Page 84 of The Mourning Throne
It had stopped being a plea five repetitions ago.
It had become something else.
A mantra. A prayer to a version of himself that hadn’t been twisted into wire.
Lex didn’t hush him. Didn’t contradict him.
He just smiled.
“You are home, Ollie,” Lex said, brushing another piece of hair off Ollie’s forehead. “You never left.”
Ollie blinked. Slow. Like maybe he’d misheard.
But Lex kept going, voice quiet and even.
“This is the only place you’ll ever be again.” His fingers grazed Ollie’s jaw. “And that’s okay, right?”
Ollie shook his head, slowly at first. Then faster. “N—no. No, that’s… that’s not true.”
“What day is it, Ollie? Hm? Tuesday? Sunday? Whattimeis it? Do you know? Can you tell me?”
The shaking stopped. Ollie’s gaze dropped to his knees, fingers curled tight around the bars.
“Tuesday. No. No, it’s Wednesday. Friday? I…”
It was Thursday.
Lex’s hands covered Ollie’s, clasped onto the metal cage. “How could I ever feel okay with you being out there—all alone—when you can’t even answer simple questions? You said how dangerous London can be. You’re safe here. With me.”
And Ollie believed him.
Morgan could see it—the way his eyes flickered, then stilled. How his shoulders dropped, how his breath slowed. A silent surrender.
Lex had lied so beautifully it had folded into the truth.
Morgan’s spine straightened.
He’d seen Lex lie before—seen him bluff and scheme and bite. But this? This wasn’t performance.
This wasn’t some skill he’d picked up watching Morgan. This was something else—something Lex alreadyhadsitting in his own mind. Just waiting for the right moment, the right victim, to come out.
And it stunned Morgan in a way nothing else had.
He’d thought Lex needed him. Thought Lex was still learning, still playing at something darker, deeper. But now—
Now Lex didn’t need Morgan’s approval.
He didn’t need instruction.
And Morgan—watching, drink forgotten, still—felt something sharp twist beneath his ribs.
Awe.
And grief.
He’d thought he would always be the biggest monster in the room.
But Lex didn’t need a biggermonster.
