Ridan straightened as he heard the seriousness in my voice, and the smile he had been sporting disappeared. “I told you already, I came to pay my respects.”

I looked at him with squinted eyes, trying to decipher whatever I could from his eyes, but he shared the blood with Lucan after all, and right now his face was expressionless, not giving anything away.

“You don’t believe me?” He asked incredulously, and a brow shot up.

“Should I?”

Ridan gave it a thought, stroking his clean-shaven beard, and he shrugged. “I suppose I see reasons why you don’t believe me, but I have no ill intentions towards you or my...