She brings her teeth

Luca

I wasn’t used to following.

I was born to lead—trained to command, to devour threats before they had the chance to speak. But when Serena laid her hands on that table like she owned it, like she owned us, something inside me stilled.

Not because I was afraid of her power.

Because I wanted it.

Because she was the only thing I couldn’t control—and that made me want to kneel or conquer, or maybe both.

“We strike tonight,” she said.

Matteo nodded once. Nico just licked his bottom lip, like he could already taste the chaos. I stared at her—this woman I’d held, fucked, bled for—and wondered if I’d ever truly known her at all.

Maybe none of us had.

“What’s the target?” I asked.

She turned to me slowly. “The compound. West side. Dante’s private vault.”

I blinked. “That’s suicide.”

“It’s leverage,” she corrected. “He’s moving money and magic through that vault—illegal tech, hybrid contracts, weapons from the underground labs.”

“You want to steal from him?” Matteo’s voice was low, dangerous.

“No.” Her gaze sharpened. “I want to burn it.”

Silence fell like a blade.

Serena walked to the edge of the table and dropped a folder. Photos spilled out—surveillance shots, blueprints, symbols marked in red. She’d been planning this. Alone.

My chest tightened.

“You’ve been holding this back,” I said.

She looked at me, chin lifted. “I needed to know if you’d follow me, not the version of me you think you love.”

I clenched my fists. “This isn’t about love.”

“No,” she agreed softly. “It’s about loyalty. And I need to know yours doesn’t have limits.”

Serena

Night came dressed in smoke.

The boys moved like shadows beside me, silent and efficient. We’d taken the underground route—abandoned tunnels once used for blood-trading and low-tier trafficking. Now? They were a graveyard of secrets.

I didn’t speak.

I didn’t need to.

I led.

And they followed.

Luca took point, his eyes scanning every dark corner. Matteo stayed close to me, his hand brushing mine every few feet like he needed to keep checking I was real. Nico trailed behind, humming some old tune like he wasn’t walking into war with a smile.

The compound loomed above, fences high and humming with low-tech wards. But I wasn’t afraid of the fences. I was afraid of what would happen after.

“Security rotation’s every four minutes,” Matteo whispered. “Window’s coming.”

“Then we move,” I said.

Luca broke the first line of defense with a flick of his wrist. Shadows bled in behind him. Nico sliced through the digital locks like it was nothing.

And me?

I waited until we were inside.

Then I let the necklace warm against my skin.

The coin was more than sentimental. It was a key—one Dante didn’t know I’d kept. I pressed it to the inner lock of the vault, and the metal hissed as it melted through the false seal.

We stepped inside.

Rows of crates.

Stacks of memory drives.

Bottled magic labeled with numbers instead of names.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “This is what he trades in,” I said. “Souls. Power. Control.”

Matteo moved beside me, grim. “We knew he was dirty. But this…”

“This is genocide packaged in glass,” Nico murmured, holding up a vial that shimmered silver and red.

“We don’t have much time,” Luca growled. “Get what we need and set the rest to burn.”

They moved quickly after that—gathering evidence, planting charges.

And me?

I walked to the far end of the vault.

Where the real secrets were buried.

I found it half-covered—an old file marked with my name. Not Serena Blake. Not even the code name Dante once gave me.

Just: S. A. V. R. E.

Five letters that meant nothing.

And everything.

I didn’t have time to open it—not fully.

But I saw enough.

Enough to know Dante had lied about who I was. About what I was.

And as the timer ticked down, I felt something in me shift.

No.

Not something.

Everything.

“Serena!” Luca’s voice snapped me out of it. “We’ve got sixty seconds!”

I shoved the file inside my jacket and ran.

The vault exploded behind us—hot, fast, loud enough to shake the concrete tunnels. Flames lit the sky through the old grates. Sirens screamed far behind.

But I didn’t look back.

None of us did.

Because we weren’t running from what we did.

We were running toward what came next.

And if Dante wanted war?

Then let him bleed for it.

Because now?

Now I had teeth.

And I wasn’t afraid to bite.