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The screaming grew louder. Somebody near the bar dropped a glass, and another guest shouted that the front doors wouldn’t open.

“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelled.

I reached for my phone, but before I could turn on the flashlight, a man’s voice rolled through the mansion… and it wasn’t Caspian’s.

“What’s up, Caspian?”

Every bit of warmth left my body.

It was Chalis’s voice… except he wasn’t standing near me.

The sound seemed to come from the walls, the ceiling, and every speaker in the entire house at once.

Then I heard Caspian… only it wasn’t the soft voice I had heard in my bedroom or the one that had whispered to me moments ago.

That Caspian sounded angry, cold, dangerous… alive.

“Caspian?” I whispered into the darkness.

The recording continued.

Chalis’s voice echoed through the mansion. “Sorry about your little security. They would’ve been in the way.”

My stomach dropped.

Security?

What security?

Then Caspian answered.

“You came onto my fucking property, killed two of my men, then walked into my house talking about some mothafuckin’ security?”

My mouth fell open. “No…”

There was a brief commotion on the recording, several voices mixing together before Chalis spoke again.

“Lakelyn was mine first.”

My heart started pounding even harder.

He was talking about me.

Caspian’s voice followed, colder than before. “That woman left you because she was tired of your bullshit.”

I slowly turned toward the foyer.

Chalis was standing near the fireplace, and every bit of confidence had disappeared from his face. His attention darted toward the ceiling and then across the walls.

“What the fuck is this?”

The recording continued, and Caspian laughed at him, taunting him about how I had chosen him and how Chalis couldn’t accept that I no longer wanted him.

Every word made my stomach twist tighter.

Every insult.

Every threat.