Chapter 17: Poisoned Roots

Zara found Lila in the break room, laughing too loudly over a coffee she didn't drink.

The moment Lila saw her, the blood drained from her face.

Zara didn't say a word.

She simply tilted her head—and smiled.

A dangerous, silent smile.

Lila dropped the cup. It shattered.

"I—I didn't mean to—" she stammered, backing up.

"You didn't mean to what?" Zara asked softly. "Sell me out? Or get caught?"

Lila's chest heaved. "I didn't have a choice. Ethan—he owns—"

Zara moved faster than thought, pinning Lila against the wall by the wrist. Not hard enough to bruise. Just enough to terrify.

"You always have a choice," Zara whispered against her ear. "You chose wrong."

Lila whimpered.

Across the hall, Lucien appeared in the doorway, dark and silent. Watching.

Zara slowly let Lila go.

"Run to Ethan," she said, voice cold as ice. "Tell him the Queen's awake."

Lila fled, heels skidding.

Zara didn't watch her go. She turned toward Lucien, expecting cold calculation.

Instead, she found him staring at her like she was something holy.

"You scared her," he murmured.

Zara shrugged. "Good."

Lucien stepped closer, slow, deliberate.

"You scared me, too," he said.

She froze.

But Lucien only reached out and brushed a piece of glass from her sleeve.

"You're not the girl I first saw in that lobby," he said quietly. "You're something else entirely."

Their eyes locked.

And for a moment, the whole war fell away.

Lucien leaned in, his breath a warm slide against her temple. "And God help me, Zara," he whispered, "I want all of it."

The tension snapped.

She grabbed his shirt and yanked him against her.

Lucien caught her mouth with his, a brutal, hungry kiss. His hands framed her face, rough and possessive. Zara kissed him back harder, like she could bleed out the fury through her teeth.

He lifted her onto the counter, spreading her knees, stepping between them.

Zara tangled her fingers in his hair and bit down on his bottom lip, making him growl.

"Careful," he rasped. "You might like the things I do when I'm cornered."

"Prove it," she whispered against his mouth.

Lucien's hands slid up her thighs, under her skirt, until she gasped against him—hot, reckless, alive.

But then—

A buzz from Lucien's pocket broke the moment.

Reluctantly, he pulled away.

The screen flashed: Noah – URGENT.

Zara slid off the counter, breathing hard, cheeks flushed.

Lucien's face darkened as he read the message.

"It's started," he said. "Phoenix Protocol."

She straightened, heart hammering. "What's Phoenix?"

Lucien hesitated—but she caught the flicker of regret before he could mask it.

"It's…something Ethan and I built together. Years ago. Before everything."

Zara blinked. "You worked with Ethan?"

Lucien nodded grimly. "We were protégés. He chose empire. I chose war."

"And you never told me."

"I never wanted you to see who I was before."

Zara crossed her arms. "And who was that?"

Lucien's voice was bitter. "A man who would've burned the world down—for power. Not revenge. Power."

The pieces slid into place.

Lucien hadn't just been a bystander in her father's fall. He'd once walked alongside the men who destroyed everything.

Zara stepped back, her chest tight.

"Why help me now?" she asked, voice cracking.

Lucien moved closer, gaze raw and unguarded.

"Because the day I met you, Zara," he said hoarsely, "I saw the woman I once hoped to become—the part of me I killed to survive."

"And now?"

"Now," he whispered, "you make me want to resurrect it."

Zara's throat tightened.

She didn't trust easily.

But with Lucien…it wasn't about trust anymore. It was about survival. About fire recognizing fire.

She touched his face, tracing the scar at his jawline she'd never noticed before.

"You're dangerous," she whispered.

His hand covered hers.

"So are you."

Their mouths crashed together again, but this time slower—deeper. Like drowning.

Lucien backed her against the wall, hands fisting the hem of her blouse, sliding up her bare skin.

But before the kiss could devour them both, he stopped, forehead resting against hers.

"Not here," he rasped. "When I take you again, it won't be rushed."

Zara shivered at the promise in his voice.

She nodded, breathless.

But as they stepped apart, something on the floor caught her eye—half-buried under broken glass.

A photograph.

Of Lucien.

Younger. Smiling.

Standing beside a man she recognized.

Caleb Myles.

Her father's betrayer.

And in the corner of the photo—

Lucien's name, scrawled in black ink.

Next to the words:

"Project Phoenix: Phase One."

Zara's heart stopped.

Lucien didn't just know about the betrayal.

He'd been part of it.

Cliffhanger:Zara's beginning to fall for Lucien, but now the past is unraveling faster than she can control—and he might not just be her ally. He might have been her family's enemy once.