Lucian's POV

Hours later, the phone rings, jolting me from my restless sleep. I groggily reach for it, my heart pounding in my chest. The police. It has to be the police. I answer the call, my voice trembling with anticipation.

"Hello?" I say, my voice barely a whisper.

"Please am I unto King Lucian?" a deep voice on the other end asks.

"Yes, speaking."

"I'm sorry to inform you, but Julie... Julie is dead," the voice says, the words hanging in the air like a dark cloud.

My heart drops, and for a moment, the world around me ceases to exist. Julie, the woman I loved, is gone forever....