Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lia
I’m standing ankle-deep in the ocean, icy waves lapping against my legs. A familiar dread curls low in my stomach as I start moving, jogging along the shore. The wind nips at my skin, and I wrap my arms tighter around myself.
The shore is a void, stripped of every living thing, yet a prickle of recognition stabs at the back of my neck.
“Looking for someone?”
Draven steps out of the fog, his form sharpening with each step.
“Where are we?” I ask.
Stay calm, Lia. Don’t show fear.
He tilts his head, amusement dancing in his snake-like eyes. “You’ve forgotten? This was Rose’s favorite beach to bring us to as kids.”
In the pale moonlight, he’s a stark reminder of our mother. He has her eyes. Her features. The kindness that once lived in him. But it’s gone now. Eaten alive by the rot inside him. He’s a stranger wearing a familiar face.
I don’t know if I’m dreaming or if he’s in my thoughts, but he feels too real. Too close. I want him gone.
“This doesn’t look like the beach I remember.”
The last time I was here, the sun warmed the sand while Mom, Draven, Leo, and I built lopsided sandcastles that never survived the tide. Now the sky is smothered with storm clouds, the ocean a snarling gray beast clawing at the shore.
“So either this is a dream,” I add, hoping it’s some figment of my imagination. “Or you’re in my head, distorting my memory.”
Draven lets out a sinister laugh. “You never saw it, did you?” He steps closer, boots sinking into the wet sand. “Did it ever cross your mind this might be the truth? My truth?” His lip curls. “You cling to some shiny little fantasy—those ‘precious’ childhood memories? They were never real.”
“They were real. I remember the—”
His lips curve with cruel delight. “You may remember sunshine and laughter on this beach. I remember dread, knowing something worse waited around the corner. Joaquin planned it that way long before you or Leo existed. I was his firstborn protégé, after all.”
There’s no recognition there. No trace of the boy who once slept a few doors down, who used to argue over which cartoon we’d watch in the living room.
What stares back at me now is nothing but cold calculation.
A man who helped kill our mother.
“His protégé?” I scoff. “You chose this life.” I step closer, my anger outweighing my fear. “Tell me where Leo is.”
Draven’s face shifts, a gleeful light dancing in his eyes. His pupils bleed outward until his eyes become two pits of bottomless ink, swallowing the moonlight.
“He’s with me. You wouldn’t recognize him. Those sickening bright eyes you both share? They’re swollen shut. Red. Leaking—”
The scream rips from my core, my power throwing him into the gray surf.
He stands up, brushing sand off. “That was pathetic.”
I lift my arm, my fingers curling—
“Try that stunt again, and I’ll end this mental stroll by shredding your mind,” he snaps.
“Your precious brother is still alive, much to my dismay. He’s holding on strong and refuses to break.
It’s impressive, but none of his resilience matters.
” He leans in, his mouth inches from my ear. “You gave me something more valuable.”
“What’s that?” I ask, sounding braver than I feel.
“Your location. You let me in. The second you dropped your guard to search for Leo, I slipped through. Now I’m in here.” He taps a finger against my temple. “And there’s nowhere left to hide.”
“You’re lying. You don’t know where I am.”
“A forest somewhere, perhaps?” His fingers drum against his chin. “If you think I won’t find you, you’re mistaken.”
“Why do you care about my location?”
“Your mere existence is an inconvenience. You see, when Joaquin burned our home to the ground, you two were supposed to perish with it. It was strange to find Leo in the forest, surrendering himself, when my men were busy hunting the infamous Radshaw men.”
My blood turns cold.
“Eliminating the Radshaws was my primary objective until I found out Leo was alive. And if that little bitch was alive, it meant you were too. Leo would never leave you behind, which led me to the conclusion that you’re working with them.”
I stiffen.
“Killing Kylo and Carter will be satisfying, but you? You’re the real prize. Congrats, sis. You’ve been bumped to top priority.”
“What did I do to deserve such a prestigious promotion?”
“Don’t play dumb. You already know.” His grin widens. “You’re a siphon. Like Rose.”
No. That can’t be right.
“Mom didn’t have powers.”
“Like I said,” he spits, “you grew up in a facade. Rose and Leo did a damn good job protecting you. But thanks to me, neither of them can anymore.”
My hands shake. Rage builds in my chest. “Go to hell.”
“I see you still have that fire. Shame. It won’t be long before I find you, break you, and end you.
” He tilts his head, his smile sharpening.
“I should thank you. You led me straight to the Radshaw brothers—and right to you. I always knew you were the weak link in the family. I just didn’t think it would be this easy. ”
I’ve had enough. I plant my feet firmly in the sand, summoning all my strength as I picture the tent where I’m safe with Kylo.
“Get out of my head!”
The beach wavers, his face distorts, and everything shatters into white.
