Chapter 34 #3
Then Nadia's voice, shaken but recovering its edge: "So she's not just a sleeper agent. She's an evolving weapon. One that apparently goes off when she's emotional."
"Nadia," Marcellus growls. "Perhaps now is not the time."
"Now is exactly the time. She just destroyed half the room without even trying. What happens when she's truly angry? When she's threatened? When Konstantin activates her while she has these abilities?"
"Telekinesis." Julian is staring at the shattered glass on the wall, an expression of wonder breaking through his fear. "She moved objects with her mind. That's not a vampire ability. That's not any vampire ability I've ever documented."
"The modifications," Elena says, crawling out from under the table. "This must be what Konstantin meant. The abilities that haven't manifested yet."
"Fascinating," Dr. Sullivan breathes, fear giving way to scientific curiosity. "Absolutely fascinating. The neurological implications alone..."
"I didn't mean to." Celeste's voice is small, muffled against my chest. "I didn't even know I could."
"I know." I hold her tighter. "It's not your fault."
"How do we know it won't happen again?" Caleb asks from his corner, voice carefully neutral. "How do we contain something like this?"
"We don't contain her," I say firmly. "We help her learn to control it."
"Control it?" Nadia laughs bitterly. "She's a bomb waiting to go off, and you want to..."
A knock at the door cuts her off.
Marcellus opens it to reveal a young vampire, one of the perimeter guards. His face is pale, his hands shaking.
"Sir. A message just arrived. From Konstantin."
The room goes still.
"Bring it," I say.
The guard enters, holding a sealed envelope like it might bite him. The seal is the same old wax as before, pressed with a symbol I recognize all too well. Konstantin's personal mark.
I take the envelope and break the seal.
Inside is a single sheet of paper. In Konstantin's elegant handwriting. Celeste moves to my side to view the letter. I don't stop her. She has a right to see this.
My dear Maximus,
Congratulations on the bond. Word travels fast when you have friends in the right places.
She's finally waking up. The modifications are activating, one by one, just as I planned. You've accelerated the timeline, actually. The bond strengthened everything I put in her blood. I should thank you for that.
Did you think binding yourself to her would save her?
All you've done is ensure you'll be there when I flip the switch.
You'll feel everything when she turns on you.
Every moment of her trying to stop herself and failing.
Every second of her hands around your throat.
The bond won't protect you. It will just make sure you experience the full horror of what I've built.
She's my masterpiece, Maximus. My greatest weapon. And now she's pointed directly at your heart, closer than I ever could have positioned her myself. This is the most fun I’ve had in centuries, Maximus. You have truly brought life to my dull existence. Don’t worry.
I fully intend to take my time and savor these moments.
Give my regards to your inner circle. One of them, at least, already has mine.
—Konstantin
P.S. I have your sister, Celeste. She has your eyes. I can see why you fought so hard for her. Now let's see how hard you'll fight to get her back.
The paper crumples in my fist.
Celeste's reaction hits me before she speaks. Horror. Pure, absolute horror, flooding through our connection like ice water.
"Simone." Her voice is barely a whisper. "He has Simone."
I turn to her, and her face has the expression of someone whose worst nightmare just became real.
"He can't..." She shakes her head violently. "She wasn't part of this. She doesn't know anything. She's human, she's innocent, she..."
Her voice breaks. And I feel it. The guilt crashing into me. The terrible, crushing weight of it. Her sister is in Konstantin's hands because of her. An innocent human who knows nothing about vampires, nothing about this war, dragged into it because Konstantin needed leverage.
The mark on my chest aches. A deep, throbbing pain that mirrors what she's feeling. Her grief, made physical in the crimson lines etched into my skin.
"We'll get her back." I cup her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my eyes. "Do you hear me? We will get her back."
"How? We don't even know where he is. We don't know what he wants."
"We know exactly what he wants." My voice is hard. Cold. "He wants you. And now he has leverage."
"So I'll go. I'll trade myself."
"No." The word comes from multiple voices. Mine, Marcellus's, Nadia's, even Ethan's. We all speak at once, a rare moment of unity.
