25. The Call
THE CALL
"You got a lot of explaining to do."
Cairo's voice came through the phone speaker calm, controlled, but with an edge that made Reign's blood run cold.
Reign pressed the phone to his ear, his other hand running over his face. "Uncle V, I can explain?—"
"Explain what?" Cairo's voice was sharp now.
"Explain how a hunter from the Order of Saint Michael got close enough to your woman to use her as bait?
Explain how you let your emotions compromise the entire family's security?
Explain how you just had a fight in a public motel that probably got recorded on every security camera in a three-block radius? "
Reign's jaw clenched. "How you know?—"
"I know everything, nephew." Cairo's voice was cold. "I got eyes everywhere. You think I wasn't watching when that hunter started sniffing around? You think I didn't know he was targeting Soreya to get to you?"
"Then why you ain't tell me?" Reign's voice rose, anger flooding through him. "Why you let him?—"
"Because I wanted to see what you'd do," Cairo said simply. "I wanted to see if you'd choose her over the family. And now I got my answer."
Reign's stomach dropped.
"What you mean?"
"You know what I mean." Cairo's voice was quiet now, dangerous. "Soreya Vale knows what we are. She witnessed you feed. She witnessed you fight a hunter. She knows about the clubs, the territory, the family business. She's a liability, Reign."
"She won't say nothing," Reign said quickly, desperately. "She?—"
"You don't know that," Cairo interrupted. "You can't guarantee that. And I can't risk the entire family's survival on your feelings for a human woman."
Reign's hands were shaking. "Uncle V, please?—"
"You got two choices," Cairo said, and his voice was final now, absolute. "Either you turn her—make her one of us, bind her to the family permanently—or I handle it myself."
The words hit Reign like a physical blow.
"You—you can't?—"
"I can and I will," Cairo said. "This ain't personal, nephew. This is survival. The Order knows about us now. They coming for the family. We can't have loose ends. We can't have humans who know our secrets walking around free."
"She ain't a loose end!" Reign's voice cracked. "She's?—"
"She's a liability," Cairo repeated. "And you know the rules. Liabilities get handled."
Reign looked at Soreya, who was watching him with wide, terrified eyes. She couldn't hear Cairo's side of the conversation, but she could see Reign's face. Could see the way his expression was crumbling.
"How long I got?" Reign asked quietly.
"Seventy-two hours," Cairo said. "Three days. Either she's turned by then, or she's dead. Your choice."
The line went dead.
Reign stood there, phone still pressed to his ear, his whole body numb.
Seventy-two hours.
Three days to make an impossible choice.
Turn the woman he loved into a monster.
Or let his family kill her.
"Reign," Soreya's voice was small, scared. "What did he say?"
Reign lowered the phone slowly, his hands shaking so hard he almost dropped it.
He looked at her—really looked at her. At the woman he'd loved for six years. The woman who'd stayed with him through all his bullshit, all his lies, all his disappearing acts. The woman who'd just watched him kill someone and still hadn't run.
The woman who deserved so much better than this.
"He said—" Reign's voice broke. He tried again. "He said you a liability. You know too much. You seen too much."
Soreya's face went pale. "What does that mean?"
Reign couldn't answer.
"Reign," Soreya said, her voice rising. "What does that mean?"
"It means—" Reign's throat was so tight he could barely get the words out. "It means I gotta turn you. Make you a vampire. Bind you to the family permanently."
Soreya's breath caught in her throat.
"And if I say no?"
Reign's eyes filled with tears.
"Then Cairo gonna kill you."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Soreya stared at him, her whole body trembling, her face a mask of shock and horror and disbelief.
"You—you can't be serious."
"I wish I wasn't," Reign whispered. "I wish—God, Soreya, I wish I could take all this back. I wish I never let you see what I am. I wish?—"
"How long?" Soreya interrupted, her voice hollow.
"What?"
"How long do I have to decide?"
Reign's chest tightened. "Seventy-two hours. Three days."
Soreya laughed—a broken, hysterical sound. "Three days. I got three days to decide if I wanna become a monster or die."
"You wouldn't be a monster," Reign said desperately, stepping toward her. "You'd be?—"
"What?" Soreya's voice rose. "What would I be, Reign? A vampire? A killer? Someone who feeds on people to survive? Someone who can't go out in daylight? Someone who has to watch everyone they love grow old and die while they stay the same forever?"
"You'd be with me," Reign said, and his voice was so raw it hurt to hear. "You'd be mine. Forever."
"Forever," Soreya repeated, and tears streamed down her face. "You talking about forever like it's a good thing. Like being trapped in this nightmare for eternity is something I should want."
"It ain't a nightmare if we together," Reign said, and he reached for her, his hands trembling. "Soreya, please. I know this is—it's a lot. It's too much. But I can't lose you. I can't?—"
"You should've thought about that before you lied to me for six years!" Soreya screamed, and her voice cracked with all the pain and anger and heartbreak she'd been holding in. "You should've thought about that before you made me fall in love with you knowing this was always gonna end like this!"
