I couldn't breathe.
"Say that again," I whispered. "Slowly."
Lucian didn't repeat himself immediately. His eyes stayed on my face, sharp and watchful, as if he were measuring how far I was from breaking.
"They found her," he said at last. "Your sister."
"That's not possible," I snapped. "I watched her die."
"So did I," Lucian replied calmly. "And yet she's been seen."
My chest felt tight, every memory clawing its way back.
Flames. Smoke. Her scream.
"You're lying," I said. "To control me."
Lucian's jaw clenched. "If I wanted to control you, I wouldn't need lies."
He walked to his desk and pulled up surveillance footage on the screen. Grainy. Dark. But unmistakable.
A woman stepping out of the shadows.
Her posture.
Her walk.
My blood ran cold.
"That's…," my voice cracked. "That's her."
Lucian studied my reaction carefully. "You recognize her."
"Yes," I whispered. "And that terrifies me."
I staggered back, gripping the edge of the desk. "If she's alive, then everything I believed about that night is wrong."
"Exactly," Lucian said. "And that's why she's dangerous."
"To me," I said.
"To both of us," he corrected.
I looked at him sharply. "You knew more than you told me."
"I suspected," Lucian admitted. "But suspicion without proof is useless."
"And now?" I asked.
"Now," he said quietly, "she's testing the waters."
My heart pounded. "Why show herself now?"
Lucian's eyes darkened. "Because she knows you're back."
A chill crawled down my spine.
"She's baiting me," I whispered.
"Yes," he said. "And she's forcing my hand."
I met his gaze. "What are you going to do?"
Lucian didn't hesitate.
"I'll protect what's mine," he said.
The possessiveness in his voice should have scared me.
Instead, it anchored me.
"And if she comes for me?" I asked.
Lucian stepped closer, his presence overwhelming.
"Then," he said softly, "she'll learn why no one takes something from me and lives."
My phone vibrated suddenly.
I froze.
Unknown number.
Lucian's eyes flicked to it. "Answer it."
I lifted the phone with shaking fingers.
"Hello?" I said.
A familiar voice laughed on the other end.
"Sis," the voice said sweetly.
"Did you miss me?"
My blood turned to ice.