Peniel
I paced down the narrow hallway outside my quarters, the air thick with the scent of his blood, his pain lingering on my hands. My fingers still tingled from where he’d gripped my wrist, refusing to bend under my power. Lucian was the one person who had always been untouchable, physically and emotionally—a fortress I could never breach. And yet here he was, broken and bleeding, asking questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.
I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, trying to steady my breath. What had I gotten myself into? No, this was his fault—his fault for needing me, his fault for stumbling into my life with his bruises and his defiance. But deep down, I knew that was a lie, an excuse to cover up the truth. The truth that I’d been reckless. I’d pushed boundaries I had no b
