Evelyn's POV
For a beat I stood rooted where he had disappeared, as if his shadow had stayed stuck in the doorway. He had actually left. Lucian had turned his back on me. I felt the air go thin and my knees threaten to fold. For a second the world tilted and everything became smaller, the room, the people, the torchlight, all diminished by the absence of that impossible storm of a man.
But there was no time to collapse. Lisa's life hung on a limb I could not let go. I forced myself to breathe, to think, to act. If Lucian refused to help me save Lisa, then I would save her myself.
Alpha Baston moved as if to leave, already turning his back. I swallowed the dry lump in my throat, dropped to my knees in front of him, and the wooden floor rasped against my palms.
"Please," I began, voice shaking but loud enough for everyone to hear. "My Lord Baston, please, don't hang her. Lisa is innocent. Someone framed her. Please, you have to believe me...."
