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AdrianCarson didn’t answer. His arms tightened around her just slightly, but enough for me to notice. The way he held her… no one would be able to take her from him without a fight. His eyes had changed too—there was something possessive in them now.I didn’t ask.We made our way to the van, where Dimitri and Lancly were waiting with our unconscious prisoner.“Got the girl, I see…” Lancly said with a crooked smile as Carson climbed in.“Now let’s head back,” Dimitri said, his attention fixed on Charles like a hawk staring down a mouse. The eagerness in his voice was unmistakable—he wanted the interrogation to start.“We need to find where Dragomir is hiding,” Carson said from inside the van, his voice tight with fury.And I could hear it clearly—he didn’t just want to find Dragomir.He wanted blood.“Calm down. We’ll find him,” I said evenly.Carson shook his head. “You have no stake in this, so you might think we have all the time in the world. But he’s coming after my people…”Lanc
AdrianThe fledglings were everywhere.Too many.Almost as if this place was their breeding ground. Whatever Charles had signed with Dragomir… it had been costly. And it wasn’t over.There was no reason to let this drag out.I stepped into the fray, my power already simmering under my skin. One lunged at me—a blur of teeth and claws—and I caught it mid-strike, driving my hand straight through its chest. My fingers closed around its heart, still beating in my palm, before I ripped it free.The others hesitated for a fraction of a second. That was all I needed.I didn’t bother focusing on every individual strike. My senses reached outward, threading through the chaos, separating foe from ally—marking Dimitri, Lancly, and Carson as untouchable. Everyone else?Fair game.When the pattern was locked in my mind, I let it loose.The air shifted—thickened—as my power poured into every enemy on the field. They froze mid-motion, muscles locking under an unseen weight. Blood began to seep from t
AdrianI had come to wipe them out. I wasn’t here to negotiate.“Kidnapped a girl lately, Charles?” I asked, my grip still tight on his throat.He stayed silent. That silence told me he believed his guards could save him.I decided it was time to show him otherwise.The Dhampirs moved first, stepping in with weapons half-raised. I didn’t bother to draw mine. Instead, I let my power spill through the room like a wave of black fire.The humans froze mid-breath, locked in place—unable to move, unable to scream. The Dhampirs, caught in that invisible grip, began to bleed from their eyes and noses, the sound of their choking breaths mixing with the metallic scent of fresh blood.The Strigoi didn’t last even that long. Their bodies ignited from within, skin splitting, smoke curling up toward the painted gold ceilings before they collapsed in piles of blackened ash.The room filled with the stench of scorched flesh and copper. The humans finally found their voices, their terror spilling into
AdrianThe flight to Ashberge was quick—too quick for anyone in that cursed house to know what was coming for them. We didn’t waste a second once we landed. Straight from the airstrip to the Abbots’ estate, the looming silhouette of their home already bathed in darkness.“I’ll go in first,” I said as we stepped out into the cool night air. “Wait for my signal, but stay hidden.”Carson spoke up. “I need to make a call to my father.”One brow lifted. “Why?”“He said he’s on his way… with warriors.”I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. Low. Sharp. “I’ll be finished before they get here.”Turning to the others, I laid out the rest. “Eliminate anything that tries to escape the building once I’m inside. We don’t need any survivors running their mouths.”Dimitri’s gaze locked on mine. “And the Abbots?”I paused, letting the silence stretch just enough to make the air colder.“I’m going to eliminate everyone in that house,” I said, voice flat, detached. “And I’m going to make an example
AdrianWhen I arrived at the Strigoi house, the scent of blood hit me before I saw the wreckage. The place was a ruin—splintered wood, shattered glass, and crimson stains marking where the walls had bled. Carson had made his point. Whatever message he’d come to deliver, he’d carved it into the bones of the building.I didn’t waste time analyzing the damage. We didn’t have time. Dimitri’s window to act was measured in hours, and the night was already bleeding away.“I won’t ask what happened here,” I said, glancing at Carson. He didn’t so much as blink. He didn’t need to defend himself—his work spoke loudly enough. This wasn’t a warning. This was a declaration.Next time, the Strigoi wouldn’t dare disrespect him.I couldn’t help but think of Jonathan—my old friend, ruthless and unyielding. Carson was cut from that same feral cloth. When he took his father’s seat, the wolves would follow him into hell without hesitation. And hell would follow them back.“Ashberge it is,” I told Dimitri.
AdrianI cursed under my breath when Lancly’s name lit up my phone. I’d known Carson might do something reckless, but I hadn’t expected him to act so soon—or so predictably.The Strigoi had insulted him twice, and now they’d gone so far as to take a member of his clan. For an Alpha, that was an open declaration of war. But still—was it worth this level of impulsive stupidity? He was letting pride dictate his hand, and that was the fastest way to get a man killed in our world.I finished buttoning my shirt, already replaying the likely chain of events in my head. If Carson was moving now, he wasn’t moving alone. The wolves would follow, and the Strigoi wouldn’t sit quietly. It wouldn’t stay a border skirmish—it would spiral, pull in more bodies, more blood. And of course, it would fall to me to contain it.The part I dreaded most wasn’t the confrontation—it was the fact that I’d have to tell Natalie I might not be home tonight. And my mother? She’d planned a dinner with Nicole. A warm