Page 150 of Owned

Flanked by his ever-watchful guards, he swept into the courtyard like a medieval ruler.

Smoky tendrils of power wrapped around his long fingers and wound up his arms like bloodstained snakes as he crossed the torn grass. The grimoire’s presence rose in my mind even as the blood ran cold in my veins. Lucian’s pale gaze pierced through me, and an unsettling chill mingled with the warmth Valen provided. The red orb that accompanied Lucian everywhere floated just behind him and pulsed with the unnatural light of his power.

Valen adjusted his hold slightly, and I caught Titus’s eye.

There was something lingering in his expression, but Lucian’s steely demeanor overshadowed it.

“Gather the remaining members of this traitorous Council,” Lucian commanded. “Bring the rats to me.”

The guards shifted into action without hesitation, and I watched them disappear into the fortress.

Who was still left alive in there? What if they’d fled— I couldn’t identify any of them. Not by face or by name.

As I was gradually set on my feet by Valen, the brief absence of his warmth left me unsteady. I braced myself against the coolstone of the courtyard wall, but my legs were wobbly and my skin was on fire in a hundred different places.

Lucian was upon us in an instant, and Valen stepped back as his father approached.

Without warning, Lucian swept me into his arms.

My body stiffened at the familiarly jarring touch of his embrace.

Where Valen’s body had been warm against mine—Lucian was cold.

His lips brushed against my forehead, an act of concern that felt overblown and insincere. I couldn’t escape the knowledge that this embrace was more about possession than anything else.

“My dearest— they willpayfor what they’ve done to you,” he murmured, then looked up at his sons. “Thank you for bringing her back to me,” he purred. I could sense Valen’s discomfort and Titus’s barely contained ire simmering beneath the surface.

Bastian was off to the side, seemingly nonchalant, yet I could feel the tension coiling like a serpent ready to strike.

Despite their allegiances to Lucian, their loyalties were equally to each other—and to me.

“Of course they belong to you,”the grimoire whispered.“If they betray you—they die.”

Would they?

The relief that flooded through me to hear the grimoire’s voice after so much silence was bittersweet—what if Lucian could sense it?

What then?

Lucian held me against his chest with one hand while the other stroked my tangled hair.

It was meant to be comforting, but my skin crawled and I fought to stay still when all I wanted to do was scream in his face and run away.

I’d never survive that kind of rebellion.

A cacophony of screams and groans filled the air as Lucian’s guards dragged the remaining members of the Black Council into the courtyard.

As the guards threw them one by one onto the grass at Lucian’s feet, their limbs trembled and their eyes were wide with terror.

“So many left,” Titus mused.

He seemed disappointed.

“How many were there?” Bastian exclaimed. “A nest of rats!”

The guards moved with brutal efficiency as they shoved the members to their knees on the wet ground. Their once-lofty figures had been reduced to quaking, crawling animals who sought mercy from a vengeful god.

Not so long ago, they had loomed over me—threatening to kill me. To destroy everything I loved if I didn’t agree to help them.

---