Chapter 24 · A Second Blade in the Hospital

Lucan's ribs were still aching from the last fight when Cassian walked into the room like he owned it. No knock. No warning. Just the creak of the door and that flat look he always wore, the one that said he'd calculated every outcome before you even opened your mouth.

"Mira left an hour ago," Cassian said. He didn't sit. "You told her to go alone."

"Yeah." Lucan leaned against the wall, arms crossed. The Ledger's new entry was still burning in his head. Thirty-six hours. Ivy in the same facility. Orin's private doctor. He'd read it three times, and it still felt like a punch to the gut. "She's the only one who can walk in there without setting off alarms."

"She's also the only one who'll hesitate when it matters." Cassian tilted his head. "You sent her into a trap."

"I know."

"And you're going anyway."

Lucan didn't answer. He didn't need to. Cassian's eyes flicked to the tablet lying on the table between them, its surface dark and silent. The last entry had been clear enough. Ivy wasn't just in Graycroft. She was bait.