Nadia steps forward, and for the first time, her expression holds something other than suspicion. "Walking into Konstantin's hands is exactly what he wants. We'd be giving him everything."
"She's right," Isabelle adds quietly. "A trade would only strengthen his position. We need leverage of our own."
"Then what do we do?" Celeste's voice cracks. "He has my sister. My baby sister. The only family I have left."
I pull her against my chest, holding her as she shakes. Her terror, her grief, her desperate love for the sister she's protected since childhood. All of it pours into me until I can barely separate her pain from my own.
And I feel something else, too. Something growing beneath the fear.
Rage.
"We find him," I say over her head, meeting the eyes of my inner circle one by one. "We find where he's keeping her. We identify the traitor who told him about the bond. We find a way to remove the trigger from Celeste's blood. And then we burn his entire operation to the ground."
"The message mentioned friends in the right places," Julian says slowly. "And he told us to give his regards to the inner circle. He's saying one of us is feeding him information."
The room goes tense. I watch them, all of them.
Marcellus, steady and unreadable. Nadia, bristling at the implication.
Julian, frowning thoughtfully. Ethan, fingers frozen over his tablet.
Isabelle, face carefully blank. Caleb, dark eyes revealing nothing.
Dr. Sullivan, looking genuinely disturbed.
Elena, the only human, pale and frightened.
One of them. Or someone close to one of them.
"I know." I let my gaze sweep the room. "But we're going to find out who."
"I've been in the field," Ethan says, an edge of defensiveness in his voice. "My loyalty isn't in question."
"Everyone's loyalty is in question," Caleb counters from his corner. "That's how moles work."
"Pointing fingers at each other accomplishes nothing," Isabelle cuts in. "We need to focus on finding the girl. And finding a way to neutralize the trigger before Konstantin can use it."
"And the abilities?" Nadia asks. "The telekinesis? Whatever else is coming?"
"We learn to control them." Celeste's voice is muffled against my chest, but steady now. Hardening. "If Konstantin made me a weapon, then I'll be a weapon. Just not his."
She pulls back, and I see the change in her face. The fear is still there, but it's being consumed by something stronger. Determination. Fury.
"He took my sister." Her voice is quiet, but I feel the steel beneath it. Sharp and unyielding. "He experimented on me. He put a trigger in my blood that could turn me into a mindless killer. And now he thinks he's won?"
She looks around the room.
"Konstantin has been planning this for years," Celeste says. "But he made one mistake. He designed me to be strong. To survive. To adapt." Her hand finds mine, fingers intertwining. "He just didn't plan on me using those gifts against him."
Her resolve crystallizes. I feel it hardening into something diamond-bright and unbreakable. The terror for her sister transforming into something more useful. More dangerous.
My bonded mate. My partner. My weapon, pointed exactly where I need her.
"We have work to do," I say. "Marcellus, double the perimeter guard. Someone in this compound is feeding Konstantin information, and I want to know who."
"Done," he says.
"Julian, dig into everything we have on Konstantin's operations. Properties, allies, anywhere he might be holding a human hostage. And research any precedents for removing implanted triggers or commands from vampire blood."
"I'll start immediately."
"Ethan, reach back out to your contacts. I don't care what it costs. Someone knows where Konstantin is operating from."
Ethan nods, already tapping at his tablet. "I have a few sources who owe me. I'll call in the debts."
"Isabelle, follow the money. Konstantin has to be funding this operation somehow. Shell companies, property purchases, anything in the last six months."
"I'll have a preliminary report by dawn," she says.
"Caleb, review the containment facility security. If there's a leak, it might have come from outside the main compound."
"Understood."
"Dr. Sullivan, I need you back in the human medical community. Listen for anything unusual. Missing persons reports, unexplained injuries, anything that might indicate where he's keeping hostages. And research any medical approaches to removing neurological triggers or implanted commands."
"I'll make inquiries," Sullivan says. "Discreetly. And I'll review the literature on deprogramming techniques."
"Nadia..."
I meet her eyes. She holds my gaze for a long moment, and I see her making a choice.
"I'll coordinate with Dmitri's people," she says finally. "If anyone has intelligence on Konstantin's movements, it's them. And I'll reach out to contacts who specialize in blood magic. If there's a way to remove what he put in her, they'll know."
