I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. My body had stopped taking orders from my brain. My feet were rooted to the marble floor, my spine locked rigid, and my lungs working in short, useless pulls of air.

Beside me, Diana’s hand slipped out of mine. She looked confused, then terrified, as she followed my gaze, not at the man speaking but at the sheer power radiating from the figure standing by the glass doors.

“Kai.” Her whisper barely made a sound. “Who is that?”

I didn’t answer because I couldn’t.

Caspian was leaning against a marble pillar near the glass doors, arms loosely folded, watching me the way a cat...