"I didn't know!" Reign's voice boomed through the room. "I didn't know Cairo would—I thought I could protect you! I thought I could keep you separate from all this!"
"But you couldn't," Soreya said, and her voice was quiet now, defeated. "You couldn't protect me. And now I gotta choose between dying or becoming the thing I'm terrified of."
Reign's face crumpled.
He dropped to his knees in front of her, his hands gripping her waist, his face pressed against her stomach.
"Please," he whispered, and his voice was broken, desperate, barely human. "Please don't leave me. Please don't make me lose you. I can't—I can't do this without you, Soreya. I can't?—"
Soreya's hands came up to his head, her fingers threading through his locs.
She was crying too now, her whole body shaking with sobs.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered. "I don't—I don't know how to choose this."
"Then don't choose," Reign said, looking up at her with tears streaming down his face. "Let me choose for you. Let me turn you. Let me keep you safe."
"Safe," Soreya repeated, and she laughed bitterly. "You think turning me into a vampire is keeping me safe?"
"Safer than being dead," Reign said.
Soreya stared down at him, her vision blurred with tears.
She thought about everything that had happened tonight. Everything she'd seen. Everything she'd learned.
Reign was a vampire.
He'd been lying to her for six years.
He'd killed people.
He was addicted to blood.
He was dangerous, possessive, obsessive, toxic.
But he loved her.
She could see it in his eyes, in the way he was looking at her like she was the only thing keeping him from completely falling apart.
He loved her.
And God help her, she still loved him too.
"What happens if I say yes?" she asked quietly.
Reign's expression shifted—hope, relief, desperation all tangled together.
"I turn you," he said. "It's—it's a process.
I gotta drain you almost completely, then you gotta drink my blood.
It takes a few days for the transformation to complete.
You'll be weak at first, but then—then you'll be stronger than you ever been.
Faster. Your senses will be sharper. You'll be able to do things you never thought possible. "
"And I'll have to feed," Soreya said. "On people."
"Yeah." Reign's voice was quiet. "But I'll teach you. I'll show you how to do it right. How to feed without killing. How to?—"
"And I'll live forever," Soreya interrupted. "Watching everyone I know die. My mama. Vesper. Everyone."
Reign's jaw clenched. "Yeah."
"And I'll be part of your family," Soreya continued. "Part of the Saint crew. Part of the vampire world. Part of all the violence and territory wars and?—"
"You'll be protected," Reign said firmly. "Nobody will ever hurt you again. Nobody will ever touch you. You'll be mine, and I'll be yours, and we'll have forever."
Soreya stared at him.
Forever.
The word felt too big, too heavy, too impossible.
"I need time," she whispered.
"You got three days," Reign said.
"That's not enough time to decide if I wanna give up my humanity!"
"I know." Reign stood up, his hands cupping her face, his thumbs wiping away her tears. "I know, baby. But it's all we got."
Soreya closed her eyes, leaning into his touch despite everything.
"What if I say no?" she whispered. "What if I choose to die instead?"
Reign's hands tightened on her face.
"Then I'll kill Cairo myself before I let him touch you," he said, and his voice was absolute, final. "I'll go to war with my own family. I'll burn down everything I built. I'll?—"
"You can't do that," Soreya said, opening her eyes. "You can't choose me over your family. They'll kill you too."
"I don't care," Reign said, and she saw the truth in his eyes. "I don't care what happens to me as long as you safe."
Soreya's breath caught in her throat.
She looked at him—really looked at him. At the man who'd lied to her, cheated on her, broken her heart a thousand times. The man who was also a monster, a killer, a vampire.
But also the man who was willing to die for her.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered again.
"Then let me hold you," Reign said quietly. "Just for tonight. Let me hold you, and we'll figure it out tomorrow."
Soreya nodded, too exhausted to argue, too broken to think.
Reign picked her up—easily, effortlessly—and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently, then climbed in beside her, pulling her against his chest.
She could hear his heartbeat—slower than a human's, steadier, but still there.
Still real.
"I love you," Reign whispered into her hair. "I know I fucked up. I know I don't deserve you. But I love you, Soreya. That's the only thing that's real."
Soreya closed her eyes, tears still streaming down her face.
"I love you too," she whispered. "That's the problem."
They lay there in the destroyed motel room, wrapped around each other, both of them knowing that in three days, everything would change.
One way or another.
Either Soreya would become a vampire.
Or she'd die.
And Reign would have to live with whatever choice she made.
Outside, the sun was starting to rise.
Reign felt it immediately—that pull, that exhaustion, that need to find darkness and sleep.
But he didn't move.
He just held Soreya tighter, breathing in her scent, memorizing the way she felt in his arms.
Because he didn't know how many more times he'd get to hold her like this.
Didn't know if she'd still be human tomorrow.
Didn't know if she'd still be alive.
All he knew was that he loved her.
And that love was going to destroy them both.