Page 87 of Owned

He sat up a little straighter. “Very astute, my son.”

“Titus doesn’t want to admit it, but he knows everything.”

“Why would he keep knowledge from me?” Lucian pressed.

“He didn’t want to alarm you unnecessarily.” The lie was smooth and polished like a stone from the river. “The whispers of rebellion are louder than we thought. We need swift control before the Council fractures completely— Before they destroy everything you’ve built here in Messana.”

“And what do you know of their plans?” His tone betrayed a hint of manic enthusiasm, and the same glint shone in his eyes.

“The meeting I spoke of before— It’s real. But the location has shifted. They suspect something.”

“And what do you mean to do about it?”

“I’ll find the true location,” I said.

That much was true—my informant had been sloppy, and I worried that our chance to discover the core of this rot would be lost.

I had to be quick.

I nodded, my heart hammering as the final gamble approached. “If we act now, we can seize control and extinguish this threat before it spreads.”

Lucian closed the book in front of him and sat back in his chair.

The glowing red orb pulsed and the swirl of mist that surrounded it changed directions.

I had him.

I dared to push further.

“I can give you a name,” I offered, rolling my words with a serpent’s smoothness.

Lucian’s eyebrow rose. “A name.”

There was no disguising the eagerness in his voice.

“And who would this be?” he leaned in and lips curled into a predatory smile.

“A member of the Black Council who thinks he’s far too clever to be discovered,” I feigned a knowing laugh. “I can deliver him to you. Let him suffer the consequences of their treachery.”

“Give me the name,” Lucian demanded.

I clicked my tongue at him. “Now, now. Have some patience. Don’t you want to wring information from this little rat yourself? Hear him squeak and watch his back break under your power as he gives away his secrets?”

The manic glint in Lucian’s eyes was unnerving, but that was what I wanted.

“Bring him to Withermarsh,” he ordered.

“As you command, father,” I murmured before I left the study.

“You’ve done well, Bastian,” he called after me. “A fitting end to the day—”

Wasn’t it?

I didn’t try to stop the smile that spread over my face.

Lucian’s praise was difficult to come by, and even though I’d manipulated him to get it… No. That somehow made it more valuable.

I’dearnedit.

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