Lucian’s POV

I was about to speak again another question already burning on my tongue, another demand for the truth I could see flickering in Mia’s eyes when my phone rang.

The sound cut through the tense air of her apartment like a blade. I yanked it from my pocket without thinking, and the second Lily’s name lit up the screen, everything inside me shifted. The cold, investigative rage I’d been holding onto cracked open. My face must have changed completely; I felt it happen, the hard lines softening, the tightness in my chest loosening into something raw and desperate and relieved all at once.

“I’ve been trying to call...