Nine Hot Therians and Their Only One Queen novel Chapter 456

**When She Opened the Door to the Life She Was Afraid to Live by Nora Vale Kingsley**
**Chapter 456: Lucien’s Lost It**

Emma instinctively shifted her wrist, preparing to rise from the comfort of her bed, when an abrupt, jarring clink echoed through the stillness of the room. The metallic sound reverberated painfully in the otherwise tranquil atmosphere, causing her heart to race.

With a sudden urgency, Emma glanced down, her eyes widening in disbelief. A delicate gold chain was tightly secured around her slender left wrist, the other end anchored firmly to the cold, unyielding metal post at the head of the bed.

Stunned into silence, Emma’s mind raced. She… she had been locked up? How could this be possible? Who had done this to her?

Silas? No, he wasn’t the type to engage in such bizarre antics. Edric? That didn’t seem like him either. Calum? They hadn’t even taken that step yet; he wouldn’t dare cross that line. Was it Marcus? No, Marcus had always been clear about his distaste for such confinement.

As she lifted the covers, dread pooled in her stomach. Her ankles were shackled with identical chains, limiting her freedom but leaving just enough space for her to shift around on the bed, even to reach the window that was tantalizingly close. Yet, there was no way out of this room.

Who could have orchestrated this?

Just then, the door creaked open, its hinges protesting softly. Emma’s head whipped around, her heart pounding in her chest. A tall, lean figure stepped into the room, silhouetted against the light, holding an ornate breakfast tray that gleamed with an unsettling familiarity.

“Lucien?” she breathed, the name escaping her lips in a mix of shock and confusion.

Emma couldn’t believe her eyes as he approached her, an unexpected presence in this strange situation. She had anticipated Silas, or perhaps Calum, Marcus, or even Edric, but never Lucien.

“It’s me,” he replied, his voice steady yet somehow tinged with an unsettling calm.

Setting the tray down on the table, he moved closer, gently brushing a few strands of hair away from Emma’s face, tucking them behind her ear with a tenderness that felt out of place given the circumstances.

Emma studied him, a frown creasing her brow. He appeared unchanged on the surface, yet everything about him felt transformed. His striking eyes had darkened to an intense shade, and the plumage mark on his brow seemed to flicker with an otherworldly fire, pulsing with a life of its own.

“When did you wake up?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she lifted her chained hand, the metal links rattling ominously in the quiet room.

“Did you do this?”

Lucien’s fingers brushed against the metal cuff that encircled her wrist, his touch cool and deliberate, as if he were admiring a piece of art crafted solely for him.

“I did,” he confessed, a slight smile creeping onto his lips, one that hinted at a satisfaction that sent chills down her spine. “Emma, don’t you like it? This was custom-made just for you. The size is perfect. It’ll never hurt you.”

His fingertips traced her skin, sending a shiver up her arm that felt both exhilarating and terrifying.

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