Page 159 of Owned

Lucian would have been well within his rights to kill all of them.

I wanted to kill all of them.

The thought of the danger they’d put Avril in—the harm they’d done to her.

“Finish them quickly,” Lucian called out.

Finish them.

But what had they been planning?

Surely they hadn’t just taken her for… nothing? For no payoff? Knowing they would all be slaughtered?

“No,” I said.

Valen’s eyes darted toward me, surprised, while Bastian’s mouth curled into a twisted grin.

Lucian’s expression flickered from impatience to pure venom. The orb that floated at his shoulder pulsed in a steady rhythm, but the mist that swirled around it darkened. “What did you say?”

My shoulders straightened as I faced my father’s cold wrath. I knew he wanted to lash out with his magic. But he hadn’t—not yet.

“If we leave them alive, they’ll be indebted,” I said coolly. “These families could be bound to you through gratitude rather than fear.”

Lucian didn’t blink. “And you think fear is not effective?”

A woman’s scream split the air, and I forced myself not to flinch. Lucian’s icy eyes bored into mine, daring me to challenge him.

“Hatred can replace fear,” I said. “You know that well enough. A true debt is harder to replace.”

I was feeling bold. And angry.

Part of me didn’t care if Lucian lashed out at me.

I kept my eyes focused on him and not on the pulsating orb that floated just behind his shoulder.

Lucian laughed, a cold, harsh sound that bit through me.

But then his laughter stopped as abruptly as it started, and his face contorted with rage.

“Careful,boy,” he said, “I’m not in the mood for insolence.” His voice dripped with menace, but I didn’t move.

My hands itched for my magic, and I could feel my brothers behind me—what if we struck now?

If I made the first move, they would follow.

But Lucian had just stripped the power of three of his followers—it was barely contained. If he struck back, there was no telling how strong he would be.

It needed time to settle.

Lucian’s fingers twitched at his sides, and the mist that swirled around the glowing orb thickened and spilled down over Lucian’s shoulder.

He had killed for far less than my defiance.

His icy gaze swept over me like a blade. “Perhaps I should set an example.”

I adjusted my stance, just a little, as I prepared for the blow I was certain would come.

But then his face shifted from rage to eerie calm. His pale eyes held a glint of calculation—perhaps an interest in how far he could push me.

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