5.

LYSSANDRA  

He kisses me again, and for one stupid second, I melt.

But then I remember the sound Cade made when he moaned into Cade’s mouth.

I remember the way Sadie held her stomach as though I was the enemy.

I bite down hard on his lower lip, so hard that I can taste his blood.

Cade staggers back, cursing. “Fuck! What the hell is wrong with you, Lyssandra?”

I wipe my lips with the back of my hand. "I want nothing to do with you. I’m filing for divorce. And I want you off my board.”

“You’d really do that to me?” he says. “After everything we’ve been through? We’ve always stood by each other, Lys. You were mine before you even knew what love was.”

His fingers dig into my arms, squeezing so tightly I feel my bones will snap.

Gritting my jaw, I hold back the whimper of pain.

He has broken me more times than I can count, I refuse to allow him win this time too.

"How can you do this to me? After everything we’ve been through? It was a simple mistake!”

"A simple mistake?"

His eyes look away, his mouth opening, but I cut him off with a snarl.

"You think screwing five people behind my back is a simple mistake?”

He flinches like I've slapped him.

"I thought you changed. I thought when you said you loved me, you meant it."

His voice drops. "You were sick for two years, Lyssandra. I thought I was going to lose you."

I laugh. It's not a sane sound. I wish it didn't have to come from my throat.

"So you decided to get a head start?" I whisper. "Start building your next life while I was still dying in this one?"

"You can't even give me a child," he snaps. "We tried. You know we tried. I watched you bleed for months. I watched you almost die because your womb was as dead as your family."

My jaw falls open. He sees the pain in my eyes, and regret fills his eyes, but it's too late.

"Get out," I whisper.

"Lys…"

"Get the fuck out of my room, or I swear…”

When he walks away, I climb into bed, and try to sleep. I've never felt so broken, so in pain and unable to share it.

Cade grew up in an orphanage, my father had fostered him, and he had been my best friend growing up.

If I wasn't spending time with him, then I was with Erden, and his brothers.

Cade was supposed to help me, not ruin me.

I should call Riley, but it's already too late.

I dream about my father that night. I see the blood, the fire, the heat.

And again, I see Erden.

Erden and his father leaving the house just five minutes before the fire started.

I wake up before the sun does.

The house is quiet and empty.

I dress and head to the gym where I punch the bag until my heart is galloping too hard. I punch harder than I should.

My fists slam into the bag like it's Cade's face. Or Erden’s.

Thirty minutes later, I’m back inside.

The house smells like lavender and boiled oats. I stop in the hallway, breathing it in, until I hear Nagia’s voice.

She's on the phone. “I told you no, she’s not going to forgive you. I said I’d try, but, no, listen to me…”

Her head snaps up when she sees me. The phone disappears into her apron like it never existed.

“Lys, sweetheart,” she says. “I made your supplements early today. You missed your evening dose.”

She hands me the coconut water. The bottle’s cold, and so are her fingers.

I nod, swallowing the pills. "Nagia, so I don't forget, Cade is not allowed in this house."

She nods her head, lips tight. "He won't set foot here. Not while I'm alive."

Leaving the house, I decide to head to the lab.

Work is a good distraction from the mess my life is. Besides, the lab is the only place that still feels like mine.

I take the private elevator.

It dings softly, the doors yawning open. I step in, press the button for the 17th floor, and lean against the mirrored wall.

The doors begin to close.

Then a hand slides between them.

The hand is roped by thick veins that disappear into a black shirt.

It’s thick, large enough to palm my entire face like a toy.

It wedges between the doors and holds them open like they’re made of paper.

I blink.

The hand belongs to a man. He steps inside and the elevator suddenly feels too small.

I don't breathe because I can't.

The man is taller than I remember.

His shoulders stretch the seams of a dark coat.

His shirt is black and open at the throat, revealing hard muscle and a crucifix on a chain around his neck.

But it's his face that has me shaking, it's the reason I can't breathe.

A scar slices from just under his left eye to the corner of his jaw. It's the kind of scar that should ruin a man.

Instead, it makes him human, because the rest of his face is too beautiful to be real.

Erden’s skin is dark olive, high cheek bones, metal blue eyes, and full lips.

His hair is darker than coal. It's jet black, shaved short at the sides, longer on top, curled so smoothly that it makes me want to touch it just to see if it’s soft.

He's massive. Every inch of him is hard and lethal in a way only monsters or gods can manage.

He turns to me, and his eyes narrow into slits.

 “Küçük Gölge,” he murmurs. “My little shadow.”

My knees almost give out.

Standing in the elevator is Erden Kryne.

The man I haven't seen since the night my family was butchered.