~Lucian~

The door clicked shut behind Alora, and the sound of it was like a gunshot in the silence of my chambers.

For a moment, I stood frozen, staring at that closed door, my mind struggling to process what had just happened. Alora was gone. She'd looked at me with such devastation, such betrayal, and I'd stood there like a coward. Unable to move. Unable to speak. Unable to do anything except watch her heart break right in front of me.

"Well," Hazel's voice cut through my paralysis, still ...