Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Cassia
The first thing I notice is the smell.
Not the club smell. Not perfume and sweat and money.
This is old beer, stale wood, and cheap cleaner trying and failing to cover up years of spilled liquor and bad decisions.
The kind of place that used to be loud once, back when humans still came here to forget their lives, before the world shifted and monsters started using places like this as meeting rooms.
How did I get here? The last thing I remember is heading back toward Dyrk. I was going to talk to Orpheus. To make things right. The pain of leaving was too much. He held my heart, and I needed him. I was being stubborn for not telling him. He fought for me and had every right to know why.
Gods, I’m so stupid for being stubborn and not telling him.
I’m shoved forward hard enough that my shoulder clips the doorframe. The movement pulls me out of my thoughts.
“Watch it,” I snap automatically, because my mouth is stupid when I’m scared.
I spin around to look to see who it is and find the gray-haired vampire’s hand clamping on the back of my neck and steering me through the doorway like I’m a dog on a leash.
Oh no. It all comes back to me. He attacked me outside the club, knocking me out.
“Still got teeth,” he says, voice low and amused. “Cute.”
I stumble into the bar’s dim interior and force myself upright.
The lighting is wrong. Yellowed bulbs. A few flickering neon signs that don’t match the vibe, like someone thought they could buy atmosphere off a broken thrift shelf. The place isn’t busy, but it isn’t empty either.
There are vampires scattered around the room, leaning against the bar, tucked into booths, standing near the back like they’re waiting for a show. They go quiet when they see me, eyes tracking the way I move, the way I breathe. The way I don’t bow.
The gray-haired vampire pulls me closer to his side, tight enough that I feel the edge of his nails through my coat.
“Look,” he says loudly, “the King’s little human made it.”
A few snickers ripple through the room.
My stomach drops.
Orpheus.
I shouldn’t have left the club. The gray-haired vampire, whose name I don’t even know, would never have gotten me if I hadn’t. Thanks to me being an idiot, he did, and now I’m here, and Orpheus doesn’t know where I am.
I wish I hadn’t been stubborn and fought with him. I wish I’d told him how thankful I was he fought for me. I wish I’d expressed how much I love him.
We haven’t known each other more than a handful of days, and yet I love him. I’m so in love with him, it hurts my heart to think of not having him in my life.
The gray-haired vampire leans in, mouth close to my ear. “Don’t try anything.”
I scoff, because it’s either sarcasm or shaking, and I will not cower in front of him or anyone else. “What do you think I’m going to do? Pick up a pool cue and take you all out?”
His grip tightens, warning. “You’re going to do exactly what you’re told.”
I angle my head, staring at him from the corner of my eye. “And what exactly is that?”
He smiles like he’s enjoying himself. Like he’s been waiting for this moment since he saw me in the hallway at Dyrk, since he realized I was a weak spot.
“We’re going to talk,” he says. “Then we’re going to wait.”
My throat goes dry. “Wait for what?”
“Wait for your King to come,” he murmurs. “Or wait for him not to.”
The words punch a hole in my chest.
Because part of me thinks he won’t.
Not because he’s weak. Not because he’s scared.
Because I gave him a reason to be angry.
Because Talos showed up, and Orpheus found out I’m tangled in something bigger than I let on.
I swallow hard and force my voice steady. “You’re wasting your time.”
The gray-haired vampire laughs softly. “Am I?”
He releases my neck but doesn’t let me go. His hand slides down, catching my wrist, turning my arm as if he’s inspecting me. Like I’m merchandise.
Rage flares. Hot and sharp.
I yank my arm back as best I can. “Don’t touch me.”
That gets a reaction.
A few vampires straighten. One of them grins like he’s entertained. Another looks irritated, like I’m making noise in a room that prefers silence.
The gray-haired vampire’s eyes narrow, but he’s still smiling. “You’re bold for someone who’s alone.”
I lift my chin. “I’m not alone.”
He tilts his head. “No?”
I hold his gaze and lie through my teeth as if my life depends on it. “Not in the way you think.”
His smile twitches. “That’s the thing about you, little human. You don’t look like much, but you’ve got that energy. Like you’ve been around monsters long enough to forget you’re supposed to fear them.”
I stay quiet.
Because he’s right.
Because my body knows the etiquette even when my mouth pretends it doesn’t.
