Chapter 5 — The Girl He Would Burn Kingdoms For
The room smelled like rainwater, candle wax, and fear.
Camille clung to Lucien’s shirt with trembling fingers.
Her small body shook violently beneath his arms.
Yet Lucien held her with impossible gentleness.
Like she was the last fragile thing left in his ruined world.
Evelina watched silently from the doorway.
The sight felt dangerously intimate.
Because monsters were not supposed to hold people like that.
Monsters were not supposed to look relieved enough to cry.
Camille finally pulled away slightly.
Dark curls framed her pale face messily.
Then she looked directly at Evelina again.
And smiled.
A knowing smile.
“Oh,” she whispered softly.
“So she’s real.”
Lucien stiffened instantly.
“Camille.”
The warning in his voice was immediate.
But his sister only laughed weakly.
“You talked about her.”
Evelina blinked.
Lucien talked about her?
“That’s impossible,” Lucien muttered coldly.
Camille raised an eyebrow.
“You punched a man unconscious over her after one dance.”
A pause.
“Trust me. That counts.”
For the first time since meeting him—
Lucien looked genuinely embarrassed.
It was devastatingly attractive.
“You assaulted someone?” Camille gasped dramatically.
“He touched her.”
Lucien said it simply.
Like that explained everything.
To him—
it probably did.
Camille stared at Evelina carefully now.
Then suddenly grinned.
“Oh my God. You’re beautiful.”
Lucien’s jaw tightened immediately.
Possessive instinct flashing through his eyes.
“She already knows that.”
Evelina nearly choked.
Camille burst into laughter.
“There he is.”
“There who is?”
“The man completely losing his mind.”
Lucien looked profoundly unamused.
Which only made Camille laugh harder.
“Do not start,” he warned quietly.
Too late.
Camille pointed dramatically at Evelina.
“He hasn’t slept properly in weeks and suddenly he attends one charity gala and returns looking like he’d commit war crimes for a girl in pearls.”
Silence.
Lucien did not deny it.
Which somehow felt worse.
Evelina’s pulse fluttered violently beneath her ribs.
Because the terrifying thing was—
she believed it.
If someone threatened her—
Lucien would absolutely set the world on fire smiling.
A maid entered carefully carrying medical supplies.
Lucien immediately helped Camille sit on the bed.
Again—
gentle.
Always gentle with the people he loved.
Evelina couldn’t stop staring at him.
“What?” Lucien murmured without looking up.
“You’re different with her.”
His hands paused briefly.
Then continued bandaging Camille’s bruised wrist carefully.
“She’s my sister.”
The words carried dangerous weight.
Protective weight.
The kind that promised bloodshed for anyone foolish enough to hurt her.
Camille winced softly.
Lucien’s expression darkened instantly.
“Who touched you?”
Three words.
Deadly calm.
Evelina had learned enough now to recognize the warning signs.
The quieter Lucien became—
the more terrifying he truly was.
Camille hesitated.
Wrong choice.
Lucien slowly looked up.
And the room temperature seemed to drop instantly.
“Camille.”
Even his sister swallowed nervously.
“He said…” she whispered shakily, “he said you’d finally pay for what happened five years ago.”
Lucien froze completely.
Every ounce of softness vanished from his face.
Evelina suddenly realized something horrifying.
This wasn’t random.
Someone was hunting Lucien.
Personally.
The thunder outside deepened violently.
Lightning flashed through the windows, illuminating Lucien’s expression for one terrible second.
Pure wrath.
Pure ruin.
Camille grabbed his hand suddenly.
“Don’t do anything reckless.”
Lucien smiled faintly.
The smile belonged beside gravestones.
“I’m always reckless.”
“No killing tonight,” Camille demanded weakly.
Lucien kissed her forehead gently.
“No promises.”
Evelina’s stomach flipped.
Because somehow hearing him threaten murder while kissing his sister’s forehead should not have been attractive.
Yet here they were.
Camille noticed her expression instantly.
Then smirked.
“Oh, you like him.”
Evelina nearly combusted.
“I barely know him.”
Lucien stood slowly beside the bed.
Tall. Elegant. Dangerous.
“But you want to.”
The words curled around her spine like smoke.
Their eyes locked.
And suddenly the room felt too small again.
Too warm.
Too full of tension thick enough to suffocate.
Camille groaned dramatically.
“You two are exhausting.”
Neither of them looked away.
“You should rest,” Lucien told his sister softly.
Camille narrowed her eyes.
“You better not scare her away.”
Lucien finally glanced toward Evelina again.
His gaze softened immediately.
“Impossible.”
One word.
Yet it hit Evelina harder than it should have.
Camille smiled sleepily then curled beneath the blankets.
Within minutes, exhaustion pulled her under.
The room quieted.
Only rain remained.
Rain and silence and dangerous attraction.
Lucien moved toward the doorway slowly.
Evelina followed him into the dark hallway.
The second the bedroom door shut—
everything changed.
The softness left his face.
Not toward her.
Toward the world.
Toward whatever demons waited outside this house.
“You’re angry,” Evelina whispered.
Lucien leaned against the hallway wall heavily.
For the first time since meeting him—
he looked tired.
Not physically.
Soul-deep tired.
“Someone used my sister to send me a message,” he murmured.
“And what message is that?”
Lightning flashed outside.
Lucien’s face hardened beautifully beneath silver light.
“That they want war.”
A chill crawled down her spine.
“And what will you do?”
He stepped closer slowly.
Dangerously slowly.
Until Evelina could feel his warmth surrounding her entirely.
Then his hand rose carefully beside her face.
Not touching.
Hovering.
Like he wanted to.
Like he was afraid to.
“What I always do,” he whispered.
His dark eyes dropped briefly to her lips.
“I’ll make them regret breathing.”
The air between them snapped tight instantly.
Every inhale burned.
Every heartbeat thundered.
“You terrify me,” Evelina admitted softly.
Lucien closed his eyes briefly.
“As long as it’s only a little.”
Then finally—
finally—
his fingers brushed her cheek.
Gentle as snowfall.
And somehow more intimate than sin itself.
“You should go home tonight,” he murmured.
But his expression betrayed him completely.
Because every inch of him already looked addicted to her presence.
Evelina looked up slowly beneath thick lashes.
“And if I don’t want to?”
Lucien’s restraint shattered another dangerous inch.
His jaw tightened.
His breathing deepened.
And when he spoke again—
his voice sounded wrecked.
“Then I’m not sure I’ll let you leave.”