SUNLIGHT

Lucien's POV:

“Have you gotten it?” Duncan asked, breathing heavily through the line.

I glanced at the pass in my hand and twirled it before lying, “No.”

“Why hasn't he given you though?”

Ignoring his question, I brought up the reason I had called him. “How is Freya?”

The line went silent for so long that I had to take the phone from my ear in confusion. We were still connected.

“Duncan?” I called.

I had an idea of what the silence meant but I still wanted him to admit it.

“I really don't know,” he said with a distressed tone.

I was relieved but pissed at the same time. I knew better than to show it because I wasn't any better than him.

“Why?”

He has been avoiding her the same way I've been doing. My eyes drifted to the pass once more and I let out a sigh at the same time Duncan did the same.

“You have the pass, don't you?”

It wasn't a surprise that he had caught on but that didn't mean I was going to admit it.

The door to my study opened and I glanced up, my heart falling immediately.

“I'll call you back,” I said coldly and ended the call before he could ask questions.

“Who was that?” The intruder said, her eyes scanning my space.

We made eye contact that neither of us was willing to break.

“Who was that?” She asked again, her eyes narrowing at me this time.

I relaxed into my chair although my heart was anything but relaxed.

“What do you want?” I asked monotonously.

She sneered at me, pushing her black hair out of her pale face that had the most cosmetic surgery I've ever seen.

“Your father wouldn't be pleased with you,” she said with her eyes on the pass.

I didn't bother hiding it since it was already too late. Instead, I played with it while my eyes were on her.

I didn't need to go through my father to get a pass and that was something Duncan didn't know. At least, that lie stood.

“I don't think he's pleased with you either,” I commented, getting on my feet.

I walked past her and held the door, ready to escape the heavy air when she said, “Shouldn't you visit your mother?”

The smirk on her face told me that she knew she had hit a nerve but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction that she was hungry for.

“How original,” I said with a deadpan look while my grip on the doorknob tightened.

If I applied any more strength to it, it was going to fall off.

She slowly walked towards me, probably thinking she looked sexy like she did more than a decade ago.

“You still haven't answered my question on how it feels for your lover to date your father,” she said with a smirk.

When I didn't give her the reaction she wanted, she let out a scoff and continued her foolish act.

“Don't you have anywhere to be apart from this place? Last time I checked, your father gave you a -

“Julianna, don't you have an heir to produce?” I cut her off with an eyebrow raised.

Her whole face went red with fury as she heaved loudly but that was all she could do.

“Your father will hear about this,” she said and opened the door wider while my hand remained on the door knob.

“Your wretched mother will suffer the brunt of this,” she whispered in my ear and walked out before I could react.

I stared at her retreating figure and clenched my jaw, trying to stay calm.

When I was sure that nothing random would trigger me, I let the doorknob fall from my hand as I slammed the door although it never made the satisfying sound.

Only one place was on my mind right now and as much as I didn't want to go, a part of me couldn't resist.

I made sure to look behind me before stepping into the woods and soon got to the bunker.

It was no better than a dungeon and no matter how much I wanted to make it look better, it never seemed to improve.

I needed to become the king soon.

I had barely shut the bunker when I heard the chains rattle. I froze where I was and tried to fully collect myself.

When I was sure that my expression was well guarded, I walked down the damp hallway with my eyes on the cell which was at a dark corner.

“Lucien is that you?”

Hearing her voice broke my heart but I kept it in. She couldn't see me in this state.

I stopped right in front of her cell and squinted my eyes to see where she was.

It was so dark inside that it took a while for me to see her silhouette.

We both stared at each other quietly. My hands were balled into fists in my coat just like they usually were whenever I came visiting.

“What went wrong this time?” I asked, my voice echoing across the hallway.

She seemed to shuffle around before she let out a whimper. The sound made it hard for me to swallow.

I had to leave soon.

“Bit his hand.”

I bit down on my lower lips hard and ran my hands through my hair.

“I told you not to do anything,” I whispered harshly.

“I'm sorry.”

Her voice sounded so apologetic that I felt bad about my tone.

“It's understandable.”

“What made you visit today?” She asked curiously.

I paused for a while then responded, “To see you.”

“Liar,” she responded and let out a chuckle that seemed like music to my ears.

I missed her a lot.

“Well…”

I was a good liar on a normal day but people around me always caught on.

“I'll talk to him about moving you back,” I said, wincing a bit.

She wasn't going to be moved from the dungeon but at least she would have enough sunlight to sustain herself.

“No!” She yelled almost immediately that I had to take a step back.

There was something happening that I didn't know about.

“Why?” I asked, peering into the fell but it wasn't of much help.

This was one of the reasons I hated the fact that I was half-blood.

“Why? Why shouldn't he move you?”

“I requested this place because the sun was affecting me,” she explained literally nothing.

Her voice seemed hesitant and her explanation made no sense to me.

My heart, unlike other vampires' own , started to beat so fast that I couldn't control it.

I glanced at her former cell and realised that the sunlight wasn't that much.

“Lucien,” she called and her voice seemed close this time.

I spun back to her and almost fell into the drainage behind me. I stared at the woman before me in complete shock and outrage.

This couldn't be real.

Grabbing the metal bar, I muttered, “Mother?”