CHAPTER 270: CHAPTER 270: GLASS CRACKERS

Chris’s suspicion was a blade, bright and steady. "If you’re lying, I’ll know," he said, voice low enough to make Mia curl tighter into the couch cushions.

Lucas didn’t flinch. He leaned closer to the screen, green eyes steady, his smile thin and merciless. "Then test me. You want a way out of that glass cage? I’ll send you one."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "How?"

Lucas’s tone dropped, edged with the calm precision of someone who had lived too long under perfect security nets. "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, silver eyes narrowing. "You talk like someone who’s been caged."

Lucas tilted his head, lips curving. "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, tugging at the hem of her sleeve like she wanted to vanish. "Lucas..." she whispered, nervous.

But Lucas didn’t look at her. His eyes stayed fixed on Chris, unflinching. "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."

For a moment, the screen was silent except for the faint static hum. Then Chris exhaled slowly through his nose, his gaze sharp but calculating. "And when Dax notices? Because he will. He always does."

Lucas’s grin spread, wicked and knowing. "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 for a long moment, his suspicion crackling like ice under strain. Then he leaned closer to the camera, his voice edged and quiet. "You’d risk Dax’s wrath for me? Why?"

Lucas smirked, leaning back like the question was beneath him. "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."

Mia groaned softly, burying her face in her hands. "You two are going to get me killed."

"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."

Chris’s expression didn’t shift, but the faintest flicker crossed his eyes, quick as a blade drawn and hidden again. "Retribution," he repeated, flat, as though tasting the word.

Lucas shrugged, all lazy arrogance, his smirk never softening. "Fair’s fair. He wanted to crack me out of Trevor’s hand; I’ll put a crack in his perfect little cage. Balance."

Mia made a muffled noise into her palms. "Balance is not the word, suicide is the word..."

Chris ignored her, his gaze steady on Lucas. "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, green eyes glinting with merciless humor. "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... wouldn’t you enjoy watching him realize he can’t hold you as tight as he thinks?"

For a heartbeat, silence. Then Chris’s lips curved, barely there, more a shadow than a smile, but it was sharp enough to cut. "You’re insane."

"Thank you," Lucas said lightly, plucking another fry from the box as if this wasn’t treason wrapped in casual banter. "Now, are you going to give me something useful, or do we keep flirting until Trevor and Dax both break down the door?"

Mia nearly choked on air. "Flirting?!"

Chris arched a brow, finally letting his suspicion cool just enough to sound amused. "You don’t even know me, and yet you think you can play this game?"

Lucas’s grin widened, dangerously. "I don’t think, Chris. I know."

The silence stretched again, brittle and taut. Chris’s silver eyes didn’t waver, his suspicion still a knife against the screen. Then, finally, he exhaled, slow and controlled.

"Back when I was still in Palatine," he said, his tone even but edged, "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 stiffened beside Lucas, recognition flickering across her face. A town just far enough from where they’d grown up, far enough for her and Andrew not to notice... she knew exactly the one he meant.

Chris leaned back, his expression unreadable. "That’s as much as you’ll get. If you’re as clever as you claim, it’s enough."

Lucas’s grin sharpened, lazy but deliberate, as though Chris had just handed him the winning piece on purpose. "See? I knew you had manners buried under all that frost."

Chris’s gaze darkened. "Don’t mistake a breadcrumb for trust."

"Of course not," Lucas purred, already tapping his phone. "But breadcrumbs are enough to lure wolves."

Mia frowned until her phone buzzed. She glanced down, eyes widening in horror. "Lucas. Tell me you didn’t..."

Chris’s phone chimed too. His brows drew tight as he checked the screen.

Lucas leaned back against the cushions, raising his phone like a glass. "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 what you write; Dax would verify it."

Mia groaned, shoving her face into her hands. "He’s going to kill us both."

Chris’s expression didn’t move for a long beat. Then, barely, the corner of his mouth twitched, whether in the shadow of a smile or in cold amusement, it was impossible to tell. "You’re insane."

Lucas smirked, popping another fry into his mouth. "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 sat back, black eyes unreadable. "We’ll see."