Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Angelo
I moved away from where Serenity was sitting on the couch, turning my back and pressing the volume button down as low as I could while still being able to hear. My hand was already shaking. Hopefully she wouldn’t hear what Trystan was about to say.
“Angelo,” Serenity said behind me. “You’d better not be turning down the volume.”
I closed my eyes briefly. She knew exactly what I was doing. Of course she did.
I forced myself to step closer to her, but I didn’t increase the volume. A futile compromise that satisfied no one.
“What do you know, Trystan?” I kept my voice steady, controlled. “Tell me everything.”
“The Lafayette pack had their den warded by three different witches—good ones, experienced. Protective magic that should have held against anything.” Trystan’s voice was grim.
“Vex walked right through them four days ago like they were tissue paper. He took the alpha’s youngest daughter.
She was just two years old, Angelo. A toddler. Half-werewolf, half-witch. A hybrid.”
My blood turned to ice. Two years old. A hybrid.
“They found her three days later in the bayou.” Trystan’s pause told me everything before he said it.
My knees almost buckled. Dead. A toddler.
A hybrid child murdered and dumped like garbage after Vex had taken whatever he wanted from her.
The image seared into my brain—my daughter, lifeless, abandoned in the swamp.
Serenity's screams when they told her. The absolute destruction of everything I loved.
I forced myself to breathe. To listen.
Trystan continued, “What was left of her. He’d drained every drop of blood from her body for some kind of ritual. The witches who examined her said it was dark magic—ancient, demonic. Whatever he’s doing, he’s testing it. Perfecting it.”
The phone nearly slipped from my hand. A two-year-old child.
Murdered. Drained of blood. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Serenity’s face.
She had gone deathly white, all the color draining away.
Her hand pressed against her belly protectively, cradling where our daughter grew.
Her eyes were huge, filled with absolute horror.
“Testing it,” I repeated.
My stomach turned. Testing. Like that child was nothing more than a trial run. A practice session before the real event. Before my daughter.
“For the real target,” Trystan confirmed quietly. “For the hybrid he actually wants. Angelo... if he’s in New Orleans, if he knows about your child—“
Behind me, I heard Serenity’s sharp intake of breath. She’d heard enough.
“Mon Dieu,” Elena whispered.
“A baby,” Serenity said softly as if she were in a daze. “He killed a baby. To practice for mine.”
I battled to hide the fear that threatened to rip me apart from the inside. My hands were shaking. My chest felt like it was being crushed in a vise. A two-year-old child, drained of blood for a ritual. Testing for my daughter.
But Serenity needed me. She needed me to be strong, to be the king, to be the protector who could keep our child safe. I couldn’t fall apart. Not now.
I turned toward Serenity, closing the distance between us. “I won’t let that happen. I swear to you on everything I am—I will not let him touch our daughter.”
“Is he in New Orleans?” Her hand hadn’t left her belly, as if she could shield our child through sheer will alone.
“Trystan. Is he in New Orleans? Do we know where he is?”
He growled. “If I knew where he was, he’d already be dead. The Lafayette pack is under my protection. That child was under my protection. Vex knew exactly what he was doing when he crossed into Louisiana and took her.”
The implication was clear—this wasn’t just about my baby. This was a declaration of war on Trystan’s territory.
“The pack lost his trail after he dumped her body in the bayou. But my people are hunting him. Every wolf from here to Texas is looking.” His growl deepened, lower, deadlier.
“But if I had to guess? He’s either in New Orleans already or he’s close.
Very close. And Angelo? You need to understand—this demon walked into a fortified den, through three layers of wards, past armed guards, and took that child like it was nothing. He wanted us to know he could.”
Three layers of wards. Armed guards. A fortified den.
We had all of that. We'd done everything the Lafayette pack had done, relied on the same protections that had failed so catastrophically. And Vex had walked through them like they didn't exist.
My gaze snapped to Serenity. She was trembling, her hand clutched over her belly, her eyes wild with terror. She knew what I knew—that every precaution we'd taken, every ward we'd laid, every guard I'd posted meant nothing against this demon.
“Call me if you hear anything. Anything at all.”
“I will,” he said. “And Angelo? Don’t let your guard down. Not for a second.”
