Page 151 of Owned

“Did you—?”

The grimoire’s question was sharp.

It didn’t know what I’d promised, and I forced my thoughts to turn away from what had happened in that dark stone cell.

“Please! We were loyal!” one of the Council members cried out. His voice cracked in the stillness.

“Lucian, forgive us!”

Around me, the guards exchanged glances. There was a glint of sadistic pleasure in their black eyes and I knew they were reveling in the displays of weakness in front of them.

The bitterness of the scene engulfed me, choking any flicker of hope that dared to surface.

Lucian, however, was unmoved. He took my chin in his long fingers and tilted my head up so I was forced to look into his cold eyes.

“Loyalty,” he said. “Is that what they showed to you, Avril?”

I knew what he wanted me to say.

But I couldn’t do it.

His thumb rubbed over my bottom lip.

Cold as ice.

“I can see it in your eyes,” he murmured. “The horrors they must have subjected you to—all to try and strike at me.”

“No—” one of the Necromi cried. “That’s not—”

“We only wished to serve you!” another member cried, his hands pressed together as if in prayer. “We will pledge our loyalty again—”

Words tumbled forward like a torrent.

Begging. Pleading. Groveling.

I shut my eyes and turned my face away from Lucian and from their misery.

Could I tell him not to punish them?

What would it do for the rebellion that had built among the tattered remnants of the Necromi?

“Why would you want to?”The grimoire’s voice was a needle in my mind.“What did they ask you to do?”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t think of it.

How could I keep a secret from this dark presence?

“You can’t.”

Gently, Lucian released me from his embrace and I staggered back as he stepped away to face the Necromi who swayed on their knees in the trampled and muddy grass.

Their pleas were a rising wail that ebbed like a tide against my thoughts.

“Believe us! We meant her no harm!”

“Yes,” another one called out. “No harm at all—”

“Lucian, please—”

---