71

EZRA

This isn't how I expected to feel when I finally met Finn.

Not livid.

Not angry.

Not murderous.

Not even having to fake a smile.

I expected ease.

I expected to pull up to the curb like any other man might, open the door for the woman he can’t stay away from, and be... fine. Civil. Maybe even charmed by her son, the boy with Thea’s eyes and Sebastian Calloway’s last name.

But Isla De Vries Montgomery just had to ruin it.

Her scent clung to Thea like rot disguised as roses. Subtle, but not to me. Not with my blood tuned to Thea’s frequency, sharp as a violin string pulled tight.

I didn’t wait for dinner. Couldn’t. My control was thin—dangerously so. One more breath of that spoiled scent wrapped around my woman and I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. One more attention to the way her blood flows will have me drinking from her even with the scent clinging to her.

I haven't tasted blood in days.

So I drove. Fast. Not to cool down, but to get distance before I did something irreversible.

When I step into my penthouse, it’s dark. Quiet. But I don’t need light to see. I walk straight to the bar, pour something I won’t drink, and toss my phone onto the marble counter.

I stare at it for five seconds.

Then I pick it up and call her.

She answers before the first ring finishes.

“I was wondering when you’d break,” Isla says, her voice sweet. “Did she cry? Or did you?”

“You shouldn’t have gone near her.” My voice is low. Flat. But I know she can hear the rage underneath. “You forget who you’re dealing with.”

She laughs. Actually laughs. “I don’t forget, Ezra. I remember everything. Every rule, every tie, every string our fathers knotted between us. I am the rulebook. You? You’re just rewriting the story.”

“And who cares about a story that has you in it?” I ask with a sneer. “I'll tear the pages out and I’ll bury you in the margins.”

A beat of silence.

Then: “You’re threatening me.” It’s not fear in her tone—it’s delight. She’s savoring it.

“I’m promising you.”

“You don’t get to rewrite bloodlines just because you found a new pet to sink your teeth into,” she snaps, and there it is—real anger, finally.

“You forget who my father is. Nothing goes past him. Nothing gets written without his ink. You think you’re building something? A future with her? Cute. But stories like yours get broken. We make sure of it.”

I sigh. “You are begging to be destroyed, Isla.”

“I’m not. You already lost the first time you didn’t choose me,” she says softly. “Everything after that is just... punishment.”

Punishment my foot.

“I believe not choosing you is enough cue for you to stay out of my business.”

“I am your business. I was bred for it.”

I roll my eyes and press two fingers to my temple, simmering in anger. “I’m starting to believe you are obsessed. It’s embarrassing.”

“No. I’m informed. Which is why I know exactly what your little human smells like.”

I go still.

She laughs again, soft and cruel. “Her blood smells delicious too. Are you sure you’re protecting her?”

I don’t answer.

“Tell me,” she purrs, “have you told her what happened to anything or anything that gets your attention? Because, I know you. I know you don't do love.”

If only she knows how the right person changes people.

But my spine stiffens nonetheless.

She continues when I don't reply, “No? Of course you haven’t. Why ruin the fantasy when it’s just getting good? Besides, it’ll all end the same way.”

“Just mind your damn business, Isla,”

She tsks. “Oh, Ezra. You always confuse warnings for threats. But I’m not the one you need to worry about. Again, worry about daddy dearest. Once he hears about this new little story you’re writing?” She clicks her tongue. “It’ll end the way all things end when they go against the family.”

“I’m not scared of your father or the council.”

“You should be. He never liked the idea of you thinking for yourself. And now? Playing house with a human who has a child with another man? You can't even find someone that's childless.” She exhales a laugh. “You might as well set fire to your bloodline now and save him the trouble.”

“But wait, why am I even bothered?” She says more to herself than to me. “Afterall, you’re going to do exactly what Malik did. No matter how hard you try to be different.”

My fingers clench round the glass, causing it to shatter.

I see red, the silence drawing on.

“Well, if you consider taking me back, I might actually keep back from confirming with my father that you've marked the Aureate you found.”

“Don’t you dare—” I begin, but I don’t finish.

She cuts the call.

The silence afterward is sharp and deafening.

I stare at the phone like it might explode in my hand.

I grip the counter, knuckles pale, my lungs dragging air in like it’s gravel. My blood is hot, furious.

She mentioned his name.

Not because she’s wrong.

But because she might be right.

I can already see the signs.

I inhale a shuddering breath and stare out over the city, fists clenched, chest tight.

No no. I've got this covered. I won't end up like Malik.

I've been keeping the lust buried for days. I can do it for months. And then years.

Sanguara will sustain me.

I don't have to hurt her to feel alive.

I've got this.

I inhale again, eyes shut.

She wants war?

Fine.

Let her bring fire. I’ll meet her with something older than flame.

And in the ashes, I’ll still be standing—with Thea beside me.

And Finn.

The boy I will meet on my terms.

And no one—especially not Isla fucking De Vries or the council—will stop me.