I forced a breath out, trying to shake off the weight of his words. "You should go," I said, softer now. "And um, thank you for your worry.."
Lucas hesitated.
For a moment — just a breath — he looked like he wanted to argue.
But then he nodded once, slow and deliberate.
He moved toward the door, then paused, his hand on the handle.
"You're not alone, you know," he said without looking back. "Even when you think you are."
I sat down and more thoughts came flashing through my head over and over and over again.
Cassius's warning.
Jesse's blood ritual.
The King's hidden plans.
The flashes of forbidden magic I had seen burning under Cassius's skin.
I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to try to find out what was happening. I would enter the kings chambers by nightfall.
