Lucas was exhausted. He had only managed a few hours of sleep before his dad barged in, yelling for him to get out of bed. His plan had been to spend the evening with Celia, but it was as if Marcus was determined to keep him away from her.
First, Marcus had demanded Lucas cover patrol when the scheduled warrior fell ill. That wasn’t a big deal on its own. Patrol was part of his responsibilities, and he’d been lucky to avoid it since returning home. But then Marcus ordered him to stay on rotation for an additional four hours, which meant Lucas didn’t get off duty until nearly three in the morning. By then, he was too tired to go to Celia’s, worried about waking her after such an emotional day. Instead, he had dragged himself to bed.
Now, just minutes before eight, his father had stormed i
