Chapter 27: The Prize
Chapter 27 – The Prize
The terrace, once quiet and haloed in wine glow and city skyline, now pulsed with new energy. High heels whispered over marble like drawn daggers. Dresses shimmered with sorcery-stitched silk and power-laced couture. Perfume mixed with ambition.
And in the center of it all—
Lux Vaelthorn didn’t stand.
Didn’t need to.
He just adjusted his cuff, leaned one elbow on the table, and let the skyline hit his jawline at just the right angle. Unbothered. Unclaimed. Still wine-dark and ruinous.
Mira walked out first, flanked by three of them. The power trio.
Behind her followed the other seven like they were invited to a coronation, all perfectly casual with barely concealed hunger under their lashes. Naomi sat still across from Lux, wine glass in hand, expression unreadable. But her eyes?
She was watching everything.
Mira’s heels clicked as she arrived at the center of the terrace, holding court. "Ladies," she said, the word like silk laced with poison, "meet Lux Vaelthorn."
She smiled.