Chapter 95

[ 1,047 words ]

Arabella Toussaint:

The moment we entered the main café area, conversations around us began to fade. People turned to look, followed by a wave of hushed murmurs.

“Oh, God. Who is he?”

“Have you seen his eyes?”

“Good God. He’s fucking hot.”

“Wait… is that Aria? YaRa’s owner?”

Someone whispered Lucien’s name, and that seemed to start another round of excited voices, but I stopped listening. None of it mattered.

I kept my arms loosely around Lucien’s shoulders and stared ahead until he carried me through the entrance. Several black cars were parked outside, surrounded by more suited men. One of them opened the rear door as soon as we approached. Lucien lowered me onto the back seat without a word.

Then he walked around the car and slid in beside me. I turned toward the window and found Maya, Toby and Tessa standing near the café entrance, waiting to see me off. My gaze settled on Maya, and suddenly, I wasn’t sitting inside this expensive car anymore.

I had traveled back to when I was eighteen again. Terrified. Alone. Leaving Blackthorn Pack with no idea what waited for me in the royal palace. No one from my family or my pack had come to say goodbye except Maya. She had stood there watching me leave then, just as she was standing outside the café watching me leave now.

My throat tightened. Three years ago, I had been too frightened to understand anything. I escaped palace life and started to build something new for myself. And Maya had been there for all of it.

I pressed my lips together when they began to tremble and raised my hand to the window. The tears I’d been holding back finally slipped silently down my cheeks. I didn’t wipe them away. I just kept looking at my friends for as long as I could, until the car began to move and the people I loved slowly disappeared behind me.

***

I sniffed quietly and wiped the last traces of tears from beneath my eyes. When I was sure I wasn’t about to start crying again, I stole a glance at the man sitting beside me. Lucien wasn’t looking at me.

He had turned toward the window, watching the city pass by with one arm resting against the door. The silence between us gave me enough courage to study him properly. His hair was long enough for the black strands to brush the back of his neck now. Somehow, the slightly untamed look suited him.

My gaze traveled lower and stopped at the expensive watch around his wrist. The same watch I noticed on Jasmine’s social media account. My stomach did a strange little flip when I thought of Jasmine. How would I explain this to her?

Then I noticed a small Bluetooth device tucked against his ear. That was new. Apparently, His Majesty had discovered technology while I’d been gone.

The thought almost made me smile, but I quickly pressed my lips together and turned toward my own window before he caught me staring.

He seemed… different. No smile. No greeting. No teasing. Was he mad at me? Well, he wasn’t the only one who had changed in the last three years. Look at me! Even I wasn’t that frightened girl anymore.

But what was wrong with him? Why wasn’t he talking to me?

At least, scold me. Curse me. Say something, for Goddess’s sake. Anything is better than this silence.

I stole another glance in his direction and immediately looked away. Should I initiate the conversation? Or was it better to wait for him to break the ice?

I opened my mouth once, then closed it again. Nope. If he wanted to sit there pretending I didn’t exist, I could play that game too. I folded my arms and looked stubbornly out of my window.

At least, that was the plan until I caught his reflection in the glass—and realized he was looking at me.

***

The moment the cars entered the palace grounds, my heart skipped a beat. The palace was still the same. Nothing seemed to have changed in the three years I’d been gone.

“Call me Lucien,” the memory surfaced out of nowhere, making my heart clench.

A guard opened my door, and I stepped out. Lucien had already gotten down from the other side and was rounding the car toward me. “No one should know she’s here,” he ordered one of his guards.

My stomach fluttered nervously. Why did no one need to know? A ridiculous amount of heat rushed to my face when one possibility entered my mind.

Goddess.

Was he planning to hide me in his bedroom until he figured out how to deal with his family? I could already feel myself sweating at the thought when Lucien stopped in front of me and shattered every stupid assumption in my head.

“Guards! Take her to the dungeon.” He commanded the men standing behind him while his gaze stayed on my face.

What? I blinked, certain I’d heard him wrong. “Th… the dungeon?” I was too shocked to speak.

Two guards moved toward me, and I finally found my voice. “That’s not fair! I… I … didn’t kill your sister.”

For the first time since he’d appeared at the café, Lucien smiled. Except there was nothing friendly about it. The slow curve of his lips sent an uncomfortable chill down my spine.

“I know,” he agreed, looking straight into my eyes. “But you sure messed with your King’s food.” He murmured with a raised brow.

That made me go quiet as I lowered my gaze in shame.

“Stay there and wait for my next order,” He told me.

My mouth fell open. “But, I—”

He had already turned away. Before I could come up with another argument, the guards politely gestured for me to follow them. I stared after Lucien for another second, unable to believe what had just happened.

Three years of imagining our reunion, and somehow, not once had I pictured myself being sent straight to his dungeon.

With numb legs, I followed the guards inside. At least this time, no one was grabbing me or dragging me as if I was a slave. I should’ve known Lucien Volkov wasn’t going to make this easy for me.

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