To Become The Monster
And Rowan got in the way.
“Expand the search,” I say, my voice flat. “East and lower city. Quietly.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I turn away from the alley, but the blood doesn’t release me easily. It never does. Every step pulls at my senses, each drop whispering its count, its weight, its story.
Three wolves died.
One escaped.
One vampire taken.
And two humans who should not have survived the night—but did.
The ledger is unbalanced.
As I walk, my power stretches outward, tasting the city through its veins. Streets glow faintly beneath my awareness, thousands of lives layered atop one another, most meaningless, some… not.