Chapter Seventy-One
* The Lake and the Lies*
Xami stepped forward, placing himself fully between Lyra and his brother. The air in the restaurant crackled.
“You should arrange your meetings better, Lyra,” Axel sneered, trying to peer around Xami. “Or are you so used to sneaking around you’ve forgotten how to do things in the light?”
“You have no right,” Xami’s voice cut through, low and dangerous. “No right to speak to her. No right to come near my fiancée. Walk away, Axel. Now.”
“Your fiancée?” Axel laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. He didn’t back up. Instead, he jabbed a finger at Xami’s chest. “You think you own everything, don’t you? You always have. Since you were a brat pushing your big brother into a lake!”
The words landed like a physical blow. Lyra gasped. Xami’s face went pale,
