Page 228 of Lethal King

The fire raging behind my chest fizzles when I realize he’s talking about Rian.

An empty hole appears in place of the flames.

I miss him already.

Fuck.

“I was never going to choose a loser like you,” I tell him. But even if it’s the truth, there’s no power in my claim. I can’t even look at Leander. My eyelids feel heavy as my gaze drops to the floor.

Rian.

“And it cost you dearly.”

With all my strength, I try to force Rian from my mind. Whatever we have, it will be worthless if I don’t get out of here alive.

“What does that mean?” I ask, forcing my glare back up to Leander. His lifeless blue eyes are a pale imitation of my lion’s ocean blue gaze.

“Your father is dead,” Leander callously reminds me. “Your brother probably is too. My men think he might still be alive, but I saw the wounds he escaped with. No one is surviving that.”

The empty hole in my chest grows larger.

Tytus is hurt.

Fucking hell. He’s not coming to rescue me. If anything, I should be going to save him.

But how am I going to do that?

Clenching my fists, I try to brute force my way out of this stupid fucking chair one more time. I’m not strong enough.

My mind drifts back to Rian.

Fuck.

He’s my only hope.

Never in my life have I even thought about relying on anyone outside of the small dark little circle I was forced into as a child.

Now, I have no choice.

The empty hole in my chest starts to throb.

Why the hell does that excite me so much?

“You weren’t going to kill Drago before I rejected you?” I ask, trying to focus on something else.

I don’t need anybody, I chant to myself. I don’t need anybody.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t want Rian.

Fuck. I want him so fucking badly—and I don’t even hate that I do. Not anymore.

“No. I was,” Leander chuckles, like he’s reliving a moment in his master plan. “But only because he cared about you too much. He would have never let me do any of this to you.”

Two weeks ago, I would have laughed directly in Leander’s face. Drago doesn’t give a shit about what anyone does to me, I would have said. As long as he gets what he wants he’s happy.

But that’s not what I think anymore. Tytus was right. Drago had changed. He actually cared about me.

And Leander killed him for it.