230 Masks and Motives
* Points)
Darian
“Lucian is home,” I said softly.
For a heartbeat, my father simply stared at me, stunned. Then the relief crashed over him like a wave. His shoulders fell, the tension melting from his frame, and a light entered his eyes that I hadn’t seen in weeks.
“When?” he asked, voice thick with disbelief and hope.
“Late last night. He commandeered a private jet and came in with a prisoner-someone who’s identified Chase Nighthorn and can help map out their entire underground network.”
My father exhaled sharply, his mouth parting in awe. His hands clenched the arms of his chair, and he shook his head slowly, trying to absorb it all.
“After all these weeks hunting shadows. We finally have something.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “We’ve been blind for too long.”
“He must’ve gone through hell to pull that off,” he murmured, more to himself than to me.
I hesitated, watching his joy. It felt cruel to dampen it, but he needed to know the truth. We couldn’t move forward if the weight of our situation stayed buried.
“Father,” I said, more gravely this time. “There’s something else. Something you need to hear.”
His gaze snapped back to mine, instantly alert. I told him everything-about the military, the desertions, the bleeding resources and broken alliances. I laid it all out, word by word, each truth a blade. By the time I was done, his face had paled, and his jaw was tight.
“What do we do, Darian?” he asked, voice low. “Does Lucian know?”
I shook my head.
“Mara?”
Another shake.
He swore under his breath and rubbed his face with both hands. “We need to act fast. I know the treasury’s dry, but we cannot afford to lose the military. If we lose them-”
“I know,” I interrupted gently. “We’re already seeing the fallout. Right now, we only have Mooncrest, Driftwake, Neev, BravaGoldenpeak, Rain City, and Garland. Everyone else has pulled out-some due to fear, others because they’ve stopped getting funding. It all unraveled over the past three weeks.”
He ran his fingers through his graying hair, exhaling slowly like he was trying to hold his composure together by a thread.
“Why cut their funding in the first place?” he asked, though I could hear that part of him already knew the answer.
“We needed to stockpile weapons,” I said simply. “Just in case Chase pulled something we didn’t expect.”
He let out a bitter laugh and met my gaze. “Weapons are only useful if you have men to wield them, son.”
I nodded, the truth of it burning in my gut. He was right. We’d tried to prepare for war, and in doing so, may have fractured the army we needed to fight it.
“Lucian’s return changes things,” he continued, his voice calmer now. “You and your brother need to figure out a strategy. You’re both leaders-find a way to restore those alliances. Pull them back before it’s too late.”
1/3
< 230 Masks and Motives
“I will,” I promised.
- Pobits >
There was a beat of silence before he looked at me again, his expression softer now. “How are Tiffany and your daughter?
“They’re good,” I replied. “Tiffany’s adjusting… slowly.”
He smiled knowingly, then tilted his head. “Push a little more for the marriage. Mark her. Anchor her. Make it harder for her to walk away.”
I laughed lightly, shaking my head. “You make it sound like a battle tactic.”
“Everything is a battle, Darian. Especially love.”
We sat in silence for a while-my father in his chair, eyes fixed on my mother’s unmoving form, and me standing there, caught between duty and helplessness. There were no more words left to say, not without reopening wounds we didn’t know how to heal.
Eventually, I rose to leave. He didn’t try to stop me, but I could sense the shift in him. The news of Lucian’s return had lifted something heavy off his chest, even if only slightly. A sliver of light in the thick fog we’d been walking through.
“Will you be coming back this evening?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. “Yes. I will.”
“You should go home. Get some rest,” I added gently, hoping he’d take the chance to breathe.
But he shook his head, slow and certain. “Now that I suspect someone tried to kill her… I can’t leave her alone. I won’t let
them come back to finish what they started. And that brat-she’s long gone.”
His voice tightened when he spoke of Lacy. The betrayal in it was unmistakable. Despite everything, she had vanished
when he needed her most-when her mother needed her most. I understood his resentment. Even if Lacy hadn’t been
treated well, she could’ve stayed, could’ve waited until the very end. Instead, she ran. And now he sat here, guarding a
woman who may never wake, haunted by the things her daughter had said before disappearing.
He cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat, glancing up at me with something fragile in his eyes-hesitation.
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about,” he said, carefully. “Did you ever consider… that maybe Lacy was lying?”
The question hung in the air like smoke.
I paused, unsure how to answer. There was a part of me that wanted to dismiss it outright-Lacy had no reason to fabricate something so monstrous. But I knew what he was really doing. He was grasping at hope, at the thinnest thread that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t all true. That his entire life hadn’t been a lie.
“I guess… we’ll never know for sure,” I said quietly, “not until she wakes up.”
He nodded slowly, the weight of those words pressing down on him.
“I’ll be back this evening,” I promised.
He didn’t reply. Just sat there, lost in thought, still holding vigil.
I left the room with a sigh, my steps echoing down the corridor. Tiffany had told me she’d be staying with her parents for the night, which meant I didn’t need to rush back home. And Lucian had said he wasn’t leaving the house-though judging by the sounds I’d heard earlier while passing his room, he and Mara were very much preoccupied.
There wasn’t much for me to do at home. No obligations, no peace, and no distractions strong enough to keep my mind from spiraling. I knew I’d be back at the hospital. There was nowhere else I truly needed to be.
Not today. Not anymore.
