Lucas finally lifted his head and looked at me fully, and the torment there shattered something inside me. "He has her. He had her." His voice cracked. "Lira. He made her forget me. She thinks he is her father now. If I tried to take her away…" He trailed off.
"She would die," the King finished for him, his smile widening. "Poor Lucas. So devoted."
I stared at him. At them.
Lira stood perfectly still, her hand folded at the King's elbow, as if she belonged there, as if she'd always belonged there.
Everything hit me at once like the sky collapsing. "So you—you gave me to him? To save her?"
Lucas squeezed his eyes shut like the truth physically hurt to say. "Yes."
There was a long, sharp silence, thick with betrayal and breaking things.
I pressed my palm to my stomach, steadying myself. "So all of this… getting the key, everything… it was so you could trade me for her."
Lucas took a step toward me, desperate now. "It's not like that—"