The tent surrounds me, bathed in the lantern’s wavering glow. I’m drenched in sweat, struggling to reorient myself. A tall silhouette stands before me. The colors crystallize, and Kylo emerges—fists clenched, fury rolling off him.
“Kylo? What’s wrong?”
“You looked like you were having a nightmare. I thought I could help. I entered your mind to ease your fear.”
One look at the tempest in his eyes and the question withers on my tongue.
He already knows.
“I hear your thoughts like they’re an extension of my own, and you’ve never once thought about Draven.”
He says the name like it burns his tongue, a poison he’s forced to swallow. If a look could kill, Kylo’s expression would finish the job.
I’ve seen him angry—lethal, even.
This is different.
“Let me explain,” I say, treading lightly, like one wrong word could shatter everything. “You don’t know the whole story.”
He doesn’t know about the horrors Leo and I survived as kids.
The nights we went without food. The bruises I tried to hide.
All the times Leo and I hid in the bathroom promising each other that things would get better. That we’d make it out alive.
“I know enough. Your family is the reason I’m here—why my life has turned into this fucking hell—” He gestures around the tent like it’s all the proof he needs.
His words hit their intended mark, burrowing into old wounds.
“Don’t call them that. They don’t deserve those titles.”
“Don’t call them what?” His tone turns mocking. “Brother and father? That’s who they were to you, right? You grew up with them. Built sandcastles on the beach. Played happy family while they were out ruining other people’s lives.”
“They’re not—”
“Your blood—the Lockhart name—is a stain on everything it touches. And you—” his stare slices through me, “—don’t pretend you’re any different.”
“I’m not like them. I didn’t know Draven was looking for me. I—”
“Fuck,” he mutters, shaking his head. “A Lockhart…” The name scrapes off his tongue like something foul he needs to spit out.
“Tell me how you did it,” he demands. “Did you know how to block your thoughts the entire time?”
His accusations keep coming, giving me no room to breathe.
I don’t know where to start.
He rakes a hand through his hair, pacing in tight, erratic circles. “I’ll take your silence as an answer. You’re doing it right now, aren’t you? Hiding your thoughts. After all this time—all the training—you knew how to keep me out?”
“Not intentionally—”
He paces the tent. “I knew you were hiding something.”
There was a reason.
I was afraid.
Afraid of this.
I buried the memories so far down, even I couldn’t find them sometimes. A defense mechanism. A survival tactic. A subconscious attempt to protect myself from what I couldn’t bear to face.
If Kylo knew everything, if he let me explain, he’d know Leo and I were never with the Aether Hunters.
We were their first prisoners.
“I should’ve told you. I just—”
He lifts a hand, a silent command to stop.
“Don’t. I need some air.”
I move to follow him, but my foot snags on my sleeping bag and I stumble into one of the lanterns.
Shit.
Glass shatters, slicing my palms.
“Fuck.” He reaches toward me, then withdraws just as quickly. “I can’t do this right now.” His hands ball into fists as he bolts out of the tent.
I crouch to clean up the broken glass, wincing as fresh gashes open along my fingers. Blood wells and drips. Crap. I tilt my head back, letting gravity hold the tears in place as I blink them away.
I unzip the tent and slam into something solid. Carter catches me by the arms.
“Christ, Lia,” he says, taking in the blood on my hands. “What happened?”
“I broke a lantern in the tent.”
I keep my gaze away from him. I don’t want him to see me like this.
Carter’s a no-nonsense man, handling the war like it’s another chore. Meanwhile, I’m on the verge of tears over a few cuts and a man who looks at me like I belong with the enemy.
“Let me heal you. I should remove the glass and disinfect them first. Come on, I’ve got a kit in the truck.”
I follow him and perch on the bed of the truck, legs dangling over the tailgate.
He opens the kit and carefully removes the shards of glass lodged in my palms before dabbing antiseptic over the wounds. My skin stings before his hands hover over mine. The warmth from his healing spreads through my skin as the pain ebbs away.
“Thanks,” I mutter, my gaze fixed on a loose bolt in the truck bed. I can’t bring myself to look at him.
“Tell me what happened.”
I don’t understand how both Radshaw brothers do this—how one look is enough to strip me bare.
“It was an accident.”
Carter studies me for a long beat, his silence as nerve-wracking as Kylo’s anger. “We need to talk, but I have to speak with Kylo first. Why don’t you pack your things? I’ll be back shortly.”
We need to talk. Four words that act as a universal code for brace yourself.
“Okay,” I say, hating the way my heart kicks into a frantic, uneven rhythm.
He offers me a hand as I climb down from the truck. I don’t need the help—I’m perfectly capable of jumping—but I take it anyway.
“It’s nothing bad,” he adds, his expression softening as if he senses my unease. “We’re overdue for a conversation.”
He turns and disappears into the shadows of the forest, leaving me with the worst possible company.
My own thoughts.