Because I learned a long time ago that fear is a currency. If you show it too openly, someone will spend it.
The gray-haired vampire gestures toward the bar with a jerk of his chin. “Sit.”
I don’t move.
His eyes darken. “Sit, or I’ll make you.”
That gets my feet moving.
Not because I’m obedient.
Because I’m calculating.
If I stay standing, I’m a spectacle. A target. If I sit, I can watch without looking like I’m watching. I can listen without being obvious.
I slide onto a barstool, keeping my posture steady, my hands in my lap, my breathing controlled.
The gray-haired vampire leans his forearms on the bar beside me like we’re old friends sharing a drink.
He smells like dust, old cologne, and something rotten underneath it.
“You’re going to tell me why the King cares,” he says casually.
My stomach tightens. “He doesn’t.”
That gets a bark of laughter from one of the vampires behind us.
The gray-haired vampire turns just enough to shoot him a look. The laughter dies instantly.
Interesting.
He’s not just some random predator. He’s got weight here.
He looks back at me. “You really think I didn’t see the way he looked at you?”
I don’t answer.
He continues anyway, voice soft like he’s trying to coax. “It’s been a long time since Orpheus has been distracted. He doesn’t get distracted. He doesn’t get involved.”
My skin prickles.
I keep my face blank, but my heart speeds up.
The gray-haired vampire taps a finger on the bar. “So talk.”
I swallow. “About what?”
“About you,” he replies. “What makes you special?”
I laugh once sharply. “I’m not special.”
His eyes gleam. “That’s not what I asked.”
I force myself to look at him fully. “Why do you care?”
He smiles. “Because you’re leverage.”
The word lands like a slap.
I inhale slowly, trying to steady the panic that rises anyway. “So, this is about Orpheus.”
“Everything is about Orpheus,” he says, and the humor drops out of his voice. “He’s been sitting on that throne like he’s the only one who matters. Like the rest of us are just bodies to step on.”
I feel the room around us shift. Several vampires murmur in agreement.
The gray-haired vampire leans closer. “The old blood thinks they’re untouchable. The new blood is tired of kneeling. It’s time for a new King.”
My stomach twists.
This isn’t random.
This is organized.
They’re not just angry. They’re motivated.
I keep my voice neutral. “And you think you can take him.”
His eyes flash. “We can bleed him.”
“Big difference,” I mutter.
He smirks. “Smart mouth. That’s probably why he likes you.”
I don’t like how my body reacts to that. Heat flickers low in my stomach, traitorous and unwelcome.
I shove it down.
“Why me?” I ask instead. “Why drag me here?”
The gray-haired vampire’s smile widens. “Because if he comes, we get to see how far he’ll go.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
His gaze lingers on my throat. “Then we learn you were never worth the trouble.”
I look around the room, forcing myself to stay present. To breathe. To think.
They’re talking around me, not to me. Plans. Logistics. Names dropped casually like they aren’t discussing tearing down an entire power structure.
Orpheus.
I listen.
I memorize.
Something settles in my chest.
Resolve.
If I’m going to die, I’m not going to do it quietly.
The bar is old. I can smell it. The alcohol soaked into the wood. The dust. The oil in the lamps along the walls.
Fire would spread fast.
The gray-haired vampire notices my gaze drifting.
“Don’t get any ideas,” he says, amused. “You’re not getting out.”
I lift my eyes to him. “You sure talk a lot for someone who’s afraid.”
That earns me a slap across the face.
My head snaps to the side, pain flaring bright and sharp.
The room goes quiet.
He’s on me in an instant, fingers digging into my jaw, forcing my head up.
“You don’t get to provoke me,” he snarls. “Not after tonight.”
“Why?” I choke out. “Because I belong to him?”
His grip tightens. “Because you made him weak.”
That lands harder than the slap. I need to make sure he doesn’t see me have a reaction to his words, but those words are harder, I don’t want to be a weakness to someone else.
He shoves me back into the chair and turns away like I’m no longer worth his attention.
My heart is still racing, but my hands are steady now.
The rope around my wrists is tight, but not impossible. Old. Worn.
I twist slowly, friction burning my skin, testing the fibers.The vampires keep talking, laughing, and planning. They don’t notice when I shift closer to the bar. They don’t notice when my fingers slip free.
I move fast.
I lunge for the shelves behind the bar, grabbing the nearest bottle and hurling it against the wall.
