Chapter 21
The world snapped.
One moment I was dead asleep, buried in the thick, black weight of daylight and the next, fire.
The bond exploded through me like lightning in my veins. Pain. Fear. The scent of blood, her blood filled my mind, so strong I nearly tore through the sheets as I bolted upright with a snarl that rattled the room.
“RUNA!”
The name tore out of me raw and feral. I was already on my feet, half-dressed, vision rimmed in red. The scent of her terror flooded every thought, every instinct, until there was nothing left but the need to get to her.
She was in danger. She was mine, and anyone who touched her would die screaming.
The sound of splintering wood filled the room as I threw the chair near me against the wall and stormed toward the door. The moment I threw it open, three shadows were already there, Roman, Lucien, and Viking.
Roman’s hand hit my chest first, solid as stone. “Don’t.”
“She’s in danger!” I roared, my voice shaking the walls. “They’re at the hospital…I feel it!”
Lucien moved to my side, eyes sharp, calculating even in the chaos. “We know. Gideon called. They’re holding the line.”
“She’s mine!” The words came out guttural, my fangs already slicing through my gums. “I can’t just sit here while she…”
“Volken!” Roman’s voice cracked like thunder. “It’s daylight. You step outside now, and you’ll burn before you make it down the drive.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” I shoved at him, but he caught me, muscles locking against mine. We hit the wall hard, plaster cracking under the force. I snarled, eyes blazing, fangs bared inches from his throat. “Let. Me. Go.”
Roman’s eyes glowed gold, his power slamming into me like a wall. Alpha command. It rolled through the room in a tangible wave, ancient and absolute.
“Stand down,” he ordered, his voice dark with the weight of centuries.
The command hit like iron chains around my body. My muscles trembled, my vision flickered, but even as the compulsion forced me still, the rage kept boiling, tearing at the edges of my restraint.
Lucien was beside me now, his voice calm but firm. “You’ll get to her faster alive than as a pile of ash, brother.”
Viking stepped closer, his own voice quieter, but no less fierce. “We’re with you. Every one of us. But you wait until the car’s ready.”
My breathing was ragged. Every second stretched like a knife. I could still feel her through the bond, the terror, pain, the echo of her heartbeat pounding in my head.
Roman’s power held me in place another agonizing minute before he eased off. “We’ve already sent six changelings ahead,” he said. “Ivan and Gideon are holding the perimeter. Runa’s safe. You’ll get there soon.”
“Not soon enough,” I hissed, shoving off the wall as the force of his command faded. “They’re after her. They want my woman, my child.”
The words choked off, replaced by another guttural growl. My eyes flared red, the rage coursing through my body burning from within.
Lucien’s hand gripped my shoulder hard. “Then let’s move.”
Minutes blurred into motion.
We barrelled through the mansion halls, the brothers moving like a single machine. Viking was already barking orders through the comms, Draugr’s men relaying updates. The reinforced daylight SUV waited in the drive matte black, mirrored glass, and heavy shielding to protect us from the sun.
The second the doors opened, I threw myself inside.
Roman slid in beside me, his presence heavy with control. Lucien took the front passenger seat. Draugr’s voice crackled through the radio. “Gideon says two demons down, one injured. Runa’s shaken but alive. Get here fast.”
“Faster,” I growled, my voice sharp enough to cut.
Roman shot me a warning glance. “You’ll see her in minutes. Hold yourself together, or I’ll hold you down again.”
I clenched my fists so tight my knuckles split. Blood smeared my palms, the metallic scent filling the air. “If anything happens to her, there won’t be a world left to burn.”
Viking’s low laugh came from the other side of the seat. “There he is, the Volken I know. Just promise me you’ll save some demons for the rest of us.”
Roman’s jaw flexed. “You will save her.”
The car tore down the road, the hum of the engine drowned out by the pounding in my chest.
By the time the hospital came into view, the sun was nearly gone, streaks of red light bleeding across the sky like the world itself was warning me to hold back.
Too late.
The moment the SUV screeched to a halt, I was out.
The doors slammed open, my boots hitting the pavement hard as I stalked forward. The scent hit me first, the fucking demon blood, acrid and burning. The shattered window on the upper floor glinted like a wound.
“Volken!” Roman’s voice barked behind me.
But I was already gone.
The bond pulled me forward, dragging me through the corridors as nurses screamed and our men moved aside. My vision tunnelled, rage and panic bleeding together until all that existed was to find her.
And when I saw the trail of blood smeared on the floor, the black, thick, unholy fury inside me snapped.
My roar tore through the building like thunder.
The demons who hadn’t already fled would learn the truth soon. Volken Dragic had woken, and I was coming for blood.
My roar tore through the building like thunder ancient, raw, and hungry.
