10. Katalina
KATALINA
The shack had settled into silence again. Not peaceful. Never peaceful.
The wards on the metal hummed constantly beneath my skin, pressing, testing, reminding me exactly where I stood. Between the chafing and the wards, my wrists ached faintly from the cuffs, though I’d long since stopped reacting to it. Pain was information. Nothing more.
Restless, I paced the small length of the cell, bare feet quiet against the wood, mind working through angles, exits, patterns. Constantly coming up without solutions.
Gideon had left too quickly. That bothered me. Not because I needed him there, but because it meant something had shifted.
And I didn’t like not knowing what. I hated being in the dark.
The door creaked open. Instantly, I stilled.
Not Gideon. Wrong energy. Wrong presence. This one was colder. Sharper. Slowly, I turned as the figure stepped inside.
My gaze narrowed. The vampire.
Tall. Dark. Controlled in a different way than Gideon. Not so much restrained, simply more… deliberate. His gaze landed on me and stopped. Shock flickered across his face.
Interesting. I let my lip curl slightly.
“Enjoying the view?” I asked, my voice smooth and unimpressed.
His jaw tightened.
“Crypt’s prisoner?” he muttered, more to himself than to me.
I didn’t answer. Didn’t need to.
His eyes narrowed, taking in the cuffs, the wards, the cell. Then me. Naked, unbothered, unafraid. His expression shifted from surprise to something more calculating.
“Demon,” he murmured under his breath.
I smiled. “Observant, aren’t you?”
He stepped closer—but not too close. Smart enough to respect the wards, or maybe just cautious enough not to trust them entirely.
“I’m guessing you’re not here for a friendly visit,” I murmured, batting my eyes.
“No,” he replied flatly. Silence stretched for a moment. Then he muttered, almost like a curse, “I hope this doesn’t get back to Haidyn.”
Everything in me went still. The name hit like a blade sliding between ribs.
Haidyn.
My fingers tightened around the bars before I even realized I’d moved.
“You know Haidyn?” I demanded.
The vampire’s gaze snapped to mine. Too sharp. Too quick.
I stepped forward, ignoring the way the wards bit into my skin as I wrapped my hands around the metal.
“Let me out,” I demanded, voice low, dangerous. “Now.”
His expression hardened. “No.”
The answer was immediate. Final.
“I don’t know what the hell Crypt’s got going on,” he continued, “but I’m not getting involved any more than I already am.”
My eyes flashed.
“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with,” I snapped. “If you know that name, then you know—”
“I know enough,” he cut in. “Which is why you’re staying right where you are.”
Rage flickered hot and sharp under my skin.
“You’re making a mistake,” I warned.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he dryly replied before he turned toward the door.
“Wait,” I snapped.
He didn’t. Of course, he didn’t. The door opened. Closed. And just like that—the fucker was gone. Silence rushed back in. Thick. Suffocating.
My hands tightened around the bars again, harder this time. The wards bit deep. Burned. I didn’t let go. Didn’t react. Didn’t care.
“Haidyn,” I muttered under my breath.
Of all the names. Of all the connections. That one… that one mattered. Too much.
I shoved off the bars and started pacing again, faster now.
Mind racing. Pieces shifting.
If Gideon’s world overlapped with Haidyn’s—then this wasn’t just a hunt anymore.
This was something else entirely. Something bigger. Something dangerous. And then there was another name.
Rafael.
My jaw tightened.
He hadn’t come through my usual channels with Gideon’s name. Hadn’t followed protocol. He’d gone straight to me. Given me Gideon’s name like it mattered. Like it was personal. That hadn’t made sense before.
Now? It made even less. Which meant one thing.
I was being used.
My lips curled into a slow, dangerous smile. That was fine. I didn’t mind being used. As long as I figured it out before it turned into a problem that ended with me dead.
I moved back to the bars, gripping them again despite the burn, leaning my forehead briefly against the stinging metal.
Think. Plan. Move.
Because one thing was suddenly very clear—if Haidyn found out where I was… he would be furious.
Or if Rafael came looking… this cage wouldn’t keep me safe.
It would make me easy to find. Rafael had been my mentor and trainer, but I didn’t trust him now. He could be working on his own agenda, or anyone else’s for that matter. I now believed that he would end me before I could tell Haidyn or anyone else what was going on.
My eyes opened, dark and sharp.
“Yeah,” I murmured to myself. “That’s not happening.”
I straightened, rolling my shoulders once as I forced the pain from the wards into the background. I needed out. Soon. Before whatever game had started around me decided I was the piece it was willing to sacrifice.
And when I got out? I wasn’t just going to survive. I was going to find out exactly who thought they could play me—and make them regret it.