Aspen seems satisfied with that and wiggles off my lap to play with her dolls on the carpet. The moment she's distracted, I stand. Alec stands too, as if instinct drives

him.

"I want you to know,” I interrupt quietly when he opens his mouth to speak. “That no matter what happens between us, I won't get in the way of your relationship with Aspen. I promise I'll tell her you're her father as soon as I can."

His shoulders relax, and warmth fills his eyes. "Thank you."

We stand there awkwardly until I break the silence.

"I need to go. Raven is waiting for me." She's not, but I need an anchor before I lose myself to my powers again. Official source ıs Find★Novel.net

"Okay," he finally says. "I'll see you later."

I nod once, then leave before my resolve can crumble.

I walk again with no direction of where I am going. Soon, I find myself along the hallway leading to the dungeon. I don't know why, and I don't understand how, but it's like something invisible is pulling me towards the dungeon.

The hallway is colder today. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the power simmering under my skin. Maybe it's the fact that Nyx's absence leaves me feeling unsteady, like a table missing a leg, but there is something I'm yet to grasp.

I open the iron door and step inside. Lola hangs from the silver chains. She should be in a sad state, but yet she still looks beautiful, glowing, as if she's vacationing somewhere tropical instead of in a dungeon. Apart from her bloody and torn clothes, nothing else shows she's a prisoner.

She turns her head slowly as I enter.

"Oh look," she sneers weakly. "The little homewrecker returns."

I say nothing as I walk closer.

She laughs a brittle, ugly and bitter sound. "Come to show off more tricks? Maybe claw me again? Maybe kill me this time so you can keep him?"

My jaw twitches. "Lola, if I wanted you dead, you'd already be in the ground."

She rolls her eyes. I ignore that reaction or whatever it is she mumbles under her breath.

I stop inches in front of her. "I didn't come here to argue about Alec."

“Oh? Then let me guess..." She leans forward, her eyes fierce. "You're here to demand answers?"

"I'm here to get them," I correct, "And you're going to give them."

She scoffs. “What makes you think I'll talk?"

I release a slow breath. My power responds immediately, rising beneath my skin in

white-hot threads. The very air around us shifts and the dungeon vibrates.

Lola snorts. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

Yet

It is, but by her reaction, she's not scared at all. See? This is what I was talking about. Most people would cower, yet she doesn't. Why? Why does (look like this doesn't faze her? Why does she look at me like what I'm showing her my powers, are nothing but clown tricks?

I step closer, lowering my voice to a whisper that slices through the room like a

blade.

"You're going to tell me the truth, Lola. About three years ago. About the lies. About why you came back now. And about who sent you" Ladd gently "And if you don't, I promise you the chains will be the least of your concerns."

I want to shake her. I want to see her reaction, so I focus on her. On her body language, on her movement even though she's tied and just like I'd suspected, she doesn't fear me. She doesn't fear my powers.

I focus on her eyes, and that's when I see it. A glimmer of power inside her... and something else, recognition maybe?

"You're nothing, Sadie," she says, giving me an evil smirk. "You can't beat me... you never could."

Her words send chills down my spine, but still I can't help wondering. What the hell does she even mean?

I don't know what the hell is going on, but one thing I am so sure of now is that Lola isn't who she says she is.