inspecting every inch like I was a car he was thinking of purchasing.
“No wounds that I can see. No broken bones. No blindness or muteness or any reason whatsoever that you couldn’t pick up the goddamn phone and CALL me. ”
“Careful.” Lucien bared his teeth. “Yell at her and you won’t have a tongue.”
He was a little bit terrifying and frighteningly gorgeous, and I really shouldn’t be so turned on by his jealousy.
Dillon spread his hands in a dramatic shrug. “Where have you been, Rook?” He took another step toward us—looking like he wanted to touch me—to make sure I was truly okay.
But a low growl from Lucien stopped that nonsense.
Whisper slinked forward, his shoulders low as if getting ready to pounce.
“Don’t you start, kitty cat,” I warned. “Dillon is a friend, not a snack.”
“Speak for yourself.” A trickle of heat flowed from Lucien’s body into mine. “He might end up being breakfast.”
Whisper snorted as if he was in on the joke and made a big show of revealing his fangs.
“You two.” I elbowed Lucien. “Stop trying to terrify my bodyguard.”
Dillon—to his credit—didn’t even seem surprised to see a full-grown panther acting like a guard dog. Then again...he had been in the Snowflake Corp labs, so I supposed he was used to it.
Before I could apologise for making him worry, Dillon reeled off more questions. “What are you doing here, Rook? What even is this place? Do you know how hard it was to even get here? If you didn’t pay me so well, I would’ve given up right around the fifth rickety bus ride.”
Dillon looked exactly the same—broad-shouldered, white-blond, and dressed head to toe in tactical black. His arctic-blue eyes could see a threat a million miles away, and his black jacket had more pockets and hidden weapons than most undercover agents.