Miri's Pov
He stood in the doorway like a god carved from fury. My heart dropped, straight to my stomach but my body didn't move. Riven, on the other hand, calmly stepped away from me, as though nothing had happened.
Lucian's gaze flicked from my flushed face to the way Riven's hand had just barely pulled back from my thigh. His eyes narrowed. "What the hell is going on here?"
Riven didn't flinch. "Just a misunderstanding, sir" he said, lifting one hand slowly.
I felt it—that subtle pull of energy. He was trying to cast something. An illusion.
"No,that doesn't work–" I hissed under my breath.
Too late.
The magic rippled outward like a shadow, thick and calculated, but the moment it touched Lucian, it fizzled. He didn't even blink.
"You dare use dark magic on me?" Lucian's voice dropped, and his eyes darkened in a way I'd only ever seen in war stories.
Riven exhaled as if disappointed but still didn't step back. "It was worth a shot."
Lucian lunged.
