All Chapters of The mafia’s captive : Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

The mountain air was thin, colder than usual, as Bain, Seraphina, Vulture, Petrov, Sokolov, Malthea, Elias, Cassian, Cassie, and baby Aragorn gathered inside the war chamber. The Star Map hovered mid-air, its constellations slowly shifting.Seraphina traced a red constellation with her finger.“The Blood Relic lies in the catacombs beneath Prague. It was once hidden by the Thorned Circle of the Old World — before any of us. The Hollow King will seek it too. We have no time.”Bain exhaled. “This will be different from the Shadowed Library. The Prague Order answers to no one. They’re not enemies—but they’re not allies either.”“They’ll defend the relic even from us,” Malthea added. “Their neutrality is absolute.”Vulture smirked. “Neutral until you touch their vault.”Cassie rubbed her temples. “So we’re robbing another dangerous vault. Wonderful.”Elias’ voice was calm, but certain. “We need that relic. Without it, the Hollow King’s next gate cannot be sealed.”Cassian suddenly looked

The portal pulsed like a living wound, bleeding energy that stung their skin as they approached. Even Bain, hardened by both mortal and arcane wars, felt the weight of its gravity.Cassie tightened her grip on baby Aragorn, whose tiny breath remained steady. The boy glowed softly — his power stabilizing the space around them.Seraphina stood at the edge of the portal. “The Hollow Throne is not a place. It’s an entity’s body, a living realm. Once we step in, we are no longer bound by the rules of this world.”Malthea added, “Memories, fears, desires — they will be weaponized against us. Stick together.”Bain turned to his circle — Vulture, Petrov, Sokolov, Elias, Cassian, Seraphina, Malthea, Cassie, and Aragorn.“One rule,” Bain growled. “No one gets left behind.”Together, they stepped through.II. The Realm of HungerThe world on the other side was wrong.The sky was a swirling canvas of black ichor and crimson lightning. Mountains floated upside down, rivers ran like liquid shadows,

New York City glittered beneath them as the private plane touched down. But to the Thorned Circle, this was no longer just their city — it was their sanctuary.The war was over.Valeria was gone.The Hollow King — sealed, banished, erased.What remained was the fragile breath after survival.The Brotherhood descended one by one: Bain leading, Cassie holding baby Aragorn against her chest, Elias gripping Cassie’s free hand, while Cassian — silent and sharp-eyed — walked beside his father.Behind them followed Petrov, Sokolov, and Vulture. Their suits pressed. Their weapons holstered. Mafia kings returning to their empire — but as something far more than crime lords now.“Feels… strange,” Vulture muttered as the cool night air wrapped around them.“Because we lived,” Bain said simply. “And most don’t.”⸻II. The World BeneathThe Brotherhood fortress had changed too. Ancient wards hummed quietly under the surface. Malthea and Seraphina’s enchantments laced the very walls with quiet prot

Two nights after Lysara’s visit, Seraphina and Malthea convened with her again, this time in the inner sanctum beneath the fortress. The runes glowed faintly, sensing the old blood magic that clung to Lysara’s skin.“You said you meant no harm,” Seraphina said carefully. “But you came here with half-truths.”Lysara’s eyes gleamed.“I told you what you needed to hear.”“You lied.”Malthea’s voice was colder.“You never wanted to warn us. You came to measure Aragorn. To measure him.”Lysara smiled thinly, unbothered.“His light stirs planes none of you can yet comprehend. The Verdant Watch waits. And we are not the only ones.”Then, without another word, she vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a faint scent of burned myrrh and decaying leaves.Seraphina’s hands curled into fists.“We have less time than we thought.”II. Aragorn’s SurgeThe fortress entered a state of heightened alert. The Brotherhood moved with precise discipline—spells were strengthened, mafia businesses ran sm

Months had passed since the fall of Valeria and the obliteration of the Hollow King.The world, strangely, had not ended.Aragorn was crawling now—his tiny hands brushing ancient runes without flinching, his eyes a shade of luminous gold not found in any book. Sometimes, when he babbled, lights flickered. Sometimes, the shadows paused. Once, the television turned itself on and displayed nothing but static—and Cassian quietly unplugged it without a word, then hugged his brother close.No one said it aloud, but they all knew: Aragorn’s powers were not ordinary. Not even among the gifted. Neither were Elias’s or Cassian’s.And that terrified them just enough to keep them watchful.Bain returned to New York quietly, seamlessly reintegrating into the criminal underworld. With Viktor at his side, operations resumed like a well-oiled machine. Clubs reopened, smugglers rerouted, and debt collectors went back to breaking legs. It was comforting in its brutality—a violent normalcy that masked t