Chapter 14: The Night Before

Lucian's POV

On Sunday night I laid the plan out on my desk, and Margo read it standing up.

A floor plan of the Lowell house, four copies of a laundry schedule, and the brass key Bridget had given her.

I had spent two days on it. It was a good plan, and it had one hole.

"You stay here," I said.

She looked up.

"No."

"If Cornelius catches us, he can take both of us in one room."

"If he catches you alone, he'll kill you."

"Then I'm caught and you're free to run."

"That's not how the bond works, and you know it."

"I know what I can bear," I said. "I cannot bear you in that house."

I heard how it sounded. My voice had gone flat and hard.

She put the plan down.

"Lucian."

"What."

"Stop."

I stopped.

She walked around the desk and stood in front of me, close, with her head tipped back. Her eyes were green and very steady.

"You're afraid," she said.

"I'm not."

"I can feel it. It's been under everything since Tuesday, and I thought it was rage."

I said nothing.

"It's not rage," she said. "It's the other thing. You're terrified."

"Of Cornelius."

"Of what's in that room."

I turned my face away, and she took my jaw in her hand and turned it back.

"You looked for her for three years," she said.

"And she was a mile from my door."

"Now you keep thinking about what three years in a locked room does."

I felt my throat close.

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