He had planned it and chosen her.
The betrayal cut deeper than she wanted to admit and now she was going to make him explain it.
Voices echoed faintly from the lower level of the estate. Sera turned sharply and descended the stone staircase that led down toward the security wing and the lower chambers. The air grew cooler as she moved deeper into the building, the thick stone walls swallowing the sound of the outside world. When she reached the end of the corridor she saw them.
Lucien, Ronan and several armed men gathered around a large metal table covered in maps, weapons, and files. They were preparing something.
Lucien stood at the head of the table, sleeves rolled slightly as he spoke in a low, controlled voice. Ronan stood beside him, pointing at something on the map.
Sera barely registered the conversation. Her eyes had locked onto Lucien and the rage inside her finally snapped.
“What the hell is this?”
The sharp sound of her voice cut through the room like a blade.
Every head turned instantly.
Lucien looked up.
His expression didn’t change much at first but his eyes darkened slightly when he saw the file in her hand. Sera walked straight toward the table and slammed the folder down onto the metal surface. The sound echoed through the chamber.
“You want to explain this?” she demanded.
Silence filled the room, and the men around the table shifted uneasily.
Lucien’s gaze moved slowly from the file to her face.
“Seraphina”
“No!” she snapped. Her voice shook with fury now. “You do not get to say my name like nothing is wrong.”
She shoved the folder toward him. “You followed me. You watched me. You built an entire damn file on my life before we ever even met.” Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “You planned everything.”
Lucien didn’t answer right away and that only made the anger worse. Ronan stepped forward slightly, his voice calm but cautious. “Sera, maybe we should talk about this somewhere else”
“I’m not talking to you,” she snapped.
Ronan raised his hands slightly, trying to defuse the situation, but Lucien’s voice cut through the room before he could say anything else.
“Ronan.”
The warning in that single word was sharp.
Ronan immediately stepped back.
Lucien’s gaze never left Sera.
The room had gone completely silent. Then Sera’s eyes shifted briefly across the table and something caught her attention.
A symbol.
It had been drawn roughly on the corner of one of the maps in dark ink. At first she barely processed it, but something about the shape stirred an uncomfortable feeling in the back of her mind. She had seen it before. Somewhere. A strange, twisted mark, almost like a serpent coiled around a blade. Her eyes lingered on it for a second longer. Then the anger surged back. She ignored the thought completely.
Her focus snapped back to Lucien. “You don’t get to control every part of my life,” she said, her voice trembling with rage. “You don’t get to decide who I am and what I do like I’m some kind of possession.”
Lucien moved.
Fast.
