Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Astra
I don’t understand what has happened to Lucian.
The taciturn mercenary who barely spoke unless he was giving orders has been replaced by someone who can’t seem to stop touching me. His fingers graze my arm when he hands me water. His hand supports my back when I sit up too quickly. He pulls me into his lap as if he has every right to do so.
During our journey, he was sharp-tongued and dismissive, answering my questions with grunts or cutting remarks. Now he watches me with an intensity that makes my skin burn, and every casual brush feels like he’s branding me.
And the worst part? My body responds to his touch like I’m starved for contact.
“Let me go,” I demand again, pushing against his chest. But he’s solid as stone, completely immovable.
His hand tightens in my hair, not painfully but possessively in a way that makes my body temperature rise. “Getting back at Andrew will be the first time you take a stand for yourself.”
His other hand trails along my collarbone, and I can’t stop the shiver that races through me. The touch is light, almost blasé, but it sets my skin on fire.
“Do you want to remain weak for the rest of your life?”
That word may as well be a slap in my face. “I’m not weak!”
“Prove it.”
I shove him with both hands, putting all my strength into it. He doesn’t budge an inch, just watches me with those intense, blue eyes while I struggle against him like a trapped animal.
“You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met!” The words burst out of me, raw with frustration. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
My voice cracks on the last word, and I hate myself for it.
I hate that despite everything—despite Andrew’s betrayal, despite learning that love is just another weapon people use against you—some desperate part of me wants to lean into Lucian’s warmth.
Wants to believe that maybe this time is different.
But I can’t be that foolish again. I won’t.
“I don’t understand what you want from me,” I continue, my anger mixing with something that feels alarmingly close to panic. “You called me pathetic and annoying. You made it clear you couldn’t wait to be rid of me. So why are you here? Why are you—”
My words cut off when he takes hold of my jaw, forcing me to meet his blazing gaze. There’s nothing gentle about the way he looks at me. Nothing soft or comforting.
“I let Andrew have his chance with you,” he says, his voice becoming low and dangerous. The possessiveness in his tone makes my breath catch. “I have you now.” His thumb traces my lower lip, and fire shoots straight through my core. “And I’m not going to give you up.”
My heart hammers against my ribs. “You can’t just decide that. You can’t just—”
“I can do whatever I want.” The certainty in his voice is absolute, unshakeable. “And what I want is you.”
“That’s not how it works.” My protest sounds weak even to my own ears.
His hand slides away from my jaw to cradle the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair again. The gesture is claiming, possessive, and it makes every nerve ending in my body light up.
“I’ll bring Andrew to you,” he says, his tone growing dark and promising. “You can do whatever you like with him. Even kill him.”
The offhand way he talks about murder makes my stomach clench. “Killing humans isn’t allowed.”
“You can do whatever you like,” he says, his voice carrying an edge that makes my pulse race. “Nobody can stop you. And if someone tries to, I’ll make them regret it.”
There’s something about the way he says it, like there’s a double meaning I’m not grasping. Like he knows something I don’t.
“This is the last time I’m asking you,” he says now, his tone sharp with demand. “I want a straight answer. Do you want revenge?”
The finality of the question cuts through my confusion.
I look up at him, this dangerous man who appeared in my life like a force of nature.
Who saved me when I was dying. Who kisses me like he has every right to claim my mouth.
Who looks at me like I’m something precious even while calling me weak.
The smart thing would be to say no. To tell him I just want to disappear somewhere quiet and safe and never think about Andrew again.
But when I close my eyes, I see Andrew’s face as he watched those men beat me. I hear his voice telling them I’m prime breeding stock. I remember the collar his customer wanted to put around my neck.
A fierce sense of vengeance unfurls inside me. “Yes.” My voice is steady, certain. “I want revenge.”
Lucian’s smile is sharp and predatory, like a wolf that has just cornered its prey. It should terrify me, but instead, it makes something hot and tight coil in my belly.
“Good girl,” he murmurs, and the approval in his voice sends heat racing through my body.
He stands suddenly, depositing me back on the ground with ease. I feel cold without him, empty without his hands on me, and I hate myself for missing the contact.
“Stay here while I fetch Andrew,” he says, already moving into the forest.
