Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Chapter 188

Drake’s pov

"Why would you ever think that?" Elena’s voice trembled through the silence of my study, confused and utterly heartbroken as she stared up at me. "Drake, what are you talking about?"

I pulled my dark coat straight, my expression settling into an impenetrable wall of carved marble. "Forget it," I said, my tone flat, sharp, and ending the subject entirely. "If you want to see your son, you will stay in this house with us. Those are my terms."

Julian stepped forward instantly, his pale face twisting into an ugly, indignant scowl. "No! Drake, you can’t be serious! You should be sending that little slut out of this territory to rot with his mother, not inviting—"

PAFF!

The sharp, violent crack of my palm striking his face echoed off the stone walls.

Julian’s head snapped sideways from the force of the blow. He stumbled back two paces, clutching his reddened cheek, his silver-tinted eyes wide with complete, stunned horror.

"Shut the fuck up and get out," I growled, my voice dropping into an ancient, terrifying register that made the ambient air freeze.

Julian stared at me, his chest heaving in frantic, silent humiliation. Without another word, he turned on his heel and fled the study, the heavy oak doors slamming shut behind his retreating steps.

Elena took a shuddering breath, staring at the closed doors before turning back to me, her eyes dark with genuine concern. "Drake... I don’t feel good about Julian. He gives me the exact same vibes as Darius."

"Mind your business, Elena," I cut her off smoothly, devoid of any warmth. I turned toward the hallway. "Follow me."

I led her through the quiet corridors of the estate, down the stone passages toward the west wing. I swiped my master key through the digital reader at the heavy iron door, the deadbolt disengaging with a sharp beep-click. I pushed the panel open and stepped aside, letting her enter the locked room.

Lysander’s pov

I was curled on the edge of the leather sofa, clutching my knees to my chest. The room was warm, the meals were soft, and the guards outside were silent, but my chest felt as though it were being crushed under a mountain of iron. Every tick of the clock was a terrifying reminder of the life taking root in my stomach.

The digital lock chimed softly.

Beep-click.

The deadbolt disengaged, and the iron door swung open.

I thought it was another guard, or perhaps Drake coming to stand at the threshold and stare at me like a prized vault. But when the tall shadow stepped aside, a familiar figure in a wet, rain-soaked coat stumbled through the doorway.

"Lysander!"

"Mom?!"

The shock tore straight through my lungs. I scrambled off the sofa, my weak, shaking legs nearly giving out beneath me, and dove straight across the hardwood floor into her arms.

I collided with her chest, burying my face into her wet shoulder as violent, suffocating sobs erupted from my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers digging into the damp fabric of her coat as if she were the only anchor keeping me from drowning.

"Mom... oh God, Mom!" I wept, my entire frame trembling against hers. "Please... I want to leave. Take me home. Please, take me out of here!"

I felt her arms wrap tightly around my back, her hands running through my matted hair, her own tears soaking into my sweater. But before she could speak, Drake’s cold, low voice cut through our quiet agony like an icy blade from the threshold.

"Do not bother," Drake said, his crimson eyes locking onto us with absolute, unyielding possession. "Neither you nor your mother are leaving. She is staying right here in the estate."

I snapped my head up, my tear-blurred eyes wide with terror as I stared at him. "Drake, no! You can’t keep her here too! You can’t—"

Drake didn’t offer a single word of explanation. He simply turned on his heel, his dark coat swinging behind him as he stepped back into the corridor. The heavy panel slid shut, and the deadbolt locked into place with a sharp, final thunk.

We were locked in together.

I buried my face back into my mother’s chest, my hands trembling as I held onto her. Slowly, she guided me over to the leather sofa, sitting beside me and pulling the thick wool blanket around my shivering shoulders. She held my hands, her warm thumb smoothing over my pale knuckles while I choked back ragged, broken breaths.

"Look at me, sweetheart," she whispered gently, wiping the tears from my cheeks with her sleeve. "Take a deep breath. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere."

"He... he locked me in, Mom," I rasped out, my voice cracking, raw from days of crying in solitude. I looked around the pristine, sterile room, my stomach twisting with bitter, sickening shame. "This is the way Drake has been treating me ever since I came back from Darius’s compound. He won’t listen to me. He won’t touch me unless it’s to force a doctor to inspect my body. He looks at me like I’m a traitor... like I’m just a cage holding a baby."

My mother’s face hardened, her dark eyes filling with a mixture of profound sorrow and protective fury. She squeezed my hands tighter. "He told me you like monsters now since you ran to Darius."

"I was terrified!" I sobbed, my jaw shaking. "I made a mistake, Mom... a terrible mistake. But Drake didn’t even try to understand. He just built iron doors and posted guards outside."

My mother sighed softly, her gaze drifting toward the locked door before turning back to my face. "What about Julian? When I walked into Drake’s study... Julian was sitting in his lap, touching him."

A sharp, hollow ache bloomed in my chest at her words. I pulled my knees back up to my chest, resting my chin on my arms, staring blankly at the floorboards.

"Julian was Drake’s lover centuries ago," I whispered, the confession tasting like ash on my tongue. "Long before I ever existed. Long before Drake ever brought me to this mountain. Now that Drake thinks I betrayed him... Julian wants to replace me. He’s been coming into this wing when Drake isn’t looking, taunting me, telling me that I was never special, that Drake was just recycling old promises he used to make to him."

I closed my eyes, fresh tears cutting hot tracks down my cheeks as I remembered Julian’s sharp, venomous words. "Julian wants him back, Mom. And Drake is so angry, so hurt by what I did, that he’s letting Julian inch his way right back into his bed."

"No," my mother declared firmly, her voice dropping into a fierce, low register that cut straight through the quiet room. She leaned in, her grip on my shoulders unyielding, her dark eyes blazing with absolute wolf instinct. "That is not going to work. I don’t care how many centuries that vampire has been hovering around Drake. He gives me the exact same filthy, manipulative aura as Darius, and I am not going to let him destroy your life or take what belongs to you."

I looked at her pale, rain-streaked face, my heart hammering like a trapped bird against my ribs. I felt so small, so exhausted, and so utterly terrified of the ticking time bomb growing inside my belly.

"What should I do, Mom?" I asked softly, my voice a frail, desperate whisper in the quiet cage. "What am I supposed to do now?"