Aria's POV
Lucian stood there with the phone pressed to his ear and said nothing for a long moment.
I watched his face and it was the hardest thing I'd done in weeks, just standing there watching and not being able to do anything about the thing happening behind his eyes.
The stillness of him was the worst part. Lucian in a crisis was always controlled, always the steadiest person in the room. But this was a different kind of stillness.
"Where are you," he said into the phone.
The voice on the other end said something I couldn't fully hear.
"No," Lucian said. "You don't get to set the terms. You've been dead for four years. You don't get to call me and set terms" he said and paused for a few seconds. Then, "Where are you?" he asked
Another pause, and then Lucian lowered the phone and looked at me and said, "He wants to meet. Tonight. Alone."
"Absolutely not," I said.
"I know."
"You're not going anywhere near him alone."
