Chapter 8
The world was silent when I woke. The kind of silence that only came after chaos.
Three days. That’s how long it had been, three nights and days of nothing but her.
Runa. Even the thought of her name made my chest tighten.
She was still asleep beside me, tangled in the sheets, her golden hair spilled across the pillow like sunlight trapped in silk.
My marks dotted her skin, my bond pulsing faintly through the bruises and bites that covered her neck and shoulders.
She was peace and fire, all in one breath.
And now, I had to leave her.
My body ached from being used, satisfied, drained in a way only a bonded vampire could be after three days of madness. I brushed my thumb over her jaw, and she shifted slightly, her lips parting in sleep.
“Rest,” I murmured. “You’ve earned it.”
I slipped out of bed quietly and headed to the shower. The hot water hit me like a reminder that I was still flesh beneath the beast…muscle and scars. The bond hummed faintly under my skin, tethering me to her even as I forced myself back into focus.
There was no time for peace. Not with Caesar Dragic back in our city. I have missed three days of knowing what that son of a bitch is doing in our city. It’s time to catch up.
When I stepped out, the steam trailing behind me, I caught my reflection in the mirror. Gaunt. A little hollow around the eyes.
Yeah, Viking was going to have a field day with this.
I pulled on black slacks, a crisp shirt, and my usual leather harness before heading downstairs. My phone buzzed just as I reached the bottom step.
Draugr: Can you make Club Havoc. Now?
Perfect.
“Yeah, on my way.”
I grabbed my jacket and keys, making my way to the garage. The night air hit me as soon as I stepped outside, cool and sharp. A reminder that while I’d been buried in my mate’s scent, the world had kept turning, and the threats hadn’t waited.
By the time I pulled into Havoc’s underground lot, Draugr and Viking were already there, leaning against Viking’s matte black muscle car.
“Look who finally crawled out of his cave,” Viking drawled, arms crossed, his smirk already loaded. “You look like hell, brother.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Draugr gave a slow once-over, one eyebrow arching. “He’s not wrong. You’ve lost colour.”
“Three days of… fucking will do that,” Viking added, the grin widening. “I can still smell it, by the way. You might want to hose off again.”
I shot him a warning look. “Say another word, and I’ll rearrange your jaw.”
He laughed, unbothered, clapping a hand to my shoulder as we started walking toward the club’s back entrance. “Relax, Volken. I’m happy for you. Really. It’s about time you got laid and relaxed a little.”
“Enough,” Draugr grunted. “We have business.”
That cut through the humour fast. Inside, the low thrum of bass pulsed through the floor, though the club was closed for the night. One of our men, Andrei, waited by the private booth, his face grim.
Draugr got straight to it. “While you were… otherwise occupied, Caesar’s was seen at another of our clubs.”
My jaw locked. “Which one?”
“Obsidian,” Andrei said. “Two nights ago. He didn’t stay long. Met with someone we are still looking into.”
Viking’s smile vanished. “Must be the fucking Irish?”
“Apparently,” Draugr said. “And it gets worse. Malakai’s name came up.”
The air shifted instantly…heavier, darker.
Malakai. The demon bastard who’d haunted our borders for years, who’d slipped through every trap we’d laid.
“And you’re sure?” I asked, my tone flat, sharp.
“Positive. One of our changeling contacts heard Caesar’s voice. Said he was talking about new shipments…human ones.”
I felt my fangs pierce my lip before I even realized it. “Traitorous son of a bitch.”
Roman had always said Caesar was poison in Dragic blood, self-serving, manipulative, the kind of man who’d sell family for power. But even I hadn’t thought he’d sink this low. Working with the Irish, with demons. Trading human lives, all this against his own kind.
“He’s baiting us,” I muttered, pacing. “He knows we’ll come for him.”
Viking leaned against the wall, his expression dark. “Maybe that’s what he wants.”
Draugr nodded once. “He’s not stupid. If he’s surfaced, it’s not to meet the Irish, it’s to draw us out.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, the tension simmering beneath my skin like acid. “Then we play smarter.”
“You think he’s after Roman?” Viking asked quietly.
I shook my head. “He’s after all of us. The name, the legacy, the bloodline. Everything our father built. He’s been waiting for the right time to strike.”
And now, he had it.
The silence that followed was heavy, thick enough that even the hum of the club’s sound system felt too loud.
Lucien leaned his elbows on the table, staring at his drink not really seeing it. “You know what’s different this time,” he muttered. “We’ve always had enemies. Always had bastards who wanted a piece of what we built. But now…” His mouth tightened. “Now we have something to lose.”
The words hit like a blade to the chest.
He was right. Before, it was war and blood and empire. If we fell, we fell together. The Dragic brothers against the world. But now, now we had mates. Women who carried our hearts, our strength, our reason.
And children. Tiny, fragile pieces of immortality that we’d die to protect.
Draugr’s gaze lifted, cold and unreadable. “Caesar knows that” he said quietly. “He’s not coming for our territory first. He’s coming for our family.”
The words cut deeper than I wanted to admit. Images of Runa flashed in my mind, her honey-gold hair tangled in the sheets, her laugh, the stubborn tilt of her chin. She was mine. And that meant she was a target.
My jaw clenched. “Then we make damn sure he never gets the chance.”
Viking exhaled through his nose, the sound more growl than breath. “We’ve gone soft, brothers. Mates make you stronger, but they also make you visible. Predictable. Easy to wound.”
“Soft?” Draugr’s tone was steel. “You think what they are now is soft? Look around you, Viking. We’ve built an empire on blood and loyalty. The difference is they finally have something worth fighting for instead of just fighting to survive.”
“Which makes us dangerous,” I finished. “Because they don’t understand what we’ll do to protect what’s ours.”
The brothers exchanged a look, one that said they understood all too well. We weren’t just kings of the underworld anymore. We were predators with hearts tied to mortal beats.
And anyone who tried to exploit that…
Would learn what it meant to wake the devil in us.
Draugr finally broke the silence. “Then we move fast. If Caesar’s using the Irish as cover, we root them out. If he’s tied to the demons, we sever the link.”
Viking’s grin returned, sharp and deadly. “And when we find him?”
I looked up, my voice low, final. “We end him. Dragic blood or not.”
The air between us shifted again, charged, absolute. We were brothers bound by war, but this was different. This was personal.
For too long, Caesar had hidden behind the family name. This time, he’d learn that blood didn’t make you untouchable.
And gods help him if he touched Runa.