As I watch him walk away, my heart feels uneasy and yet exhilarated for some reason. There’s an aggressiveness in the way he moves, something that speaks of violence that is barely leashed.
I realize that this man will be way more dangerous for me than Andrew ever was.
Andrew tried to break my body and steal my future.
But Lucian? Lucian may very well steal my soul.
And the most terrifying part is that I’m not sure I want to stop him.
Less than half an hour later, I hear footsteps approaching through the trees. My heart pounds as Lucian appears from the shadows, dragging something behind him.
No, not something. Someone.
Andrew stumbles along after Lucian, barely able to stay upright. His face is a mess of bruises and cuts, and one eye is swollen completely shut. His clothes are torn and bloodstained, and he moves like every step is causing him agony.
Lucian throws him at my feet like discarded garbage. Andrew hits the ground hard, crying out in pain as he lands awkwardly on what looks like a fractured arm.
“Decide his fate,” Lucian says, crossing his arms as he watches me.
I stare down at the broken man in front of me.
This is Andrew. The man I spent years waiting for at the forest’s edge.
The man I gathered rare herbs for, risking my life in the Wyvern Woods just to have something valuable to offer him.
The man whose smile I treasured, whose gentle words I hoarded like precious gems.
The man who planned to sell me into slavery.
My heart feels heavy as I look at him now. I think of all those times I eagerly anticipated his arrival, thinking his kindness meant something real. All those conversations where I believed I was building something beautiful with someone who cared about me.
He never loved me. Not once. Not even a little.
“Astra,” Andrew gasps, his voice broken and desperate. “Thank God you’re alive. I was so worried—”
His words cut off when Lucian’s boot connects with his ribs. Andrew doubles over, wheezing.
“Don’t lie to her,” Lucian says coldly. “We all know what you did.”
Andrew tries to push himself up, his good arm reaching toward my leg. “Astra, please, you have to listen to me—”
Before his mangled fingers can touch me, Lucian slams his foot down on Andrew’s hand. The sound of bones crunching makes my stomach turn, but I don’t look away.
“Don’t touch her with your filthy hands,” Lucian snarls.
Andrew screams, cradling his crushed hand against his chest. Tears stream down his face as he looks up at me with desperate eyes.
“Please,” he begs. “Please, Astra. You have to save me. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
I study his face, this man who was once the center of all my hopes and dreams. “No, you don’t.”
“I do! I swear I do!” His voice cracks with desperation. “They forced me to do those things. Those men, they threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate. I never wanted to hurt you.”
More lies. Even now, even broken and bleeding at my feet, he’s still trying to manipulate me.
“They said they’d burn down my shop,” he continues, his words tumbling over each other in his panic. “They said they’d kill everyone I cared about if I didn’t help them. I had no choice, Astra. You have to understand, I had no choice!”
I watch him weave his web of excuses, and with each word, my heart grows colder. Harder.
“I was protecting you,” Andrew says, his voice taking on that familiar, gentle tone he used to use with me. “I thought if I could stall them, if I could make them think I was cooperating, maybe I could find a way to save you. I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not!” He tries to reach for me again, but a warning growl from Lucian stops him. “Astra, you know me. You know I’m not capable of the things they’re saying I did. I love you. I’ve loved you since the day you saved my life.”
I crouch down so we’re at eye level, and I study his face carefully. “I never loved you,” I tell him.
His mouth falls open in shock. “What?”
“I never loved you, Andrew.” My voice is calm and unemotional. “I wanted the security you could provide. I thought you were someone who wouldn’t abandon me or betray me. But love?” I shake my head. “No.”
“You don’t mean that—”
“If you thought you made me fall in love with you, you were wrong.” I lean closer, making sure he can see the truth in my eyes. “You were never worthy of my love.”
Something ugly flickers across his face before he forces his expression back to desperate pleading. “Astra, please. You’re upset, you’re not thinking clearly—”
“What do you want to do with him?” Lucian’s voice cuts through Andrew’s blubbering.
I stand slowly, looking down at the broken man in the dirt. A part of me—the part that my mother raised to be kind and forgiving—wants to tell him to leave. To disappear and never come back.
My thoughts are interrupted when Andrew speaks again.