A peace offering. Or at least a truce.
"Thank you."
"Elena," I say, "coordinate with Dr. Sullivan. If Konstantin is holding a human hostage, she'll need medical attention eventually. Monitor any unusual activity in local hospitals and clinics."
Elena nods, her face pale but determined. "I still have contacts from before I joined the network. I'll reach out."
Celeste turns to me, her voice strained. "Simone lives in Savannah. I need to go there. See her apartment, find out when he took her, how he found her..."
"Not alone," I say firmly. "And not tonight. Konstantin could be expecting exactly that." I turn to Ethan. "Send people to Savannah. Celeste will give you her sister's address and workplace. I want to know everything. When she was last seen, who she talked to, any security footage in the area."
"Savannah." Ethan frowns. "That's outside our usual territory. I'll need to call in some favors."
"Then call them in. Whatever it takes."
Ethan nods, fingers already moving on his tablet. "I'll have people there by dawn."
The inner circle begins to move, filtering out of the room, each focused on their assigned task. But I see the glances they exchange. The suspicion. The doubt.
One of them is a traitor. They all know it now. And until we find out who, no one in this room fully trusts anyone else.
Only Marcellus lingers at the door.
"Sir." His voice is quiet. "For what it's worth, I don't believe the trigger will work. Not with the bond in place."
"I hope you're right."
"And the sister?" He pauses. "We'll find her. Whatever it takes."
"I know."
He nods and closes the door behind him, leaving us alone.
Celeste is still standing where I left her, staring at the crumpled letter in my hand. The storm inside her batters against me. Fear and rage and guilt and love, all tangled together.
"This is my fault," she whispers. "I stayed away from her. Eight months, and I never once tried to contact her. I thought if I kept my distance, she'd be safe."
"Konstantin has been watching you since before you were turned," I say, crossing to her and taking her hands in mine.
"He knew about Simone long before you ever walked into my life.
This was never about your choices, Celeste.
It was always about him. His obsession. His plan. We're just the pieces on his board."
"I don't want to be a piece."
"Then don't be." I tip her chin up, making her meet my eyes. "Be the player. Take the board from him. Make him regret ever setting this game in motion."
"How?"
"Together." I press my forehead to hers. "Whatever you're becoming, whatever gifts are waking up inside you, whatever trigger he buried in your blood, we face it together. We find your sister together. We end Konstantin together."
I feel her steadying. The chaos settling into something harder. More focused.
"Together," she echoes.
Our heartbeat pulses between us, strong, steady, synchronized. A miracle. A bond that shouldn't exist.
A weapon Konstantin didn't account for.
"I love you," I tell her. "Whatever comes next, I love you."
"I know." She manages a small smile. "I can feel it, remember?"
"Then feel this too." I let the bond open fully, letting her sense everything I'm feeling. The fury at Konstantin. The protective rage over her sister. The absolute, unshakeable certainty that we will win this war. The determination to rip the trigger from her blood before he can ever use it.
And underneath it all, the love. Vast and terrifying and unbreakable.
"He thinks the bond is a weakness," I say. "He thinks the trigger makes you his. He's wrong on both counts. The bond is the strongest thing either of us has ever had. And you are not his weapon. You're mine. Ours."
Celeste's hand presses against my chest, over the mark. I cover it with my own, feeling the warmth of the crimson lines pulsing beneath our touch. Proof of what we've become. What no one can take from us.
"Then let's teach him," she says.
She looks up at me, and I feel her fear transforming into something fiercer. Something unbreakable.
"He has no idea what he's started," she says.
"No." I pull her close. "He doesn't."
Konstantin wanted to create my downfall. Instead, he created my reason to fight.
Our hearts beat as one. Impossible, miraculous, ours.
Let him come. We'll be ready.
Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed Blood & Dominion, it would really help me out if you would leave a review. Reviews help other readers find my work and encourage me to write more books.
Before you dive into Book 2…
Did you know Marcellus has a secret?
While Celeste and Maximus were falling for each other, something else was happening in the shadows. Something I didn't show you.