The air shuddered with it, a pulse of pure fury that sent every light flickering and every mortal heart nearby skipping a beat.
The scent of demon ichor filled my lungs, the stench of rot and sulphur clinging to every shadow.
The walls were smeared with black blood, the kind that burned through plaster and tile, hissing softly like acid.
Somewhere deeper in the hospital, something groaned, it wasn’t human, and not alive, the realization had me moving.
Every instinct in me honed to one single purpose. I need to find, kill and protect.
I could hear boots pounding against the floor, I followed the trail, my claw marks gouged into walls, doors hanging off their hinges.
The screams had quieted now; the humans had been ushered out or hidden by my men.
The only sounds were the distant echo of steel clashing and the low growls of demons still too slow to flee.
The first one came at me from the side, a blur of movement, claws like razors and teeth dripping tar.
I didn’t stop walking. My hand shot out, catching it by the throat mid-lunge, and I snapped its neck with one twist. The crunch echoed down the corridor.
Its body hit the floor before it even realized it was dead.
“Wrong fucking hospital,” I hissed, voice a growl that barely sounded human.
Another came, this one was larger, skin stretched tight over blackened muscle, eyes burning gold.
It snarled something in a guttural demonic tongue before I buried my blade in its chest. The blade was silver-edged, spelled by Volken’s own bloodline the moment it hit, the demon screamed, its body collapsing into ash that burned a hole in the floor tiles.
I didn’t stop.
The sound of a gunshot rang out down the hall, followed by Ivan’s voice through the comms. “North wing is clear! Runa’s secured!”
Runa.
The bond flared so hard it nearly dropped me to my knees, a shock of her, alive and scared but safe. My chest eased, barely, and I exhaled through gritted teeth. “Keep her that way,” I snapped into the comm, stepping over another demon corpse.
“Already doing it,” Ivan’s voice came back, calm and steady.
Gideon’s voice joined in a moment later. “We’ve got survivors being evacuated. Two changelings down but stable. We’re holding the perimeter until the rest of you arrive.”
“Good,” Roman’s voice crackled through the line from the car. “We’re five minutes out.”
I didn’t respond. My focus was already shifting, because the bond changed.
It twisted.
A ripple of pain hit me through it, not Runa’s, but something else, something psychic and wrong. A cold laughter echoed faintly through the air, slithering over my senses.
“Still playing house, are we, Volken?” The voice was deep, mocking it was Caesar.
Not in person, but close enough. A projection, maybe, or a spell woven into one of the dying demons. “The human bitch is quite the weakness. And the child… oh, that’s going to be interesting.”
I froze, my grip tightening around the hilt of my blade until the metal groaned.
“Say that again,” I growled, my voice dark and venomous.
The laughter echoed louder now, disembodied, smug. “You thought blood made you powerful. It only made you blind. Family makes men soft. You’ll see that soon enough.”
Then there was silence.
The demon’s ashes scattered at my feet, taking the last traces of Caesar’s voice with them.
My hands shook. The rage was too vast to contain as it pressed against my ribs, threatened to swallow me whole. My fangs had fully descended now, the beast in me clawing at the edges, demanding I tear something apart.
“Volken!”
Roman’s voice broke through the haze, sharp and commanding. I turned to see him, Lucien, and Viking stalking through the hall with their weapons drawn, their faces set in grim determination.
Roman’s gaze flicked over the carnage, the black streaks along the walls, the half-burnt corpses of demons littering the floor. “You left some for us?”
“Barely,” I snarled, my voice still raw. “Caesar was here in spirit or magic, I don’t care. He’s taunting us. He knows about Runa. About my child.”
Viking swore under his breath, eyes flashing. “Then he’s already too close.”
Lucien stepped forward, calm but coiled tight. “We need to get closer. We have to find where he’s hiding, and then we finish it.”
Roman looked at me, his golden gaze steady. “You see to your mate first. Then we hunt.”
My jaw clenched. The beast in me wanted blood, it demanded retribution, but the bond tugged at me again, softer this time, pulling me back toward her. My pulse slowed just enough to let me breathe.
“Fine,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “But when I’m done making sure she’s safe, Caesar’s mine.”
Viking smirked faintly. “We’ll leave you a piece.”
Lucien’s tone was flat. “You’re not taking him alone.”
Roman’s eyes gleamed like molten gold in the flickering light. “We all finish what he started. Together.”
And as the sun finally bled away from the horizon and the darkness crept back to reclaim its throne, I felt something inside me settle, a promise written in rage and blood.
Caesar wanted war? He’d just declared one, and this time, I wasn’t coming as a strategist or a brother.
I was coming as a mate. A father. And the fury of a Dragic unleashed.