Chapter 225

• Lycidas' POV
• The sunset hung heavy outside my window, its crimson glow bleeding through the curtains, casting jagged shadows across the room. I'd dragged the man back to my lair, his wrists still bound tight with the coarse rope. The stairs creaked under my boots as I hauled him up, his useless squirming only stoking the fire in my gut. I flung him onto the bed, the frame groaning under his weight, and watched him thrash like a trapped animal, his voice grating against my ears.
• "Let me go!" he barked, his words sharp and desperate, clawing at the air. "I must go see my pro officer today! Otherwise..."