I Belong To My Three Forbidden Masters

Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Drake’s pov

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I know exactly where I stand," Darius said smoothly, his voice dripping with fake politeness.

"Lysander is my son, and I’m just here to pick him up."

"He came to my apartment on his own," I pointed out coldly, keeping my hand heavy against the door frame.

"I’m sure he did. And he can leave on his own too, if he wants to."

Darius gave me a fake smile that didn’t reach his sharp blue eyes.

"At the very least, let me ask him if he wants to come home with me."

My jaw clenched hard.

If Darius asked him, Lysander would say yes in a heartbeat. I knew he’d jump at any chance to get away from me, convinced I was a monster.

"He’s in my place, which basically makes him my responsibility," I finally said, keeping my tone flat.

The corner of Darius’s eye twitched with impatience.

"Forgive me, but he isn’t your property. That kind of dynamic might work in your world, but it doesn’t fly in the real world."

"And what if I just refuse to let you take him?" I growled, letting all the calm drop from my voice.

Darius’s posture relaxed, a cocky confidence settling over his face.

"That would be unfortunate. But not as unfortunate as sensitive information leaking to the wrong people."

A cold wave of anger flared in my chest. "You’ve got a serious death wish to stand at my door and threaten me."

He raised both hands up in a fake show of harmlessness, looking like an absolute snake.

"No way. I’m not stupid enough to threaten you. I’m just pointing out that I’ve built solid connections with the some high ups in the coven."

"Good for you," I bit out, my eyes narrowing into slits. "Hope you enjoy your new friends."

"I definitely will," Darius murmured, his expression darkening for a split second. "Once I get my stepson back. Lysander wasn’t part of our deal, and he’s leaving with me today."

"Otherwise, who knows what kind of PR problems might pop up down the road, Your Majesty? Oh, my bad, I meant Your Highness."

The deliberate jab at my title wasn’t an accident.

Darius knew way too much about Experiment Zero, and if the Board caught wind of my powers dropping, my rule was dead in the water.

For a second, I pictured grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the wall for talking to me like that.

He wouldn’t even see it coming. One second he’d be smirking, and the next he’d be choking on his own blood on my welcome mat.

The soft sound of quiet footsteps echoed from further down the hallway.

The sweet, familiar scent of vanilla and warm sugar drifted over to me before he even turned the corner.

Lysander.

I let out a quiet, frustrated breath, cutting my eyes toward the corridor.

Vesper had let him walk out of my bedroom without checking with me first.

I was going to kill him.

Lysander was wearing fresh, clean clothes.

Without even looking in my direction, he walked straight past me toward Darius. "Did you come to get me?"

"Yeah, kiddo," Darius answered gently, putting on a soft, caring face. "You look exhausted. Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Lysander said, his voice totally flat and drained.

Underneath that sweet vanilla scent, I could smell the sharp, sour bite of pure fear and resentment.

"I just want to go home," Lysander whispered. His eyes flicked to me for a tiny fraction of a second before Darius pulled him into a half-hug.

"Of course. You must have been terrified," Darius murmured, rubbing his back. "It’s fine now. Nobody’s going to mess with you anymore."

He sounded totally genuine, and Lysander actually relaxed against him, trusting every word.

But I saw the cold, calculated look buried deep in Darius’s eyes while he held him.

I wanted to grab Lysander, drag him back inside, and lock the door, but I forced myself to just stand there.

I watched them, feeling a mix of rage and jealousy burn through me, wrecking what was left of my self-control.

"Lysander." Soft doe eyes finally looked up at me. "Do you actually want to leave?"

"He literally just said he does," Darius cut in, sounding smug.

"I wasn’t talking to you, Thorne," I snapped, keeping my eyes locked on the kid.

Lysander looked away, his blonde hair falling over his forehead and completely hiding his face from me.

"I want to go," he said quietly.

"Fine," I said, though saying the word felt like swallowing glass.

Without another word, I shut the heavy door right in their faces.

The last thing I saw was Lysander’s shoulders slumping in massive, obvious relief.

Vesper stepped out of the shadows next to me. "Well, that went surprisingly well. I thought you were going to rip his head off."

"I wanted to. But right now, I’m a lot more interested in strangling you."

Vesper just blinked at me, looking totally unfazed. "Why would you want to strangle me, Drake?"

"Don’t play dumb. I gave you one simple job, and you completely ignored it," I growled, stepping right into his space.

Vesper let out a fake yawn. "You should know by now that you can’t just boss me around. I don’t work for you."

"Not yet, anyway," I warned, my tone lethal.

"Not ever, if that guy actually follows through on his threats. Letting Lysander walk was the smart move, and you know it."

"I don’t care who he’s talking to. Nobody can stop me from taking what’s mine."

"Sure, but they can make your life a living hell in the process. So play nice for once."

I glared at him. "You’re lucky your insights are actually useful, or you’d be out on the street."

"Yeah, yeah, empty threats," Vesper said, waving a dismissive hand as he turned around.

"Besides, taking a break is probably the best thing for you and Lysander right now, before he ends up completely hating your guts. Or before you go too far and accidentally break him."

He shrugged casually, adjusting his jacket. "A little space is going to do both of you a favor."

Vesper walked off toward the kitchen, humming like nothing had even happened.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

Lysander was completely ruining my self-control.

My main thing has always been staying totally calm and collected, but in just a couple of days, that kid had completely unraveled me

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