MasukHe picked up his phone and stared at it for a moment. Then he dialed a number he knew by heart.His father picked up on the second ring."Damien," his father said, and there was something wary in his tone. Caution. Distance."Father," Damien replied. "I wanted to inform you that I'll be visiting the hospital tomorrow to speak with you and Mother regarding the situation with Lyra."There was a pause."Your mother isn't being discharged until tomorrow evening," Victor said carefully."I'm aware. I'll come in the afternoon. We can talk then.""Damien...""I'll see you tomorrow," Damien said, cutting off whatever his father was about to say. "Let Mother know I'm coming."He ended the call before his father could respond.Then he sat back in his chair and stared out the window at the Manhattan skyline stretched out before him. The city was a living thing, full of movement and energy and people living their lives without knowing what was happening in the lives around them.Lyra was at the e
The front door closed behind Lyra with a soft click.She stood in the entrance of the estate, her hands still trembling from the drive back from the hospital. The hallway was quiet, the afternoon light filtering through the high windows casting long shadows across the polished marble floors.Mariana appeared almost immediately, as if she'd been waiting."Welcome home, Miss Lyra," she said gently. "Should I prepare your meal? You must be hungry."Lyra looked at the older woman, at the concern in her eyes, and felt something crack inside her chest again."No, thank you, Mariana," she said quietly. "I don't need anything. I just want to rest.""But Miss Lyra you haven't eaten anything since yesterday""I'm fine," Lyra said, and she knew her voice sounded hollow. "Really. I just need to sleep."Without waiting for another response, she made her way up the grand staircase to her room. Each step felt like it took an eternity. Her legs were heavy. Her entire body was heavy, weighed down by t
Instead, she watched as the phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times.And then it stopped.The silence that followed was deafening.Lyra set the phone down on her chest, her breathing shallow, her mind spinning.The phone rang again thirty minutes later.This time, Lyra picked up immediately."Hello, Mom," she said, her voice small."Lyra." Isabella's voice was tired, weak from the hospital. "Didn't you want to pick up my call earlier?"Lyra's stomach twisted. She could lie. She should lie."I wasn't with my phone when you called," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."There was a pause on the other end. Lyra wasn't sure if Isabella believed her or not."I need you to come to the hospital tomorrow," Isabella said finally. "We need to talk. Both of us.""Okay, Mom," Lyra said."Okay?""Yes. I'll be there tomorrow."Another pause. Then: "Goodbye, Lyra."The line went dead.***The hospital hallway felt longer than it had before.Lyra walked toward her mother's hospital room the next morning, her h
The moment the door closed, Isabella broke.The sobs came from somewhere deep inside her, wracking her entire body. Victor pulled her close, letting her cry against his chest, his hand stroking her hair."What are we going to do about them, Victor?" she cried into his shirt. "What are we going to do? Should we tear them apart? Can we even do that?"Victor was silent for a long moment, his jaw clenched as he stared at the blank hospital wall over his wife's head."Do you think Damien will allow that?" he said finally, his voice low. "Your son is so stubborn, Isabella. He's always been stubborn. You know this.""But they're siblings," Isabella said, pulling back to look at him, her face blotchy and streaked with tears. "Victor, they're siblings. What should we do? They shouldn't be doing this at all."Victor pulled her back against his chest, resting his chin on her head. He didn't have an answer. Not yet."We'll figure it out when you're discharged," he said quietly. "For now, you need
Lyra looked at him, but his expression was unreadable. He was in control mode now. Strategic mode. This was the Damien Nightbane that the world knew, the one who made calculated decisions and moved like a predator.Not the Damien who'd said "I love you" in her bed.But maybe those were the same person. Maybe the control and the love were inseparable."She's going to wake up and tell us we're monsters," Lyra said."Then we'll prove her wrong," Damien replied. "Eventually."He pulled out his phone and made a call, stepping away from her to take it in a corner of the waiting room. She watched him talk in low tones, watched the way he held himself, watched the way power seemed to radiate from him even in a hospital waiting room..When he hung up and came back, he sat down beside her again.***Hours passed.A nurse finally came and told them Isabella was awake and asking for Victor. They all stood, and Victor went in first. Alone.The three of them...Damien, Lyra, and Karla, waited in the
The call came just as Damien was helping Lyra with her shoes.His phone buzzed against the nightstand, and he picked it up. Lyra watched his expression shift from calm to something harder, sharper."Yes," he said into the phone. His voice was controlled, but there was an edge to it. "I understand. We're on our way."He hung up and looked at her."That was Dad. Mom has been rushed to the hospital. We need to go. Now."The drive took twenty minutes. Neither of them spoke. Lyra sat in the backseat with her hands folded in her lap, staring out the window, her mind racing. What had happened? Why would her mother be in the hospital?Damien sat across from her, his expression unreadable, but she could see the tension in his jaw. His phone had buzzed twice more during the drive. He didn't answer it.When they arrived at the hospital, he helped her out of the car.They walked through the automatic doors of the emergency center, and immediately Lyra saw her father standing near the reception de
Lyra set her phone down with shaking hands and stood up.Her legs felt weak, her body hypersensitive. Every movement of fabric against her skin made her gasp.She walked to the full-length mirror in her room and looked at herself.Her hair was disheveled from the flight and the stress. Her face was
Lyra stared at her phone screen, her heart still racing from the encounter in the hallway.DarkVeil: Welcome home, little one. Did you miss me?Her fingers trembled as she typed back.LyraNight: How did you know I got to New York? I didn't tell you I was flying home.The three dots appeared immedia
"The Mercers. They were good people. Are good people." Karla's eyes filled with fresh tears. "They passed away six months ago. Car accident. That's when I did the DNA test. I had no one left and I just... I needed to know if there was anyone out there who shared my blood."Isabelle made a soft soun
LYRA POV:The plane touched down at JFK with a jolt that matched the anxiety thrumming through Lyra's veins.She'd barely slept during the flight, her mind spinning with questions her mother refused to answer over the phone. Urgent. Family matter. Need you home. The words had echoed through her hea







