~Lucian~

Silence in my room after Hazel's departure was oppressive. I slumped against the window, staring out into the darkening skies, my hand habitually stroking the spot on my palm where I had gripped her throat. Not hard enough to injure her, but hard enough to make me clear.

And even as I attempted to justify what I had done, even as I justified to myself that she deserved every ounce of anger for her audacity, another incident still lingered in my mind.

Kael had betrayed me.

My most ...