Elowen forced herself to meet his gaze. “Why?”
“Why?” He laughed, a sharp, mirthless sound. “Why, indeed? You of all people should understand my purpose.”
“You mean excuses,” she replied, lifting her chin. “Excuses for betrayal. How does power justify this? How can it justify turning people into pawns?”
His hand twitched near the pistol. Anger flashed across his face. “Pawns? This isn’t about pawns, Elowen. It’s about consequences. About results. Do you imagine I care for them as you do?”
“I know enough to see the cost,” she shot back. “Your cause doesn’t excuse the lives you destroy in its name.”
Victor began to pace, agitation crackling beneath the surface. “Do you think I do this lightly? Every decision I make is calculated, weighed against risk and reward. Every action is deliberate.”
“Deliberate doesn’t make it right,” Elowen said quietly. “Intentional doesn’t make it just. You call this strategy—I call it cruelty.”
He froze, then turned sharply. “Cruelty? You dare say that when failure is the alternative—when ruin is the choice! The Duke—your precious Duke—has been meddling, obstructing, threatening everything I’ve built. I cannot let him succeed!”
“You think taking me will stop him?” she demanded. “Do you believe that holding me here will silence him? You underestimate him—and me.”
Victor’s fists curled. “I underestimate no one. I anticipate, I manoeuvre, I secure outcomes. And you—” his voice dropped to a hiss—“you are the perfect lure. A prize. A trap. Nothing more than leverage.”
Elowen’s stomach tightened, but she held his gaze. “You would endanger me for your ambition?”
“I would endanger anyone,” he snapped. “Anyone who stands in the way of what must be done. This is bigger than sentiment—bigger than morality. This is survival.”
“You call it strategy,” she said, her lips trembling, “but it’s murder by proxy. You’re not winning anything, Victor—you’re destroying everything you touch.”
Victor’s face flushed red, revealing his desperation behind the fury. He stepped closer, hands flexing at his sides. “I’m ensuring the future! I’m ensuring order! You see chaos where I see control, Elowen! You see horror where I see necessity!”
Her voice sharpened, calm in defiance. “You see necessity where there is greed. Ambition blinds you. You’re not a saviour—you’re a man too consumed to see what he’s become.”
For a moment, silence. Then he leaned forward, searching her face for fear—and found none. His mouth twisted.
“You think your bravery impresses me?” he snarled. “You are entirely under my control. Every breath you take is because I allow it!”
“And yet here you are,” she returned, voice calm. “Arguing. Pleading for me to understand you. That’s not control. That’s desperation.”
His jaw tightened. “Do you know why you’re here? Do you understand your role?”
“I think I do,” she said. “You mean to lure Lucas—to trap him, frame him, destroy what you cannot control. You intend to use me to hurt him and my family.”
Victor’s expression twisted into something almost ecstatic. “Yes. Every shadow, every plan—it all leads here. He will come. And when he does, he will walk straight into ruin. And you—” his voice dropped—“you are the bait. The reason he will fall.”
Elowen swallowed hard but did not look away. “And you think that makes it right. That the end justifies everything. You don’t even see the man you’ve become.”
“I see everything,” he said fiercely. “Every obstacle, every threat—and I act. I do what must be done, even when it breaks my soul. And you dare to judge me?”
Elowen’s heart raced, but she felt a flicker of hope pierce through her fear. She had been listening, searching the room, and now her eyes caught movement outside the grimy window behind him.
A shadow. Tall. Careful. Moving between the warehouses, weaving through crates and loading docks.
Her heart soared.
Lucas.
Victor, oblivious, continued his tirade. “You think I enjoy this? You think your pain brings me pleasure? You’re wrong. This is agony—but necessary agony.”
“I understand plenty,” she said softly. “Enough to know your sacrifice is just selfishness. You aren’t protecting anyone. You’re destroying. And you will fail.”
Victor spun, fury blazing. “And what will you do when he comes? When your Duke arrives, thinking he can save you? Will you warn him? Will you betray me? You—”
