Page 71 of Reign of Psychos

Kyril walked over and sank down into a chair, tugging our girl onto his lap.

“Because the bitch is dead.”

35

Thea

The ring Kyril had given me sat heavy on my finger. I couldn’t stop staring at the sparkling stones. They were large enough to need their own zip code. It was too much. Kyril was insane. He had officially lost the plot.

“Hey, how come the step-bitch no longer has the ring?” Cassian asked when I tuned back into the conversation.

“Because the bitch is dead.”

That caught my attention. “I’m wearing a dead woman’s ring?”

“Yeah. Dad snapped her neck and then took back the ring. Now it’s yours.”

“So you proposed marriage with a ring plucked from a corpse?” Kyril never ceased to surprise me.

“Um…” He had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable. “I’ll get it cleaned.”

I snorted. The dead body issue didn’t bother me. Hell, I’d pinched a sweet pair of boots from a dead woman at a crime scene. She’d tried to kill me, so I hadn’t felt guilty about it.

“Never mind that. Why is Ekaterina dead?” Cassian asked.

“Because my father finally realized how fucked up she was.”

“Good. That bitch deserved to die.”

“Now what’s going on with Lucian?” I looked up at the TV and scanned the ticker-tape headlines running across the bottom of the screen. What the fuck?

“Certain members of the press received evidence of his crimes in relation to the Highgate Clinic where he sent my mother. He’s struggling to dig his way out of that hole currently.”

Kyril chuckled. “And your mother?”

“I’m hopefully picking her up this afternoon.”

“I want to meet her,” I blurted.

Cassian looked surprised but then he smiled. “I’d love that.”

“I’ll come with you.” Kyril squeezed my leg. “Lucian might try something. He’s like a rat stuck in a barrel right now.”

Cassian nodded in agreement. “He doesn’t know I’m behind the information dump, but he probably suspects I am, given it’s led to Mom being freed. He’ll likely try to get her back, so he can pretend it’s all been a huge mistake.”

I read the latest headline and shook my head. “Looks like he’s been suspended from his government role.”

Milo stepped out of the room he’d been using as a workspace. I noted the dark circles beneath his eyes. My sweet nerd wasn’t taking care of himself properly.

“It’s about to get a lot worse. I dug up evidence of bribes and other financial irregularities between Lucian and several high-up people in the Met. There’s no way the government can brush all this under the carpet. Lucian’s going down.”

“What if all this sticks to you, too?” If Lucian implicated Cassian, he’d end up in prison alongside his father. I slid out of Kyril’s grasp and moved on to Cassian’s lap.

“Are you worried, baby girl?” he asked, amused, his hands resting on my hips.

“Yes,” I admitted. As much as I hated being vulnerable, he was important to me. They all were. Milo hovered nearby, watchingus with interest. He’d seen the ring but didn’t say a word. Dario was the only person who didn’t know Kyril and I were now engaged (God help me).

I had a feeling he’d react much like Landon.As in, not well. I sighed. I’d deal with that shit show when it happened.

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