All Chapters of THE BASTARD SON OF THE VIKINGS : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The training field still carried the scent of crushed sand and steel when Lucia’s son struck the last dummy hard enough to crack its wooden spine. Sweat slid down his face, but he didn’t wipe it. He didn’t need to. Enzo stood a few steps behind him, arms crossed, eyes sharp, breathing steady like he was ready to tear apart anything that moved toward the boy.Footsteps approached—slow, deliberate, confident.Vanguard.He didn’t announce himself. Men like him didn’t need to. The weight of his presence dragged the air into silence. Lucia’s son turned before Enzo did, his stance instinctive—shoulders squared, jaw set, gaze direct, unblinking.“I want a word with the boy,” Vanguard said.Enzo stepped forward immediately, one arm out in a protective bar.“You don’t get to ask for him. Not without Lucia.”Vanguard tilted his head the way predators studied prey that forgot it was prey.“Enzo. Move.”“Try shifting me.” Enzo’s voice was concrete—nothing flowery, no softness. A warning sharpened

The dawn was a pale, reluctant thing, barely piercing the shadows of Palermo’s narrow streets. Enzo’s eyes snapped open to the faint creak of floorboards. A shadow moved across the room, fast, calculated.Enzo reached for his dagger, thinking it was an intruder. His hand closed on the hilt, and in a single motion, he lunged. The blade slammed down, but instead of flesh, it met air. The boy twisted with a speed that made Enzo grunt, a small bruise forming across his arm as he landed a partial hit.Before Enzo could recover, the boy tackled him to the ground, hands clamping over his mouth.“It’s me, coward. You’re getting older. Your eyes are starting to fail,” the boy muttered, voice sharp, teasing, every word a challenge.Enzo spat out air and rolled, throwing the boy off. He rose to his feet, cracking his back with a low, controlled snap. “Watch your mouth, boy. I’ve killed men younger than you without flinching.”The boy simply grinned, dark and unrepentant. “Then today you’ll learn

Knives clanked against knives.Daggers flew through the air like metal birds, flashing, spinning, finding flesh.Bodies dropped one after the other, some screaming, some dying quietly, their blood soaking into the dirt beneath their boots.Lucia’s son fought slow and steady.Not reckless.Not wild.Measured.Each breath was controlled. Each step deliberate. Pain burned through his ribs where bone had cracked earlier, but he refused to show it. Blood streamed down from a cut above his eyebrow, blinding one eye, yet he wiped it away with the back of his hand and kept moving. The blood on his skin was not just his. It belonged to the men he had put down moments ago.Around him, Vanguard’s men pressed forward with ruthless efficiency. They were fewer now. Half of them lay dead or groaning on the ground. But the others moved like wolves, circling, striking, retreating, drawing the remaining enemies into mistakes.Steel rang again.Enzo parried a downward slash meant for the boy’s spine, gr

Night had swallowed Palermo whole. The city lay restless under a thin veil of mist and rain, its lamplight fractured by the shimmer of puddles along cracked streets. In the Romano palazzo, the walls held their breath. Shadows leaned into corners, moving with secrets, with whispers of danger. Tonight would not be quiet. Lucia Romano walked through her hallways, heels clicking on the polished stone, a predator in her own home. She had known tension, known fear, known chaos—but the weight pressing down now was different. She sensed it in the air: anticipation, excitement, and something deeper, darker. Something that stirred in the pulse of her blood. Vanguard stood waiting in the library, framed by the low glow of a single lamp. His figure cut a perfect silhouette, broad-shouldered, deliberate, commanding. His eyes held hers, steady, calculating, and beneath that, something she could not name—something that made her pulse thrum. “Good evening,” he said, voice low, smooth, carrying a

DOMINANT BLOOD The table shook when Lucia slammed her palm against it.“Say it again.”The messenger swallowed, blood still drying on his sleeve. “They hit the convoy before dawn. Near the docks. No attempt to steal. They burned the trucks and left the gold untouched.”Silence swallowed the room.Enzo leaned forward slowly. “How many?”“Six dead. Two alive. Barely.”Lucia did not blink. “Who?”“They wore no colors,” the messenger said. “But they wanted us to know it was deliberate.”Vanguard laughed softly from the corner.“That’s respect,” he said. “They would not test us if they didn’t fear us.”Lucia turned her head. “They attacked what carries my name.”Vanguard stepped closer. “And now they want to see how you answer.”Enzo cut in sharply. “They want to see blood.”“Exactly,” Vanguard replied. “And we will give it.”Lucia crossed her arms. “You’re too eager.”“And you’re hesitating,” Vanguard said calmly. “That is worse.”Lucia’s jaw tightened. “Choose your next words carefully.