Chapter 29
The compound perimeter remained quiet except for the wind pushing dead leaves against the outer fencing.
Vance’s boots ground to a stop near the tree line when the shape ahead resolved into something other than discarded clothing.
A human body lay among the wet leaves with its arms spread across the ground. The man’s throat had been torn open, his ribs appeared damaged beneath his clothing, and almost every trace of blood had been drained from him.
Whoever had killed him had made no attempt to conceal the body.
Vance swallowed.
He did not need to examine the wounds closely to understand that this was not the work of a starving civilian or an inexperienced vampire who had lost control.
Rhen had done this.
The blood around the torn throat retained faint warmth in the cold night, suggesting the killing had happened recently. A trail of disturbed leaves and frightened canine tracks disappeared deeper into the forest.
Vance backed away and opened the guard communications screen secured to his wrist.
Human fatality near the eastern tree line. Possible clan involvement. Immediate attendance required.
He directed the message to Malakai.
Several seconds later, shadow gathered beside the trees and released him onto the perimeter path.
The scent of blood reached Malakai before his gaze settled upon the corpse.
He crouched and studied the wounds, the crushed ribs, and the careless position in which the human had been abandoned. His expression did not change, but tension hardened the line of his shoulders.
Malakai rose and faced Vance.
Rhen.
Vance nodded.
“What do we do?”
Malakai looked toward the forest. Rhen had left no visible trail beyond the disturbed ground, but Malakai knew his brother’s methods well enough to recognize the withdrawal for what it was.
Rhen was not hiding the killing because he feared discovery.
He was leaving consequences for the rest of them to contain, and the stronghold was already carrying more fractures than its walls could show.
He simply did not care who found the evidence.
We contain it.
Vance glanced toward the body.
“You want me to report it?”
Not beyond the perimeter guard.
“But if someone finds out—”
If the council or the civilian clans learn one of Sule’s brothers is leaving drained humans on our land, they will use it against the entire stronghold.
Vance’s mouth tightened.
“He’s spiraling.”
Malakai’s gaze remained on the corpse.
Rhen does not spiral. He decides that consequences no longer matter.
That was worse.
Malakai pointed toward the maintenance path.
Move the body to the cremator. Do it quietly, clean the ground, and restrict this section of the perimeter until every trace is gone.
Vance hesitated.
“What do I say if someone asks why the area is closed?”
Malakai’s hands moved with controlled precision.
You say nothing was found.
He disappeared before Vance could answer.
* * *
The sedative released Veya slowly, returning awareness in broken pieces rather than giving her a clean waking.
She remembered opening her eyes to an empty room. She remembered cold stone beneath her bare feet and the wall beneath her palm as she moved through corridors that seemed to tilt around her.
She did not remember choosing a destination.
When clarity returned, she stood outside Rhen’s door.
Whether the tether had drawn her there or whether pain had simply made her seek its source, she could not tell. It remained alive beneath her ribs, aching with every step and tightening whenever she imagined turning away.
Veya closed her hand around the iron handle.
The door opened beneath her weight.
Rhen stood on the far side of the room with his back toward her. His shirt lay discarded across a chair, and blood marked the cloth in his hand as he wiped it from his fingers. A dark smear remained at the corner of his mouth.
His blades rested nearby, clean and untouched.
Rhen knew she had entered before the hinge finished moving.
“I told you to stay out of my quarters.”
His voice remained quiet, which made the threat inside it more pronounced.
Veya held the doorframe while the room steadied around her.
“I didn’t come for permission.”
Rhen turned.
His face held no surprise and no concern. His silver eyes moved over the sweat along her skin, the weakness in her legs, and the tremors she could no longer suppress.
He assessed each symptom as he might inspect damage to a weapon.
“You should be unconscious.”
“I woke up.”
“An unfortunate development.”
Pain tightened through her abdomen, forcing her to catch herself against the dresser.
“You did this to me.”
Rhen folded the bloodstained cloth and set it aside.
“And you remain alive.”
“I’m burning. I can’t think, and the tether is tearing through me.”
“And?”
The complete absence of concern in the word struck harder than open cruelty.
Veya stared at him.
“You don’t care.”
“No.”
“You made me.”
“I kept you from dying.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Rhen’s expression remained empty.
“No.”
Her voice rose.
“Then why did you do it? Why give me your blood, change everything I was, and leave me to drown in the consequences?”
“You were useful. Dying would have ended that.”
Veya stopped breathing through sheer habit.
“Useful for what?”
“That is not information you require.”
“I’m a person.”
“To yourself, perhaps.”
The answer moved through her like another physical blow.
Rhen stepped closer, not out of concern but because he had decided the distance no longer served him.
Veya held his stare.
“Is this because I’m not Leena?”
Every trace of stillness in him sharpened.
He crossed the remaining space before Veya could register the movement. One moment he stood several feet away, and the next his face was close enough for her to see the human blood darkening his mouth.
“Do not use her name.”
Veya flinched but refused to lower her gaze.
“Why? Because she is the only person who ever made you feel anything?”
“You are nothing like her.” His voice remained low and venomous. “Do not flatter yourself by turning this into a comparison.”
“And yet I’m the one tethered to you.”
“The tether was an accident.”
“An accident I have to live with.”
Rhen’s mouth curved without humor.
“That sounds like your problem.”
“You fed me again.”
“Because dead currency has no value.”
The words settled between them.
Veya’s hands trembled at her sides.
“So that’s all I am.”
“You are heretic-tainted, unstable, and potentially useful. At present, that is more than most creatures offer.”
Her eyes burned.
“Then why am I still alive? Why not tear out my throat and finish it?”
“Because you still have value.” Rhen’s gaze did not leave hers. “When you don’t, the decision will become simpler.”
A tear slid down Veya’s cheek.
“You’re hateful.”
“Accurate.”
“It’s eating you alive.”
“You are confusing indifference with pain.” His eyes remained utterly empty when they met hers. “I feel nothing for you.”
Veya’s voice cracked.
“You loved her.”
Rhen did not answer.
He did not need to.
The silence surrounding Leena was the only confession he would ever provide.
“And now she’s gone,” Veya whispered. “So you punish everyone who isn’t her.”
Rhen leaned closer.
“You do not matter enough to punish.”
The sentence stole what remained of her balance.
She caught the dresser again.
“You’re a coward.”
“Possibly.”
“You hide behind cruelty because it is easier than admitting she destroyed you.”
The air changed.
Rhen’s hand closed around the edge of the dresser beside hers, splitting the wood beneath his fingers.
His voice remained quiet.
“Leena is not a weapon you are capable of using against me. Attempt it again, and your usefulness will not save you from the lesson.”
Fear moved through Veya, but anger held her upright.
“I hate you.”
“Good. Hatred is more useful than expectation.”
Rhen released the broken wood and turned away.
Veya watched him cross toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere your voice cannot reach me.”
Shadow gathered around him and erased him from the room.
Veya stood alone with her body still burning and Rhen’s words lodged beneath her skin.
The tether reacted to his absence with another vicious pull, but the pain had nothing to do with love. It was physical dependence forced upon her by a male who considered her no more than an object with temporary value.
Humiliation broke through what remained of her control.
Veya collapsed to her knees, shaking as tears and curses left her together.
Dax stood unseen in the corridor with his fists clenched at his sides.
He had heard every word.
When Rhen disappeared, Dax stepped through the open door.