Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 181 - Chapitre 187

LYSSANDRA I wake slowly, dragged up from darkness by a dull, insistent throb behind my eyes.For a few seconds, I don’t move. I let my breathing calm, and allow the ache settle into something tolerable, because experience has taught me that panic only makes everything worse. Whe I finally open my eyes, the ceiling above me is unfamiliar. I'm in a room I've never been in before. My heart starts racing. I push myself upright too fast and immediately regret it as pain spikes sharply through my skull. I hiss under my breath and brace my hands on the mattress, waiting for the room to stop tilting. When it does, I take stock of myself frantically. My wrists are free. My ankles too. There are no restraints biting into my skin, no blood, and no pain anywhere else except the brutal headache and a thick fog clinging to my thoughts. That alone should calm me, but it doesn’t, because I remember what happened next, and my pulse becomes even harsher. Cde and Arch had done something to me. I

ERDEN I was wearing a groove into the floor of my office.Back and forth, from the desk to the door, from the door to the window, my steps heavy enough that the wood complained under my boots. I could feel it in my chest, that tight, useless pressure that wanted to turn into something violent and reckless. Panic. Rage. Fear. None of it would help Lyssandra. None of it would get her back.I stopped short and turned toward the window, planting my palm flat against the glass. It was cool under my skin, just like Lyssandra’s skin pressed firmly against my chest had been thr last morning at her house. I leaned forward until my forehead almost touched it and forced myself to inhale slowly, then again, counting the seconds the way I had taught myself years ago when my control first started slipping.Losing my head was exactly what my father wanted.My reflection stared back at me, jaw clenched. I dragged my hand down my face and straightened, already knowing what I had to do even though

ERDENI send the picture of the house Lyssandra sent Riley to Edge with a single, sharp flick of my thumb, my jaw locked so tight it aches.It is the image Riley snapped and sent to Lyssandra before she went inside, the neat two-story house sitting quietly in a row of similar homes, unremarkable and deceptively ordinary. The kind of place no one looks twice at. The kind of place people disappear from.“This is where she went to meet Nyra,” I say into the phone, my voice low and controlled even though my pulse is hammering. “I don’t actually believe this is where Lyssandra is being held, but it’s the last confirmed location we have, so maybe it gives you a starting point.”There is a pause on the other end of the line, the faint sound of breathing, and then Edge exhales sharply through his teeth.“You’re right,” he says finally. “It’s too clean. Too obvious. Whoever planned this wanted to be seen.”“That’s my thought as well,” I reply, staring out the window as traffic moves below like

LYSSANDRA By the time Cross decides we’re to start riding again, my body already feels like it has been wrung out and left to dry in the sun.The horse beneath me is massive, warm, and impatient, its muscles shifting restlessly as though it senses my unease and finds it amusing. My thighs burn from the first few rounds, a deep, throbbing ache that has nothing to do with weakness and everything to do with unfamiliar strain. I grit my teeth and adjust my grip on the reins, refusing to let Cross see how much effort it takes just to stay upright.He rides beside me with infuriating ease, straight-backed and relaxed, as though the saddle is an extension of his body rather than something perched atop a living, breathing creature. His horse responds to him instantly, every shift of weight met with obedience, and I hate him for it almost as much as I hate myself for noticing.“Again,” he says, his voice carrying easily across the open space. “Try not to embarrass yourself this time.”I gl