Chapter 3

Schlick.

A dagger buried itself deep into my left shoulder.

It was the same blade I had custom-forged and gifted to her on her eighteenth birthday.

I thought I had adopted a wolf. I didn't realize I was nursing a viper.

Blood rapidly soaked through my silk shirt.

Lucas shot out of his chair.

"Selena! Why the hell didn't you move? You're the Reaper, for Christ's sake. She just wanted to spar. Why are you so damn slow?"

Why am I so slow?

When I was twenty-five, I was eight months pregnant with Lucas's child. The night before my due date, a rival syndicate kidnapped us.

Lucas went feral, storming their compound alone to save me. But it was a trap.

They injected his carotid artery with a military-grade neurotoxin and locked us in a flooded underground dungeon to rot.

He curled up in the corner, his eyes vacant, drool slipping from his mouth as he babbled like a toddler, terrified of the dark.

Ignoring the agonizing contractions ripping through my abdomen, I knelt in the filthy water and gripped his hand.

"Lucas, stay with me."

I used my own body as a human shield, taking three bullets to my back to keep him alive.

Right before I lost consciousness, I used the last ounce of my strength to shove him onto the extraction chopper.

When he finally woke up, the neurotoxin had ravaged his brain. He lost all memory of that night, of my sacrifice, and of the child. For six months, he couldn't even feed himself.

And my body was permanently broken.

He didn't remember a thing. He didn't even know we had a baby.

And I had forgotten that human hearts change.

I stared at Lucas, forcing my fury down into a cold, hard knot. "Miami is my bottom line. I'm not negotiating."

I pulled the dagger from my shoulder and tossed it onto the table. "And Mia is a grown woman. Family rules dictate she leaves the estate. Kick her out."

Lucas rubbed his temples in sheer annoyance, completely ignoring my demands. He waved a hand at his guards.

"Get the Madam patched up and put her on a plane back to New York."

I frowned, looking at him as if he were a complete stranger.

I didn't recognize him anymore. The fierce, loyal boy who had pulled me out of a red-light district alleyway was dead.

The guards who approached me had clearly been bought by Mia. They had no intention of taking me back to New York.

They slapped duct tape over my mouth and shoved me into a cramped storage closet on the second floor.

A few minutes later, Mia strutted in, her heels clicking on the hardwood. She crossed her arms and looked down at me.

"You taught me survival isn't about aim. It's about being ruthless."

She picked up the bloody dagger and pressed the cold edge against my carotid artery. "How'd I do, Donna?"

She leaned in close. "You want something, you take it. I spiked his drink. Sit tight and listen."

The sharp blade nicked my skin. The smell of my blood made her eyes gleam with excitement.

Outside the window, I saw the shadows of my Dark Raven mercenaries preparing to breach the glass. I stopped them with a single, sharp look.

Lucas, I thought, I want to see exactly how far you're willing to betray me.