Damon's Pov
It was supposed to go smoothly. Lucinda had a plan, and for once, I thought we might actually pull this off without a hitch. Foolish, really. If life had taught me anything, it’s that when things seem too easy, it’s because they are.
The ceremony was a blur. The speeches, the applause, the heavy crown of expectations dropping onto my head—none of it mattered. Not when I knew Aria was still out there, in the hands of him.
We’d worked it out—Lucinda’s brilliant little spell to tag the Originals in attendance. Jules and Cain had been almost obnoxiously obvious, showing up like they owned the place. Which, to be fair, they practically did, strutting around with their usual airs of superiority. Jules had sneered at my pack like we were mutts begging for scraps. But Cain? Cain had
