Chapter 15 Harbinger #2
I thought about Aurora’s face when I’d told her the truth about the war. That mix of horror and determination, the way she’d absorbed each terrible revelation and kept standing. The stubborn set of her jaw when she’d declared she wouldn’t let any of us die.
“She’s got the spine for it,” I said. “But she’s walking into a viper’s nest. Even if Dracula grants her his power, the Republic might just put a blade in her back anyway. Or worse—use her as a scapegoat when this all goes to hell.”
When Sabin’s silence stretched too long, I turned and found him watching me with a bemused smile. Dark brows arched high, like he’d just figured out the punchline to a joke I didn’t know I’d told.
“What?”
“Nothing.” His lips twitched, fighting back laughter. “Just never seen you this worked up over a projector before.”
Heat crept up my neck. “Maybe I don’t want her to die with the rest of the fucking continent,” I snapped. “Can we focus? We’ve got bigger problems than—”
“Easy there, Cap.” He raised both hands, grinning wider now. “I know how fucked our situation is. But maybe I want to hear you admit what’s really eating at you before you shatter my dreams of living past this century.”
I glanced around, listening for footsteps or voices. The woods stayed silent except for Boy’s soft snuffling in the grass. My gut told me Sabin wanted to dig into something that had nothing to do with the Shepherd’s firepower and everything to do with Aurora.
Since we were alone, I decided to let him try. “Admit what?” I asked.
His eyes widened—probably expected me to shut him down—but he recovered fast. “What’s going on between you and the princess?”
Straight for the throat. “Same thing that’s between you and the lieutenant. I’m her blood source.”
“Uh-huh.” His gaze dropped to the ground, head bobbing slowly.
Then he slapped his thigh and leaned forward.
“Come on, man. We’ve known each other what, almost eight decades?
Besides wiping our asses, we’ve done everything together.
” He shot me a sideways look that cut straight through my bullshit.
“Since when do you give a damn if an original starves?”
“You’ve seen her in bloodlust. I’m doing all of you a favor keeping her fed, you should be thanking me.”
He laughed outright. “And how deep are you in her when that happens?”
“Fuck you.”
That only spurred him on. “Just admit you like her. Won’t melt the skin off your bones.”
“You first,” I tossed it back. “I’ve seen you two together. There’s more than blood sharing between you and Selena.”
“By the Gods.” He puffed up, mock-indignant. “You’d think at your age you’re past acting like a brat with his first crush. Alright, if you want to hear a real man admit his feelings—” He flashed a nuclear grin and cupped his hands around his mouth to howl into the night, “I LIKE SELENA!”
And I’m the child.
I rolled my eyes, but he wasn’t done.
“See? Wasn’t that hard. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had, and that filthy mouth of hers is both a curse and a blessing―if you catch my drift.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Despite everything—Quakelord’s death, the Shepherd’s power, saving Conin—I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. It felt wrong to laugh when I should’ve been grieving, but it eased some of the weight crushing my shoulders.
“Alright, maybe I don’t hate her like the rest of her kind.
” Boy looked up from his beetle hunt, ears pricked like he sensed the shift in mood.
“I wish I could, but her compassion, that stubborn streak…” I scrubbed my face with both hands.
“Makes me want to lock her away somewhere safe. I don’t want her hurt, and my wolf’s going insane trying to protect her every damn second.
Unless…” I trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought without sounding like a complete bastard.
Sabin leaned forward, barely perched on the fountain’s edge. “Unless?” he pressed, pushing me to say things I hadn’t accepted myself yet.
“Unless she drives me so crazy, all I want is to punish her,” I growled.
His mouth went slack. We just stared at each other in the sudden silence.
I can’t believe I said that out loud.
“Go on. Please don’t stop now,” he mocked, which earned him a punch that he dodged without effort.
“I don’t know what she’s doing to me, man.
” I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling at the strands.
“Every moment with her, I wish it never ends. When she’s not around, I can’t breathe.
” I tapped the soft spot below my sternum.
“Like there’s something expanding in here, pressing against my ribs.
An ache that only stops when she’s in my sight, or I catch her scent. ”
I kept my voice low, afraid the silent night would carry my words too far.
Sabin—my brother, my best friend—released a sharp breath and chuckled behind his hands. He stared at me with wide, glittering eyes, like a varcolac father watching his cub turn for the first time.
I itched to punch the smug expression off his face.
