Chapter 360 – Kidnapped
He kept driving, the hum of the engine filling the silence, the mortal radio cycling through love songs that were far too on-the-nose for his liking.
Ariel—if that was even her real name—sat stiff beside him, eyes locked on the window like it could shield her from whatever hell she'd stumbled into. She wasn't trembling, not exactly. More like… bracing. The kind of quiet that wasn't peace at all, but the aftermath of someone who'd had their fight already beaten out of them.
Lux sighed through his nose, fingers drumming the wheel.
"Lux Vaelthorn," he said finally, deliberately.
Her head turned slightly, lashes wet but her voice steady. "What?"
"My name," he clarified. "You didn't even ask me. Aren't you worried I'll kidnap you? Sell you off? You know, diversify my portfolio with live assets?"
Her lips twitched, but no smile came. She shook her head, weakly. "No."
That earned a frown from him. "No?"
"My name is Ariel Delmar," she whispered.
