16. Amber

Lucas leans in,tangles his fingers through the hair on the back of my head, pulling me closer, and that’s when I know—I have him.

When I move away, he’s gazing at me with a mix of confusion and curiosity. It’s the sort of awe that would make my heart race—if he wasn’t one of my mortal enemies.

“That was certainly a welcome surprise,” he says, glancing at my lips in an obvious desire for more.

“Let’s just say I’m full of surprises.” I trace the chains inked on his wrist, knowing from the haze in his eyes and the way his breath shallows that the lustberry’s working. “And… there’s more I need to tell you. More you need to know.”

“I’m listening.”

He sounds just like Damien when he’s worried about me.

It takes everything in me to not laugh at the fact that Lucas’s new weakness is the same as the one he’s using to condemn Damien.

Me.

“The potion is poisoning me,” I tell him, dropping the truth on him without hesitation.

Mainly because I need to keep being vulnerable with him to seal the berry’s enchantment.

Also because I’m open to any help I can get right now.

Concern crosses his eyes. Genuine concern. At least, it appears genuine.

“How so?” he asks.

“It’s weakening my sun magic,” I admit, deflating at how vulnerable I feel saying it out loud. “I need help.”

“And you think I can help you?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Can you?”

He presses his lips together, thinking. “Maybe,” he says, his brow furrowing as he considers it further. “Is Damien unwilling to help?”

“Damien doesn’t know.”

“You didn’t tell him.”

“I couldn’t,” I say, and the truth pours out of me in an instant. “Remember, he won’t let me help fight the shadow souls. I have no choice but to go back to the Fairmont each night. What do you think he’ll do if he finds out my magic is weakening? Lock me in there around the clock until he figures out how to fix it?”

I wouldn’t put it past him.

Maybe it’s one of the reasons I’m avoiding telling him.

“We certainly couldn’t have that.” Lucas says. “Could we?”

“No.” I keep my gaze fixed on his. “We couldn’t.”

“You’ll come with me,” he decides in a heartbeat. “You’ll join my clan, and I’ll protect you from Damien’s clutches.”

Lucas isn’t thinking clearly. The lustberry is distorting his emotions—making him desperate to keep me close.

If he was thinking clearly, he wouldn’t want me anywhere near him at night. Not when the shadow souls can find me so easily and put his entire clan at risk.

Luckily, he’s obviously not thinking clearly.

“Are you sure?” My voice is soft, and I pray this is truly working. That the lustberry is affecting Lucas so much that he’s willing to risk everything.

“I’m sure,” he says.

I give him a few seconds, waiting to see if he’ll take it back.

He doesn’t.

“Thank you, Lucas,” I finally say. “This means a lot to me.”

“I protect my own,” he says. “And you, Amber, are now one of my own. Always.”

I’ll never be one of your own, I think, but I keep my thoughts to myself and off my face. One single flinch, and the game could be lost.

“Take me back now,” I say—no, more like beg. “Before any of them can find me. Please.”

“Let’s go.” He pulls me up from the bench, hurrying as he leads me out of the park.

He doesn’t ask for my phone, or search for any tracking devices I might have hidden on me.

He believes my story that much.

We had backup plans, but Lucas’s desperation for love—and grief over the woman who reminds him of me—is making this ridiculously easy.

As we move out of the park, I reach for the duskberry bond, since Damien’s stationed in a building close enough that I can reach him. And while I can’t communicate words through the bond, I can share feelings.

Relief. Success. Urgency.

His emotions come to me immediately.

Urgency as well. Unsurprisingly, concern. And a determination so strong that it nearly knocks me off my feet.

“All okay?” Lucas asks me.

“Just nerves,” I answer honestly. “I’ll feel a lot better when we’re back.”

“As you should.”

We get to the end of the park, he hails a taxi, and we slide into the back. He pulls me into the middle of the seat and wraps his arm around my shoulders, so my body is pressed against his.

It takes everything in me to not shudder.

“Where to?” the driver asks, his eyes meeting Lucas’s in the rearview mirror.

Lucas gives an address to a street I’ve never heard of.

“Where’s that?” I ask him.

“The Lower East Side,” he says. “It’s grittier than what you’re accustomed to uptown, but you’ll adjust. Especially since you’ll be with me.”

As the taxi merges into traffic, I sneak a glance behind us.

Yannick—the warrior who partners with Abigail on patrol at night—is trailing us in a navy sedan that blends with the other cars on the street. With the trucker hat shielding his face, it would be impossible to recognize him as one of Damien’s if someone wasn’t looking for it.

There are others in the back seat, although thanks to the tinted windows, no one outside the car can see who they are.

“Lucas,” I begin, needing to distract him so he doesn’t realize we’re being followed. “Once we’re there, what’s the plan?”

“I have resources,” he says. “Eyes and ears hidden throughout the city. You’re going to be okay.”

“And if Damien comes looking for me?”

“Then let him come.” His hand reaches for mine, his smile sharp and deadly. “He’ll find that taking you from me is more trouble than he bargained for.”

He underestimates Damien.

And it’s going to be the death of him.

I continue talking to him as the taxi weaves its way through the streets, determined to distract.

Eventually, the Lower East Side greets us with its gritty embrace. The buildings here, tightly packed and rising like jagged teeth against the skyline, wear their age not as a sign of neglect, but as a badge of resilience. Graffiti covers nearly every available surface, turning the neighborhood into a canvas that tells stories of struggle, resistance, and unyielding spirit.

Lucas watches me as I soak it in.

“This is the heart of the city,” he says. “It beats strongest where the polish fades and the darkness shows. It’s raw, unapologetic, and real. Something you won’t find uptown.”

We finally stop in front of an old brick building that rises higher than the others. One of the affordable housing options on the edges of the city.

“This is it,” he says, gesturing to the building with a sweep of his arm.

“Why here?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“Because people underestimate places like this,” he says. “They see decay where I see strength. They see despair where I see the will to endure.” He pauses, then adds, “It’s the perfect place to hide in plain sight.”

He pays the driver, and I don’t have to look over my shoulder to verify that Yannick successfully followed us. Because Damien made it, too. I can feel his determination and focus through the bond.

Lucas leads me through the building’s heavy front door and into a dimly lit lobby, the bulbs casting more shadow than light.

“Come,” he says, heading toward the stairwell. “You’ll stay in my apartment, with me.”

I don’t want to go.

But if I stop now, it could ruin everything.

They won’t be long, I think as I follow him up the concrete steps.

He moves fast, and we go up and up, until we must be close to the top floor of the building.

The others will be surrounding the building now. Once everyone’s in place, they’ll strike.

I know they will.

“Where is everyone?” I ask as we make our way down the narrow hall. It’s a maze up here, and the deeper we get into the building, the more I wonder if coming here was a massive mistake.

“Asleep,” Lucas says. “We sleep all day and hunt all night. As is natural for our kind.”

“Of course,” I say, although my heart pounds as we stop in front of one of the narrow doors and Lucas pulls a key out of his pocket.

Where are they?

I can’t go into that room with him.

If I do, I’ll be trapped. So, I glance around the hall, preparing to bolt.

Turns out I don’t have to.

Because the moment Lucas turns the key, a scream pierces the building’s silence from the direction of the stairwell.

My heart leaps into my throat.

Because they’re here.

It’s begun.