Chapter 561

After spending so much time with Valerie, Lucius knew her better than anyone. Whenever that look of quiet, absolute determination crossed her face, it was a flashing neon sign that she was about to pull some underhanded maneuver she had no business touching. Kieran had warned him specifically to keep Valerie away from the forbidden arts. The last time she had used her hypnotic techniques on William, her eyes had turned such a deep, terrifying red that he had been genuinely rattled by the sight. According to Kieran, Valerie's methods were not the clinical tools of a modern therapist. They were forbidden mystic arts instead. The backlash from overusing them was severe. Valerie gave him an awkward little laugh. "I hear you. I've got it." Inwardly, she was cursing Magnus. Out of all the people in the world, he had managed to find her a man who could see right through her every thought. Lucius's gut told him she was just playing along while secretly planning to defy him. "Swear it," h