Lucien’s POV
I watched from amid the shattered battlefield as Lena took her place in the melee, golden light shining out from her like she was an embodied sun. I just wanted to love this amazing young woman – and at the same time, I was terrified for her. She was pregnant, inexperienced in real fighting, and was now suddenly in the middle of a war where several factions shot at her with actual bullets.
Then Ash saw her.
From my view across the field, I saw his body tense up as realization hit him like a punch. And then he just looked at her for what must have been a moment, maybe even two heartbeats — the beautiful illusion of fantasy crashing headlong into the ugly truth that she was who she was. I could actually tell the moment her rejection shattered his last remaining bit of mind li