His chest expanded as if he wanted to speak, so I narrowed my eyes and shook my head in warning. “Don’t you say it.”
His grin stretched to his ears.
“Don’t you fucking say it!”
He said it anyway. Worse hearing it from someone else than from the nagging voice in my head. “You’re falling for her.”
I was. Hard. After a lifetime of traveling and fooling around, I had to come to this battlefield to find the only woman who captured not just my interest, but my wolf’s as well.
Just thinking about her—the way she moved, that stubborn tilt of her chin when she was about to do something reckless—made me drown in a tide of lust and need. I wanted her with an intensity that made no sense, wanted to crack open that careful control of hers and see what lay underneath.
Why was she affecting me like this?
Her blood was addictive, yes, and her ability to soothe the noises was everything I fought for, but this went deeper than feeding or relief. Deeper than losing myself in a warm body.
Six months ago, someone could’ve told me Aurora was walking straight into that snake pit alone, and I’d have shrugged.
Good. Let the original do what she was bred for.
If Lev got his claws into her afterward?
Not my fucking problem. But that was before.
Before I knew what she tasted like. Before she belonged to me.
And now I had no choice but to follow her into that cesspit so she could get Dracula’s power. To make sure she gets back safely. To free my brother and save my guildmates.
Sabin saw my expression, and the humor drained from his face. “You know she’s going to be Queen of the Republic someday, right?”
“I’m well aware.”
“And that you’re the enemy.” Same grave tone.
I nodded. “That, too.”
He sucked air between his teeth, curiosity cinching his brows together. “So, what’s the plan, Cap?”
“Nothing to plan.” I leaned back on my hands, stared into the distance. “Same as always—kill the Shepherd before he gets too strong. With or without Dracula’s power, he needs to die. There’s too much at stake.”
“That’s not what I—”
“I know what you meant. But right now, that’s all that matters.”
“Wait a fucking minute. You’re okay with her going back?” Sabin’s eyes went wide when I didn’t answer. He let out a low whistle as he put two and two together. “You’re going with her? That’s suicide, man. What if you get caught? What if that bastard prince gets his hands on her again?”
“No one’s going to hurt her,” I snarled.
My wolf clawed at its cage, demanding blood.
Let the bastard cross my path. I’d relish killing him slowly, methodically, with my bare hands.
“I’ll be with her every second. Cover our tracks.
” My hands curled into fists. “Besides, I doubt they could keep up with my Chronoportal even with their best trackers.”
“You’ve thought of everything, huh?” Sabin gripped my shoulder and offered me a toothy grin. “Never thought I’d see the Great Harbinger falling head over heels.”
“Whatever,” I muttered, shrugging him off.
“Alright, alright.” He raised his hands in surrender. “But speaking of bastards we need to kill—what’s your take on this long-distance power the Shepherd just showed off?”
I closed my eyes and focused on the constant buzzing in my head. Thousands of Black Sheep whispered their final moments, but I filtered through them, searching for one voice among the chorus.
Conin’s voice.
Nothing came through. Just the endless murmur of the dead.
I opened my eyes.
“A strike of that magnitude has to drain him,” I said. “He’ll need time to recharge before another attack of that scale. That’s why he used those Ignises at the end.”
Sabin nodded. “Makes sense. That kind of power doesn’t come free.”
I scanned the horizon, toward where I could hear the last of it. Somewhere out there, my brother’s consciousness was trapped inside a monster, planning world destruction with the tactical brilliance that had once made him Russkaya’s youngest strategist.
“He’s gone quiet now,” I said. “Like he’s pulled back to lick his wounds. Or plan his next move.”
“You can tell?”
“From his voice, yeah. But mainly because he’s not broadcasting anymore. I’ll keep my focus on it, and make sure we aren’t caught us off guard again.” I scrubbed my jaw. “Though he probably won’t try the same trick twice.”
We hadn’t met this Shepherd face to face yet, but we’d tangled with Souleaters under his command several times. Two of those encounters had cost me friends.
Sabin went quiet. I glanced over to find a thick vein pulsing at his temple, his lips pressed into a hard line.
“He found you,” he said.
“Must have recognized me through that Nebula in Brasov. The one carrying Phoenix’s soul.” I turned my gaze back toward that distant mountain pass again. “Think he’s known where I was ever since.”
Sabin’s lips clamped shut as he bit back a curse. “We need to move. Get out of his range before he decides to end us.”