Page 27 of Owned

And what if it was too late for me?

Titus nodded and Bastian’s chin lifted, but Valen couldn’t look at me.

Curse them all—I was right.

Lucian had set the date for the wedding—and the ache in my chest felt as sharp as a blade when I thought of what it meant.

“You have to be patient,” Valen said. “When we know what Lucian is planning—”

“You bastards,” I whispered. My voice didn’t even sound like my own.

“Avril—”

I turned away from Valen’s pleading eyes and stalked toward the door. With a wave of my hand and a burst of magic, the door slammed open so hard it rattled on its hinges as it struck the stone wall.

“Where are you going?” Valen called after me.

Cool air and uneasy silence wrapped around me once I was in the corridor.

I had no intention of answering him. I only wanted to be alone.

They were right about one thing.

I wasn’t strong enough to stand against Lucian.

Not yet.

But I would be.

Alone again.

Always alone.

Not always.

The grimoire’s presence curled in my mind like a serpent.

A centipede that skittered over and around my thoughts with a hundred sharp legs.

I gripped the bannister and took another step.

The house was quiet, but the rattle of the wind and rain that pelted the roof accompanied my steps.

I couldn’t stay in my room any longer.

Pacing. Always pacing.

Plotting.

My stepbrothers were away—doing Lucian’s dark bidding.

Always away.

“They don’t care about you.”

“They want you to suffer.”

“When Lucian has you—they’ll abandon you.”

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