CHAPTER 26
Lucien
I walked the estate alone, rain dripping from my coat, boots clicking on the marble floors. Security reports had come in, minor disruptions at the southern docks. Probes. Tests. Nothing I couldn’t handle.
But my attention was elsewhere. Always her. Always Seraphina .
She moves through this estate as if it were already hers. That confidence, that sharpness, it excites me and terrifies me simultaneously.
I think about what would happen if she left. If she ever stepped away from this world. From me.
I shiver, not from cold, but from the thought of the fire I would unleash.
The Syndicate has rules. Rules about loyalty, rules about betrayal, but rules do not apply to her. Not anymore.
I would burn the world to nothing but ash to keep her safe.
I allowed myself a small, quiet smile. Control is everything. Desire is everything and she is mine , in ways the world cannot begin to comprehend.