“I won’t.” I hung up and immediately locked my gaze with Lorenzo’s across the living room. He stood rigid, alert—he’d heard every word and knew what it meant. “Get Tinker Bell. Now. I need those wards reinforced immediately.”
“She’s not home.” Prudence’s voice came from right beside Serenity on the couch. The words came out too fast, almost panicked.
I turned toward her slowly, ice flooding my veins. “What?”
Prudence sat rigidly next to my mate, her hand still resting on Serenity’s arm in what should have been a comforting gesture. But her face had gone pale, her professional composure cracking. “She left for Salem this morning. To visit Goody Academy—something about a lecture she’s giving.”
“Then she’s coming back. Now.” I snarled, my control slipping.
A demon who could walk through wards was coming for my child, and the witch who’d created our only protection was in Massachusetts?
“Lorenzo. Call her. Tell her it’s an emergency.
Tell her to portal back immediately or I’ll send someone to drag her back. ”
“Of course.” Lorenzo pulled out his phone, already moving toward the hallway for privacy.
I stared at Prudence across the living room. Her expression was carefully neutral—too carefully—as if she was hiding something.
She was nervous. More than nervous—she was terrified. Her hand had tightened on Serenity’s arm, knuckles going white. Her lips trembled as she licked them, and even from where I stood I could hear it with my vampire hearing: her heart pounding like a frightened rabbit’s, too fast, too hard.
Why?
Everyone in this room had reason to be afraid after what Trystan had just revealed. But Prudence’s fear felt... different. Wrong. Like she was afraid of being caught rather than afraid of Vex.
“Prudence.” I edged closer. “How did you know Tinker Bell wasn’t home?”
She blinked, and for just a fraction of a second, I saw panic flash across her face before she schooled her expression. “I—I spoke with her earlier this morning. About Serenity’s appointment next week. She mentioned she was leaving.”
The explanation was reasonable. Logical.
So why did every instinct I’d honed over centuries scream that she was lying?
Serenity’s hands flew to her belly, both palms pressed flat as if she could shield our daughter through sheer will. “He’s coming for her, and we can’t protect her, can we?”
The raw fear in her voice nearly broke me.
I crossed to her quickly and knelt in front of the couch, taking her hands in mine.
They were ice cold and trembling. “Tinker Bell is a powerful witch, Serenity. One of the most powerful in North America. We don’t know how strong those witches were in Lafayette. Maybe their wards were weak, maybe—“
“Those witches are from the Shadowfen Coven.” Prudence’s voice cut through my attempt at reassurance.
“Their magic is strong, Angelo. Very strong. If three of them warded that den together and Vex still broke through...” She trailed off, but the implication hung in the air like poison. “I’m afraid we’re in serious trouble.”
Damn her. Why would she say that? Why make things worse?
Serenity’s face flushed red, her breathing coming faster. She gritted her teeth, and I could see the panic rising in her eyes like a tidal wave. “I won’t let him take my baby. I won’t. I’ll kill him myself. I’ll—“
“Serenity—” God, I didn’t know what to say. How could I reassure her when everything Trystan had told us proved she was right to be terrified? I squeezed her hands, trying to ground her.
“Those witches aren’t as powerful as Tinker Bell,” I insisted, though even I could hear the doubt creeping into my voice. “Our wards will hold. They have to.”
“You don’t know that, Angelo!” She pulled her hands from mine and pressed them against her chest, her breathing coming in short, rapid gasps. “You don’t know that. He killed a baby. A two-year-old baby. And now he’s coming for ours and you’re just—you’re just—“
She was hyperventilating, her face going from red to pale, her eyes wide and unfocused.
“Serenity, you need to calm down.” I could hear her heart racing, could smell the fear pouring off her. I reached for her again, but she jerked away. “Please, tesoro, you need to breathe—”
“Call Keir!” she screamed. “Call him now! I need to know everything. I need to know what we’re facing. Call him!”
My chest felt like it was caving in. This was exactly what I’d feared—the stress, the terror, the knowing too much. But I couldn’t deny her. Not when she looked at me like that, not when our daughter’s life hung in the balance.
I stood, jaw clenched, and pulled out my phone again.
Beside Serenity, Prudence was watching me with an unreadable expression, her hand resting lightly on Serenity’s arm.
Something about that look made my blood run cold.
But I didn’t have time to examine it. I had to call Keir. I had to get answers.
Even if those answers might destroy us.