Glass explodes.
Alcohol sprays everywhere.
I knock over another bottle, then another. The smell of liquor fills the room, sharp and overwhelming.
“What the fuck?” someone yells.
I grab a lit candle from the bar and throw it.
Fire blooms.
It’s immediate. Hungry. Flames race across the soaked wood, climbing the walls, licking at the ceiling.
The room erupts into chaos.
“Put it out!”
“She’s trying to burn us!”
Smoke fills the air fast, thick, and intense.
I turn toward the door, lungs already burning.
Almost free.
A hand slams into my back, sending me crashing into the bar.
The gray-haired vampire looms over me, eyes wild.
“You stupid bitch,” he snarls. “Did you think I wouldn’t stop you?”
My lungs scream for relief. My vision blurs.
I claw at his arm, nails digging into his skin.
He laughs in my ear. “That’s it. Fight. I like it.”
“Fuck you,” I rasp, barely able to breathe.
He turns my head toward the flames. “He’s not coming, you know.”
The words hit harder than his grip.
He drags me back, wraps an arm around my throat, cutting off my air.
Smoke stings my eyes. Heat presses in from all sides.
I claw at his arm, panic flaring.
“I won’t let you die here,” he says in my ear. “Not yet.”
My vision starts to blur.
This is how it ends.
Orpheus isn’t coming.
Then the fire dies.
Not slowly. Instantly.
One second, the room is an inferno, the next, it’s silence, steam, and darkness.
The pressure around my throat vanishes.
The gray-haired vampire screams.
I drop to the floor, gasping, lungs screaming for air.
The room shakes, and power floods in like a tidal wave.
I know it before I see him.
Orpheus.
He stands in the doorway, shadows wrapped around him like armor. His eyes glow with something ancient and furious.
Behind him, vampires flood in. Armed. Ready.
Bikers too. Leather, steel, and guns, faces hard and loyal. These are the bikers, the shifters he told me he had an alliance with. We didn’t talk about much intimately, but we talked over the past days, and he told me about them.
The gray-haired vampire backs away, terror etched into his features.
“You,” he spits. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Orpheus doesn’t answer.
He moves.
The fight is brutal. Fast.
Bodies slam into walls. Bones crack. Blood sprays.
Orpheus is everywhere. His power is suffocating, crushing the rebellion beneath it.
I watch through blurred vision as he dismantles them, one by one. His allies have barely anything to do.
No mercy.
No hesitation.
The gray-haired vampire tries to run.
Orpheus catches him by the throat and lifts him off the ground.
“You touched her,” he says, voice low and lethal.
The vampire chokes, clawing at Orpheus’s hand.
Orpheus twists.
The sound is final.
He turns to me before he crosses the room and drops to his knees.
“Cassia.”
His hands are gentle as he lifts me, cradling my head against his chest.
“You came,” I whisper.
He presses his forehead to mine. “I will always come for you.”
Tears sting my eyes.
“I thought you wouldn’t,” I admit. “After what you found out.”
His grip tightens. “You can trust me with anything.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, leaning deeper into him. “I shouldn’t have run away. I should have talked to you. Told you everything.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Orpheus remarks, pressing a kiss to my temple. “I shouldn’t have let you run away. It’s a mistake I won’t allow myself to make again.”
“I love you, Orpheus.” I sigh and hold on tight.
He carries me out into the night, away from smoke, blood, and broken things.
“You’re my peace, Cassia. I won’t lose you,” he murmurs. “I’ve waited too long to have you be taken from me now. You’re my heart. Now, let’s get you back to where you belong, by my side.”
I cling to him, heart pounding at hearing his admission.
“You want me at your side?” I ask, lifting my head to look at him.
Orpheus smiles down at me, and that smile causes my stomach to flutter instantly.
“Cassia, I want you at my side just as you’ll be.
I told you, you’re my peace. You’re my heart.
You are what keeps me going. Doesn’t matter that you only entered my life.
You were meant for me. The fates deemed you mine long ago.
I marked you, claimed you, and now you’ll be my queen, and no one will take you from me. ”
Rather than use words to speak, I reach up and claim his lips, showing him instead what his words mean to me.
He’s the king of vampires, and I’m the heart of the king himself. I absolutely love the idea. If humans knew what he did for a living, they’d call him a kingpin and rightfully so. He owns that title, and like him by his side, I’ll own mine.