Chapter 287

• Leah's POV
• The darkness clung to me like a second skin, heavy and suffocating, as I lay crumpled in that cursed cage. Pain gnawed at my bones, a relentless beast that had long since made a home in my flesh. My left eye was swollen shut, a throbbing reminder of Magda's fists, but I forced the right one open, squinting through the haze of blood and exhaustion. That's when I saw him - Lucas. He stormed into the room like a thunderclap, tall and handsome, his presence a jagged blade slicing through my despair. Majestic, he was, even with that chrome-colored mechanical arm glinting cruelly in the dim light, a stark contrast to the flesh I'd once known.
• He didn't hesitate. That gleaming arm shot out, fingers wrapping tight around Magda's throat, squeezing until her gasps rasped against the silence. With his other foot, he smashed the cage door open, the metal shrieking as it bent under his fury. I flinched at the sound, my body tensing out of habit, but then his eyes found mine—fierce, blazing, alive. "Leah," he growled, his voice low and rough, clawing its way into my chest, "you have to come see me before the full moon. But I'm sorry, I can't wait any longer."