Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Glass cage
Chris had always known when someone was lying to him; it was an instinct honed over years of half-truths, almost nine years of hiding his true nature, and, now, the constant quiet hum of manipulation that permeated every room Dax ever entered.
So when Lucas spoke, with his every word perfectly measured like he’d rehearsed it for a different war entirely, Chris listened, not because he believed him, but because he wanted to hear where the lie cracked.
His suspicion was a blade, bright and steady. "If you’re lying, I’ll know," he said. His voice was soft, but it was powerful enough to make even men like Dax pause.
Mia shrank a little on the other end of the line, curling into the couch like she wanted to disappear.
Lucas, infuriatingly, didn’t flinch. He leaned closer, green eyes glinting like polished glass. "Then test me," he said. "You want a way out of that glass cage? I’ll send you one."
The phrasing made Chris’s pulse tighten. Glass cage. He’d never said that aloud. Not even to Dax, but without the king there with him, it did feel like a cage ready to fall on him.
He narrowed his eyes. "How?"
Lucas’s tone shifted with the same infuriating calm. "Public places. That’s where the cracks always are. Doesn’t matter how many men he lines up at your door. He can’t glue them to your hip when there are civilians, press, or allies watching. Security works best on familiar ground, but the moment the terrain shifts, there’s air between the cracks. You slip through that air, because the last thing that makes security efficient is you being cooperative."
Chris’s jaw tightened, breath steady but shallow. "You talk like someone who’s been caged." He didn’t want to run, not after seeing the security Dax had placed on him and most importantly, he wanted to stay by the alpha’s side.
Lucas tilted his head, the corner of his mouth curving in something that wasn’t quite a smile. "Maybe I was. Maybe I still am. Doesn’t matter. What matters is I know cages better than anyone and I know how they break."
Mia shifted beside him, voice small. "Lucas..."
But Lucas didn’t look at her. His gaze stayed fixed on Chris, unwavering. "You don’t cooperate, Chris. That’s your only leverage. Don’t give them neat lines to predict. You want cracks in the glass? You make them with your refusal."
The words slid under his skin before he could stop them. Don’t cooperate. He’d been doing nothing but cooperating since the day Dax brought him here.
He exhaled, the faintest edge of exhaustion in the sound. "And when Dax notices? Because he will. He always does."
Lucas’s grin was the kind that promised trouble. "That’s when you let my people step in. Serathine. Cressida. Women who can turn a polite tea party into a battlefield without lifting a knife. They’ll make enough smoke for you to walk out without his hounds chewing your heels."
Chris studied him, there was no tremor, no hesitation, and no false note in Lucas’s voice. Just cold conviction and a smile that didn’t care about survival.
"You’d risk Dax’s wrath for me?" he asked finally, voice quiet and dangerous. "Why?"
Lucas leaned back, expression lazy and unbothered. "Because nothing delights me more than watching gods choke on their own chains. And because you look like you’d set fire to the palace just to prove you could."
Chris didn’t respond immediately, because in all fairness, he was already thinking of doing it just to watch people panic. Mia’s groan filled the silence, her face buried in her hands. "You two are going to get me killed."
Lucas laughed softly, unrepentant. "Well, Dax was going to try his best to take me from the man I chose if Trevor would hesitate to bond me, so let’s say this is retribution."
That word caught. Chris’s eyes flicked up sharply. "Retribution," he repeated, voice flat, testing it like he could taste the shape of Lucas’s resentment.
Lucas shrugged. "Fair’s fair. He wanted to crack me out of Trevor’s hand; I’ll put a crack in his perfect little cage. Balance."
"Balance is not the word," Mia muttered. "Suicide is the word."
Chris ignored her. His focus didn’t waver. "You think Serathine and Cressida can just stroll into Saha and pull strings under his nose? You think Dax won’t notice when the terrain shifts?"
Lucas leaned forward again, eyes glinting. "Oh, he’ll notice. That’s the point. The only question is whether he notices you gone or whether he notices too late. And tell me, Chris..." His smile curved, wicked and knowing. "...wouldn’t you enjoy watching him realize he can’t hold you as tight as he thinks?"
It shouldn’t have hit as hard as it did. But for one brief, traitorous second, Chris did imagine it, Dax, realizing he couldn’t control everything. That his perfect composure could crack... that would be deliciously amusing.
His lips curved faintly, the ghost of a smile that wasn’t soft at all. "You’re insane."
"Thank you," Lucas said, plucking a fry like he’d just complimented him. "Now, are you going to give me something useful, or do we keep flirting until Trevor and Dax both break down the door?"
Mia choked. "Flirting?!"
Chris raised a brow, finally letting the edge of amusement cut through the tension. "You don’t even know me, and yet you think you can play this game?"
Lucas’s grin widened, dangerous and amused. "I don’t think, Chris. I know."
Chris leaned back, steady again, black eyes cool and sharp. Then, at last, he spoke. "Back when I was still in Palatine, there was only one clinic far enough from home not to raise questions. Discreet. Private. They didn’t ask who you are, only that they were paid. If Mia’s clever enough, she’ll know the place."
Mia went still, her expression flickering with realization and guilt.
"That’s as much as you’ll get," Chris said, tone low and final. "If you’re as clever as you claim, it’s enough."
Lucas’s grin widened, infuriatingly smug. "See? I knew you had manners buried under all that frost."
Chris’s eyes darkened. "Don’t mistake a breadcrumb for trust."
"Of course not," Lucas purred. "But breadcrumbs are enough to lure wolves."
Mia’s phone buzzed a second later, and her groan told him exactly what happened before he even heard his own notification.
Lucas raised his phone in mock salute. "Congratulations. You’re now officially in a group chat. Members: you, me, Serathine, Cressida, and Mia. The name’s Glass Crackers. I advise being careful about what you write because Dax would verify it."
Mia buried her face in her hands. "He’s going to kill us both."
Chris stared at the screen for a long, unmoving moment. Then, faintly, almost too soft to notice, his mouth curved again. Whether it was amusement or a cold threat, even he couldn’t tell.
"You’re insane," he said again.
Lucas’s smirk returned. "Insane is effective. Now every time you find a crack in Dax’s cage, you’ve got a lifeline. You decide whether to use it. Choice is yours."
Chris exhaled, leaning back into the chair. His reflection flickered in the black screen, unreadable.
"We’ll see," he said quietly and ended the call.