Chapter Twenty eight

Avery's POV

The night air felt warm as a hand sunk into fresh laundry. Hundreds of fireflies lit the grass while the leaves quivered in the breeze.

The music from the hall dulled into a distant hum, barely rising above the rustling leaves.

I looked at Lena from the corner of my eye. She gave me a reprieve from my burdens, leaning against the cold metal railing, one hand lazily cradling a wine glass.

“It’s beautiful.” Lena craned her neck back as she stared at the moon, which was at its peak spilling red-colored light down upon us.

For a long moment, the only sound was our synchronized breathing, and it was the first silence all night that did not feel cruel.

Lena swirled the wine in her glass and glanced at me. “You look as if you’re waiting for someone to drag you back by the collar.”

A bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

“Maybe I am.” I should have been wary of how easily she made me soften. Instead, I found myself leaning against the railing beside her.

Lena reached for the collar around my throat. Her knuckles brushed my skin, causing a strange shiver to move through me. “He really put this on you,” she said quietly.

I swallowed, my eyes dropped to the collar. “Your brother can be really cruel.”

Lena turned, her eyes searching mine in the dim light. I could see at once that she had a lot to say to me, and I could not help but wonder what. “I know.”

I let out a shaky breath, looking out over the dark tree line of the forest. The wind shifted, carrying the scent of pine and bonfire smoke.

“If I stole you from this terrace,” she whispered, amusement curling through her voice, “would he burn the manor looking for you?”

A startled laugh escaped me. “You enjoy provoking him, don’t you?”

She tilted her head, amusement curling in her smile. “Oh, immensely.”

Then her smile faded. She studied me for a moment, her gaze intense. “Can I ask you something?”

I glanced at her. “Depends.”

“Hmm. Why do you keep defying him? You fight him at every turn. Even after everything he’s done to break that wild streak in you…”

Her fingers traced the rim of her glass. “Do you hate him that much?”

The question lodged in my chest. Did I? Yes, I do hate him. But then another image pushed in. Elira on her knees. Her trembling hands gathering shards of broken glass while the entire hall watched.

Lucian’s voice. Did I give you permission to touch her? A shiver moved through me.

He could have ignored it, could have let them cut me with those shards. But he didn’t.

I opened my mouth to answer, to tell her that hatred was the only thing I had left that he couldn’t own. But the words died in my throat.

The heavy glass doors didn't creak. They shattered against the stone walls as they were thrown open with enough force to crack the frames.

The air on the terrace changed instantly, the peace shattered. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

But I did turn because the scent felt wrong. It wasn’t Lucian’s usual scent. It was laced with something burnt and metallic. Like the smell of a slaughterhouse.

Lena straightened instantly, her wine glass shattering on the floor. Lucian stood at the doorway trembling with barely controlled violence, gripping his cane with a force enough to break it. His chest was heaving, his breath coming in jagged, animalistic snarls.

"Lucian?" Lena’s voice lost its playful edge.

He didn't answer her. He didn't even acknowledge she was there. His head was tilted, his sightless eyes locked onto the exact space where I stood, as if he could see the very air I was breathing.

He moved towards us without using his cane to find his way. He stalked forward like a wolf who had caught a scent in the dark.

He slammed his cane on the railing right next to Lena’s hands causing it to split in two, clattering onto the floor. He took a step closer and I instantly backed into the railing. “I told you not to move.”

“But… Lena…”

“Don’t tell me that. I warned you. Three paces.”

Lena moved instantly between us, one arm sliding in front of me. “She came with me, brother.”

Lucian’s jaw clenched, his hand turning into fists by his side. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”

“Well, you should be,” Lena shot back. “Because I brought her out. She's not a dog for you to leash, she's human and should be allowed to make her decisions.

He made a villain's cackle that echoed, sharp and cruel, against the wind. “A dog?” he murmured. “No, Lena. Dogs obey. She doesn't.”

The wind seemed to still. The fireflies drifted too slowly, as if afraid to move. Even Lena didn’t speak.

“I just spent an hour peeling the skin off a man for speaking her name. Do you want to see? Should I take you down there so you can see what her freedom costs?”

My heart raced faster, instinct made me retreat. One step.Then another. Until there was no more room. The railing pressed against my lower back.

Their voices blurred beneath the pounding in my ears. I only knew Lucian was advancing.

And I was moving back. My heel struck the lip of the terrace.

Stone crumbled beneath my foot.

For one awful second, the world tilted. Air tore from my lungs as my body pitched backward over the railing. I didn’t even scream.

Only one thought slipped through the terror:

Finally.

After everything… my suffering was coming to an end.

A hand caught my wrist. Pain shot up my arm as my body jerked to a stop, suspended over open darkness. My other hand clawed at empty air. Below me, the drop vanished into black forest.

“Avery!” Lena shouted.