Page 4

When a tear slips from the corner of her eye, when her suffering stabs through my vengeance, the monster raging inside me finally returns to his cage.

What the fuck am I doing?

I release my hold just as three guards grab my shoulders from behind and tear me away. After shoving them off, I fall back onto the carpet, gasping for air as if I’m the one who was just strangled.

Aurelia crumples to the floor in a heap, and Valentine rushes to her side. She gasps for oxygen, coughing violently as color slowly returns to her face. I stare at my hands, horrified by what I’ve done. By what I almost did.

The rage that consumed me moments ago evaporates, leaving behind a sickening hollowness as I struggle to process the horror of my actions.

Valentine’s expression is cold fury as he checks Aurelia’s pulse, his fingers gentle despite the murderous glint in his eyes.

“Get her some water,” Valentine barks at a nearby guard. The guard scrambles to obey, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Valentine turns to the guards hovering near my brother. “Get him out of here. Carefully.” His tone leaves no room for argument.

My chest heaves as I watch the guards lift Adrian’s body, the white sheet rippling like water over his stiff form. I panic, every nerve ending alert.

They’re carrying him away… He’s leaving forever…

“Don’t you fucking dare,” I snarl, getting to my feet and lunging forward. “Don’t touch my brother!”

But they ignore me, marching past .

I surge forward, ready to pull my brother away from them, but Valentine’s iron grip locks around my bicep. His fingers dig in hard enough to bruise as he yanks me back. “Stand down, Julian,” he orders, like I’m one of his fucking subordinates.

Apparently he’s forgotten the chain of command around here. I’m Lucian’s son. Valentine and the guards should be obeying my commands.

I think the bastard needs a reminder.

Spinning, I punch him in the jaw with all the strength I have left. He staggers back, and I’m ready to deliver a second blow when a soft hand falls on my shoulder.

I hear my mother inhale a shaky breath before saying, “No. Please, Julian. This is too much. I just want this to be over.”

She sounds so frail. So broken. Something primal inside me responds, and the will to fight momentarily leaves my body.

I turn to pull her into a hug and she breaks into sobs.

The sound guts me. Memories flash through my mind—her crying behind closed doors, bearing the brunt of Lucian’s rage to protect us.

Now Adrian’s dead, and she needs me more than ever.

I need to focus for a fucking second and think about her, not Valentine and not the bitch who betrayed me.

Only my mother.

I shield her so she can no longer see her dead son. But as I’m trying to offer what little comfort I can, I stare hard at Valentine. His jaw is already reddening where I struck him, but his dark eyes remain steady. Calculating .

Fucker. If he has any part in my brother’s death, I swear to god I’ll kill him.

My throat constricts as I watch guards carry my brother far, far away.

Valentine moves to Aurelia, who’s still standing there like a deer caught in headlights, her skin pale and ghostly. He grabs her arm, holding her steady as she sways on her feet.

“Come,” he says to her, his voice gruff but not unkind. As they pass, Valentine pauses. His eyes lock onto mine, cold and hard as granite. “Power is earned, boy, not given.”

The words hit like the motherfucker punched me in the gut. I lunge forward, ready to show him exactly how much power I have, but my mother’s grip tightens around my waist to hold me still.

She clings to me as Valentine and Aurelia leave. The door clicks shut behind them.

“Fuck!” The word rips from my chest as I tear away from my mother, grabbing the nearest thing—a crystal vase—and hurling it at the wall. It shatters, the sound echoing. “Who the fuck does he think he is? Acting like I’m some goddamn child who?—”

“Shh.” My mother’s arms wrap around me from behind, like when I was small and had nightmares.

Adrian had them too but he always handled them better than me. He never cried or ran to our mother for comfort, he just accepted the horrors and moved on with his day. Even as a child he was stronger than me.

Me? I ran crying to Mom. She always wrapped me in a warm embrace, the way she’s cradling me now .

My body sags. I’m a grown-ass man but fuck it. Today has been a nightmare.

“It’s okay, baby,” she says in a soothing tone. “Let it out.”

I sink to my knees, dragging her with me. My chest heaves as everything crashes over me at once—Adrian’s death, Aurelia’s betrayal, Valentine’s condescension. I can’t breathe. I’m being crushed.

“I can’t—” My voice breaks.

“Shh. Yes, you can,” Mom says. Her fingers stroke my hair, nails scratching lightly against my scalp. The gesture is so familiar it makes my eyes burn with the tears. “You’re stronger than you know. Than any of them know.”

She shifts, pressing her lips close to my ear. Her next words come out in a whisper, soft but sharp as a blade. “He’s wrong, you know. Power isn’t earned.” Her fingers tighten in my hair, twisting until my roots sting. “Power is taken.”

I go still. Through the haze of grief and rage, her words invade my bones like a cancer.

Power is taken .