MasukDennise’s POVValentina didn’t bother with subtlety this time.She called me to her study at midnight.The candles were lit in a circle around her, casting long shadows across her face.She was beautiful, elegant, horrifying, and she was in a very good mood.That was never good.“Dennise,” she purred. “I have a special assignment for you.”Special.That was Valentina’s word for bloodbath.I stood with my hands clasped behind my back, calm and unreadable.“Yes, Mistress.”“There is a rogue wolf outpost in the northeast,” she said, tapping her map.“Supposedly a military formation, males, fighters only.”She smiled.A wrong smile.“And they’ve chosen the most idiotic location possible.”I didn’t blink.“Where?”Her smile widened, slow and cruel.“A sacred ceremonial ground.”My stomach tightened.Sacred ground?Wolf ceremonial sites were ancient.Older than clans.Older than human cities.Older than most vampires.The wolves believed their ancestors spoke through the stones and roots
Dennise’s POVHe whispered, “You’re alive.”The pain in those two words nearly dropped me to my knees.I forced myself to stay composed.“Yes,” I whispered. “I am.”He took a step forward.I took one back.His face tightened.My chest burned.“Why are you running from me?” he asked, frustration leaking into his tone.“I’m not running,” I said.“I’m surviving.”“That’s the same damn thing.”His voice was sharp, wounded.He took another step.I retreated again.“Ace-don’t-”“Don’t what?” he snapped.“Don’t come closer? Don’t try to understand why the hell you vanished? Don’t ask why you smell like death and old magic?”His fists clenched.“You look like her,” he whispered.“Like who?”“Valentina.”I swallowed.“She changed you.”“Yes.”“You let her,” he growled.I didn’t answer.Because yes-I let Valentina change my body.But she did not change me.He inhaled deeply, eyes narrowing.“You smell like two things,” he said.“Blood.”My jaw tightened.“And grief.”My heart twisted.“You’re
Dennise's POVThe woods shifted beneath my feet.Night birds hushed.Branches stilled.Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as I walked.The moon carved silver lines across my skin, illuminating the violet glow in my eyes.I didn’t hide it.I didn’t hide anything anymore.I wasn’t running.I wasn’t afraid.I wasn’t uncertain.I was making my first move…and the world around me knew it.Valentina believed she owned me.She believed she shaped me.She believed her blood tethered me.She never understood the one thing she couldn’t control:My will.I walked deeper into the forest, following the scent trails left by Valentina’s hunters.They thought they were invisible.They thought no one could track them.But they weren’t vampires.They weren’t wolves.They weren’t shifters.They weren’t me.They were human.Alive.Breathing.Predictable.I found the first outpost, a hidden cabin used by the scouting team assigned to monitor Ace’s territory.Three hunters inside.Two sleeping.One aw
He sat back finally, drawing into a hunched position like a vulture on a grave.“Valentina wants to ascend,” he said.“She wants a throne built from my ashes.”“A throne of what?”“Bodies,” he said simply. “Witch corpses. Shifter corpses. Human corpses. Ancient corpses. New corpses.”A chuckle. “A predictable child’s fantasy.”“And what do you want?” I asked.He raised his head.Something shifted behind his eyes, something lucid, terrifyingly sane.“Child,” he said with soft authority,“I want the world I built back.”“What world?”“A world without witches.”“A world without shifters.”“A world ruled by fear.”“A world that remembers the name Bathory.”Then he added:“And Valentina wants it too… except she plans to rule alone.”I stiffened.“She fears me,” he continued.“She should.”“But she also fears you. And that is delicious.”“I don’t see how.”“Oh, let me explain.”His fingers traced a slow arc in the air.“She turned you. But she couldn’t control you. She fed you her blood. Bu
Dennise's POVI hadn’t meant to find the place.Not today.Not like this.I had slipped out of Valentina’s mansion because the walls had begun to feel too close, too heavy with whispers.The more my memories crept back, the more the halls felt like a coffin.So I walked.A stroll, nothing more.A lie I told myself.I followed the faint hum of something ancient, an instinct tugging at my bones.A strange thread pulling me along winding roads, through thick forests, and toward a forgotten corner of land where the air tasted like dust and old curses.I didn’t plan the route.My feet simply… obeyed.A vampire should trust her instincts.Mine led me straight to hell.The first thing I saw was the Bathory castle.Or what remained of it.The ruins were half-swallowed by vines, walls cracked with time, gates rusted into red skeletons.The air was colder here, unnaturally cold.Every breath felt heavier, as if I had breathed in someone else’s nightmare.I stepped over shattered stones, ducked
Dennise’s POVFlash: panther blood on my hands.Flash: cheetah eyes staring up at me, wide and dying.Flash: claws scraping against concrete, begging for mercy that never came.I swallowed hard.“The more you resist this, the more I wonder,” Valentina said softly. “You didn’t hesitate before. You enjoyed your missions. You were my favorite song of death.”Her words slithered under my skin.Old Dennise. The one who believed killing shifters was righteousness. The one who thought hunters were heroes.She didn’t exist anymore.But I had to pretend she did.I forced my lips to quirk in something like a smile. “I’m just calculating how best to do it.”“Ahh.” She relaxed again. “There she is. My little strategist.”She turned toward the tall windows, looking out at the night.“Tell me, Dennise,” she mused. “Do you ever regret it? What we’ve done?”“Yes,” I thought.“No,” I said.She smiled without turning. “Good. Regret is a human luxury. You’re beyond that now.”The beast inside me snarled







