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“Then what is it?”

Silence.

I waited.

And this time…

I didn’t ask again.

I opened the door.

“Nyssa.”

I stepped into the hallway. His voice followed me. I didn’t turn around. Not because I didn’t love him. That would’ve been easier. I didn’t turn around because I did. And loving him had become the reason I needed to know the truth.

I walked away.

41

ALARIC

I let her walk away. That was the first mistake.

No.

Fuck that.

It wasn’t the first.

Her footsteps faded along the hallway. One. Then another. Then nothing. Still, I didn’t move. The cellar door remained open behind me. Darkness riding through the floor. Empty now. Safe. That’s what I’d told myself. I stared down into it. Bare concrete. Nothing left. Exactly as I’d ordered.

Everything?

Everything.

Knox had followed my command perfectly.

Of course he had.

That was the problem.

I’d spent my entire life surrounding myself with men who trusted me enough to follow an order without asking whether I was making the biggest fucking mistake of my life.

Nyssa had asked.

Again.

And again.

And again.

I closed my eyes.

Tell me.

Her voice.

Tell me what was down there.