Chapter 39

Lysandra

I sat rigidly in the oversized leather chair, my nails digging into the armrests as Father paced in front of me. The heavy scent of cigars and expensive whiskey filled the study, a scent I had grown up associating with power, with control.

But tonight, all I could feel was tension.

Disappointment.

Anger.

I had failed him. And he was not going to let me forget it.

He was going to make sure that I lived up to it and he was going to make sure that I regretted it. It was not like I had any other option. I tried every single method that I could think of, nothing seemed to work. And in the end, when he chose to appear, he just ended up ruining things for me before I could get them settled.

“You disappoint me,” Father said, his voice like steel, sharp and cold. “As always, you are nothing more than a failure.”

I forced myself to meet his gaze, though every fiber of my being screamed at me to look away. Father was not a man who