All Chapters of ROGUE BLOOD: Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

POV: MIAI am outside for a stroll walking because if I stop I think I might scream or cry or throw up, and none of those feel safe right now. The air is loud. Cars. People. Music leaking out of shops. My head is worse.I see Eli before I can turn away.He is across the street, hands in his pockets, shoulders tense like he is bracing for something. My heart jumps like it always does, stupid and hopeful, and my feet move without asking me.Then he looks up.Our eyes meet. Just for a second.And he turns around.Not slow. Not unsure. He just turns and walks the other way.I stop dead as my chest caves in. It feels like something inside me goes quiet all at once, like a light switching off without warning.He saw me. He chose to leave.That is worse than if he had not noticed at all.I stand there too long. People brush past me and curse under their breath. I do not care. My ears ring. My hands shake. I taste metal like I bit my tongue but I did not.So he knows.Of course he knows.The

POV: GUSI sit in the back of the car, windows rolled down a crack, the evening breeze brushing past like it wants to warn me, but I’m not listening. I never listen to warnings. Not anymore. I see the city spread below me, every street, every house, every light a piece I can move, and I feel that old familiar rush, the one that makes my pulse quicken and my stomach tighten at the same time. Control. That’s the word. I want control, not chaos, and tonight, the pieces are moving exactly the way I planned.“Carter,” I say, keeping my voice low but sharp, “how far out are the east block teams?”“They’re in position, sir. Jenkins and Thompsons are embedded. The neighbors barely noticed. Windows checked, exits logged. We’ve got patrol rotations set, three shifts per twenty-four hours. Coverage’s solid.”“Good,” I mutter, tapping my fingers on my knee, my mind spinning through the next steps. “Make sure they’re not just watching. I want patterns. Who comes, who goes, what time. Anything unus

POV: EliI wake up choking on air that tastes wrong.Like metal. Like burnt sugar. Like someone just tore open the sky and stitched it back up crooked.I sit up so fast I almost fall off the hotel bed. My chest is tight. My wolf is already up, already pacing, already snarling in my head.What the hell was that?The room is dark. The clock says 2:17 a.m. My phone is still on the nightstand, quiet. No missed calls. No messages.But I feel it.It runs under my skin like cold water. A ripple. A snap. Magic. Not soft. Not wild.Precise.I swing my legs off the bed and press my palm to the floor. I close my eyes.There.It hums in the ground. Faint now. Fading. But I caught it. It came from the edge of town.From her direction.My jaw tightens.No.I grab my phone just as it starts ringing in my hand.Jason.Of course.I answer before the second ring. “Tell me you felt that.”His breath is rough on the other end. Wind in the background. He’s outside.“Felt it?” he snaps. “It hit our border