Page 205 of Owned

“We need a plan,” I said. My voice was flat.

A sudden burst of laughter came from Valen, and I turned to look at him.

“What?”

“Anotherplan?” he choked out. “Because yourlastone workedsowell?”

My jaw tightened. “I need to think.”

“Think aboutwhat?” Bastian demanded. “She betrayed us!”

“I don’t think—”

“I do,” Valen interrupted. “How much longer are you going to wait? Until she’sdead?”

I glared back at him. “It’s too early for that. He’ll want to keep her alive long enough to make sure she’s pregnant.”

Bastian let out a wild cry. “That’s not going to happen! I won’t let it—”

“Oh, really?” Valen interrupted again. “And how are you going to do that, exactly? Burst into the honeymoon suite and beg our father not to fuck her?”

A bitterness I’d never heard from him before sharpened his voice.

“This isn’t helping,” I snarled. We were getting nowhere.

“You stood right beside me in that fucking ballroom!” Bastian shouted. “She signed the fucking contract! And now she’s the heir to this damned estate—she’s done with us!”

“That’s not what it means,” I said.

Valen laughed again. A harsh sound. A cruel sound.

“She’s afraid,” I said. “I saw it in her eyes.”

“She’splayingus,” Bastian snarled.

My fists clenched. It couldn’t be true. I refused to believe it. “It’s not what you think.”

It couldn’t be.

“Isn’t it?” Valen’s voice was icy. “She wanted us to believe she needed us,” he continued. “But now she’s got what she really wanted—her place with Lucian.”

Anger flared in my chest and I struggled to keep my voice calm. “You know that’s thelastthing she wanted,” I said through gritted teeth. “She cast that binding spell to keep us away.”

Bastian laughed bitterly. “She certainly succeeded. We got there just in time to see it all wrapped up in a nice little unbreakable bow.”

Valen crossed his arms over his chest and turned to stare at the guests while they smiled and congratulated Lucian on his new bride.

As if they hadn’t all been sitting in this garden a few months ago for his marriage to Avril’s mother.

As if they hadn’t stood aside while Lucian murdered their friends and family for their perceived betrayals.

And here they were… laughing. Drinking. Dancing.

“Assholes,” Valen muttered.

“You know Lucian would have killed us if we’d interrupted the ceremony sooner.” I said.

Valen didn’t turn. “I know.”

---