Lana had needed air. She said as much. Andreas was giving her time, but he knew he couldn’t wait as long as he had the previous time. He wouldn’t lose her again, no matter what it took. The only thing that was starting to worry him was the fact that the night had passed and Lana hadn’t returned. Andreas was pacing in his study, the stain from his near-death experience still visible on the floor.

What could be taking her so long? Was she still in the woods processing the information he had given her? He understood that it was a lot for her to mull over, but why couldn’t she have returned to the comfort of the mansion? Or had she returned without his notice? Was she in her room right now or perhaps in one of the libraries? Andreas pulled on the strands of his hair in frustration.

There was one other possibility, but he didn’t want to think about that. He knew that telling her about his parents was a huge risk. Not everyone would take that information kindly. It was one of the reasons Kalen and he clashed. Kalen had considered Andreas’ mother to be his own and blamed Andreas for her death. Of course, it technically was his fault, but he drove himself insane with guilt, without needing the help of a third party. What if Lana had decided that was the final straw? He couldn’t exactly blame her if that was the case. After everything he had done to her in order to push her away at first, perhaps telling her the truth from the start might’ve been the easier option.

With that thought, Andreas sunk to the floor. His heartbeat raging out of control. The thought that he had lost Lana was becoming too difficult to bear. It was happening all over again. Every time he grew attached to someone, something happened to them. He always ended up losing them. He thought himself foolish to even consider thinking otherwise. What had he thought would happen when he started falling for Lana? That he of all people could have a happy ending?

Andreas Scott Grigoli, a name that invoked fear in everyone in the kingdom, now belonged to a man that was growing soft. Is this what she had done to him? Realization slowly dawned on him. Everything seemed to finally make sense.

He thought back to that first day he saw her in that cage, how she begged the bars to move. Her voice had sounded so desperate. It hadn’t been the first time he saw someone on their way to their execution by the king, and every other time he had done nothing to save them. But he stopped for her. Back then, he couldn’t figure out why. There was just this invisible force pulling him toward her.

What if that force was the prophecy at work? He thought. It made perfect sense. Undoing was such an ominous word, but it was also one with many different connotations. He definitely saw a change in himself after she showed up in his life. He was growing soft. The darkness in him was lifting. Was that the kind of undoing she was destined for?

If that was the case, perhaps the prophecy wasn’t as bad as he previously thought. And regardless if she was going to inflict real damage on him or not, he knew he needed her in his life now that he had gotten a taste of what it was like. He would have to work harder to fight her influence; growing soft was not something he could afford. Fear was the only way to get things done.

The longer Andreas considered the matter, the more baffled he grew. When Kalen was there, they had debated this very issue. Back then Andreas had been sure the prophesized girl had to be Lana, but Kalen denied it. Despite Kalen’s many faults, Andreas trusted his judgment, even if he would never let Kalen know that. But now, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Kalen could be wrong. Or he might be right. She was supposed to be the undoing of them both. There had been no change in Kalen since her appearance, thus discrediting Andreas’ theory.

Andreas had to force the lingering thoughts of the debate out of his mind and get back to the more important issue: he didn’t know where Lana was. Before he could figure anything else out, he needed to find her. So he started looking. Checking every place he could think of, but coming up short.

A feeling of dread settled over him when he found even the kitchen devoid of her presence. She couldn’t have run away. She wouldn’t have. One thing he was sure about was that she wasn’t a liar. She wouldn’t have told him that she wasn’t going to run away if she was planning on doing it. She wouldn’t have kissed him right before either. So if she didn’t run away, what happened to her?

All the bolts locked into place all at once. There was only one possibility. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten that. A rage, burning hotter that the flames at the core of the sun spread though him. Lana mentioned she had seen John in the woods. And she had forgotten as well.

John killed his brother, and now he was likely hurting Lana, the woman Andreas cared about. Andreas was blinded by his anger at that man. John better hope he is not there when I find Lana, Andreas thought to himself. He wanted nothing more than to watch the life slowly drain out of the eyes of John Argeno. Andreas made the vow to be the one to end that pathetic excuse for a knight’s life, if it was the last thing he did.