Fated In Secrets (Nocturne Vampire Clan #2)

Chapter 29

29

MALACHI

F inally, I held the damning folio in my hands, the worn red leather warm and solid beneath my fingers, the wolf's head almost gone from centuries of wear. So much careful maneuvering, whispers, and manipulation had come to fruition in this small, silent moment.

Yet somehow, this milestone felt far too small, and far too momentous, all at the same time.

For too damn long, this cursed thing had eluded me, protected by Tyrell's obsessive spells around that blasted safe—enchanted against my blood. Laurent was clever enough to take extreme precautions to keep me out, but that’s why the old bastard had lived practically forever.

But the joke was on him, because I would live longer.

Now Tyrell was dead, Riordan in my sights, Blake a magicless target, and Evangeline was, well… a beautiful, convenient pawn. I smirked, thinking of her hollow protests about loyalty.

Ah, loyalty.

She’d soon learn how little that sentiment mattered in the Nocturne Clan. But if anyone deserved loyalty, it was Evangeline.

And beating Silas and Dante to within an inch of their lives had helped somewhat with my foul mood. Alistair, the poor fuck, would be lucky to walk again, and it gave me a certain amount of joy to know his misery was courtesy of Vicious.

Seeing the faint bruise on her face had nearly sent me over the edge, but I was so close now—so close to having everything I’d ever wanted, and at the top of that list was Evangeline Silverwood.

Curious, I flipped open the cover, heart beating faster with anticipation.

Predictably, inside the thin, brittle pages, were a litany of my sins, jotted down in Tyrell’s precise, careful handwriting. But then the enormity of what he’d documented sank in. This wasn’t a random smattering of secrets—this was a painstaking record of all my sins, leverage Tyrell had accumulated over centuries.

Tyrell had detailed everything he knew about my muddied, complicated past, from when I’d been a simple Roman man, wondering how my crops would grow, to a jaded soldier, turned vampire on a bloody battlefield in central Europe, after Tyrell—then known as General Laurentius Talarius—sold us out to Caine. I paused at that little revelation.

I’d been so sure Tyrell had no clue who I was.

One of his former grunts, turned by a powerful Elder and every bit as old as he was—a clear rival for his power and his coveted title as Ancient.

The fact he did know…the past rearranged itself into a new, disturbing reality. Why had he accepted me with open arms? Why allow me inside these castle walls, knowing I presented a viable threat?

Tyrell had known I was maneuvering to oust Riordan, to take the throne for myself. Everything was recorded: contacts within House Valarian, my secret alliances with House Morvayne and House Ebonshade, all the subtle ways I’d undermined Riordan’s tenuous rule, waiting for the right moment.

And Tyrell knew who Tyberius was. My brother . I gripped the book hard enough to crack the binding, yellowed pages spilling free, my eyes scanning the precise, hand written Latin that would be my undoing. Bitter as they were, I gobbled up the words like they were buried treasure, a twisted history I’d tried to forget.

I paged faster and faster, my blood running cold at the secret I thought no other in the world knew. I sagged against the nearest wall and released a shaky breath.

Where could he possibly have uncovered this information ?

“This…can’t be right. This isn’t possible.”

I hurried to the depths of the castle, below even the dungeon, stopping only when I was sure no one had followed me before I dared open the book again, in case the walls had eyes.

How the fuck did Tyrell get this information?

I re-scanned each condemning word, forgotten details springing to life, names and places I’d worked hard to banish from my memories. I’d killed to make sure this information never saw the light of day.

This could destroy me. Destroy everything.

I hadn’t felt fear this intense in centuries. But one thing became glaringly obvious.

Someone from my past had talked. Told Tyrell who I was. What I was.

And the only way that was possible, was if someone had risen from the dead and come back to haunt me. I looked at the date on the entry. Ten years ago . If the traitor was still breathing, they would ruin me.

Ruin everything I’d been painstakingly building .

But my secrets were still safe , I reminded myself. Nobody had seen this book except me, and if I was wise, I’d burn this now…but somehow, I couldn’t.

I couldn’t put a flame to these memories. Not yet.

Maybe, when I sat upon the throne and all my enemies were dead…the past wouldn’t matter so much. Wouldn’t hurt so goddamned much.

But…a thrill went through me, the hair on my arms rising. Someone from my past was alive. I would start hunting tonight, now that I knew who I was looking for.

I would find them and kill them and my secret would be safe once more.

The only reason Tyrell hadn’t exposed me was clear: he’d kept me close, waiting to use me when the moment demanded. But the old prick never got the chance.

Because Evangeline Silverwood had stabbed him in the throat with his own fucking ceremonial blade. The one Marcus Aurelius himself had presented Tyrell in a ceremony on the steps of the Colosseum.

A nice bit of fucking irony, that.

As for what was in this book, even from the grave, Tyrell would serve me better than he ever had in life. I held the only evidence of my sins, and now I knew about the traitor I had to hunt down. I slid the folio back into the folds of my cloak.

Evangeline could have buried me with this.

Instead, she handed it over with nary a question.

"Good job, Vicious," I murmured to myself, pleased. "Our partnership is getting off to a momentous start."

I would remain cautious. I’d feign loyalty, play the dutiful ally. But beneath that veneer, I’d be sharpening my blades, carefully undermining everything Riordan thought he controlled.

The throne would be mine and no one—not Tyrell’s ghost, not Blake’s stubborn pride, not Riordan’s claim—would stand in my way.

With my secrets intact, I would bury this clan in the ashes.