Page 56 of Owned

His gaze lingered on me, but I didn’t flinch or look away from his pale glare. He seemed to be about to say something, but then he shifted in his seat and rested his elbows on the polished wood of his desk. “I have been informed,” he began, “that there are traitors within the Black Council.”

“Traitors?” Bastian’s surprise wasn’t convincing. “I thought they’d all been rooted out… the purge—”

“It was not fulsome enough,” he snapped. “They think me blind,” our father continued, “but I see them all.”

His anger was a tangible thing, and the red orb that hovered over his shoulder glowed brighter and its mist swirled faster.

“You will find them,” Lucian commanded, a fervent gleam in his eye. “You will root them out before they take everything I have built.”

His paranoia was a madness that defied all reason. To him, there were enemies in every shadow, and conspiracies lurked beneath every whispered word.

Bastian spoke first, eager to please. “We’ll destroy them, Father. Before they can move against you.”

Lucian’s lip curled into something that resembled a smile. “See that you do.”

“What of the Council’s Elders?” Valen asked. “Are there those you would wish to be left untouched?”

“I want blood,” Lucian interrupted in a tone that was sharp as glass. “And if you fail me, it will be yours.”

The finality of his words silenced us.

He had threatened us before, but this time was different.

I could see it in the way he moved, the tension in his shoulders.

We would be dead to him—or worse—if we didn’t deliver.

He flicked his hand. A clear dismissal.

“Go,” he said as he resumed his perusal of the books and papers spread out in front of him.

What was he looking for?

He wouldn’t respond to any further questions, and we all understood it was best not to seek any explanations from him.

We retreated with measured steps, unwilling to turn our backs too soon.

Only after we entered the hallway and the echoing slam of the heavy doors closing behind us started to diminish was I able to take a full breath.

Bastian’s resentment hung in the air like smoke as we walked through the long hallways. Lucian would want us to leave immediately. But I didn’t even know what we were looking for.

Corruption was easy to find… but what he was looking for?

“Well,” Bastian said as he pushed open the front door and stepped out into the mist-laden air, “that went splendidly.”

Valen kept his mouth shut. His lips pressed into a thin line.

“Come on, brother,” Bastian taunted him. “Don’t be shy. Tell us what you think of all this.”

The shadows and the silence stretched longer than I expected.

I glanced at our bastard brother, Bastian saw him as a threat—at least he had when they were younger. I wasn’t sure how he felt about it now.

“Nothing to say, as usual. Probably pining for the little bird in her ivory tower.” Bastian moved quickly, walking toward thegarage with long strides. “I knew he’d find some way to punish me,” he said.

“We,” I corrected. “We’reallbeing punished. Lucian’s not subtle.”

Bastian didn’t look back, and his response was a raised middle finger.

---