Chapter 24 Ezra #3
The old vampire sounds desperate, which makes me chuckle. I don’t usually enjoy watching others suffer. But watching Renato squirm? That’s a rare fucking treat.
Renato’s gaze turns murderous when it shifts to me, the rage making his dark blue eyes almost glow.
“Your mate laughs at me, young queen. Will you allow that to stand?”
Without responding, Aurora gets up and walks back to the reading chair. The Cù Fèidh follows silently behind her, taking her usual position on Aurora’s left as I move around to her right.
“Mr. Cazador, if my mate chuckles, it’s for good reason. Perhaps we should ask him why he laughs?”
The scent returns—stronger now. Kettle corn and magic. Smoke and scorched sugar. All of it laced with heat … and something darker beneath.
Shit. Her magic’s slipping again.
I should probably be alarmed that she’s manipulating a vampire this easily.
But I’m not.
I’m just turned the fuck on by the way it wraps around my throat, her power humming beneath my skin, carving itself into my shadows.
The vampire’s head cocks to one side, wordlessly asking his question.
“Renato, excuse my poor manners. I do not laugh at you or your misfortune; instead, I laugh at the idea of me mediating the release of your son with one of my siblings. There is a reason we don’t interact or group together. If my sibling has your son, I’m afraid he’s dead.”
I feel it coming before Renato moves, so I shift into the Tesem and position myself in front of Aurora.
The Cù Fèidh lunges forward and clamps its jaws around the throat of the furious vampire.
“But you owe me a favor! You must do this! You fucking owe me!” Renato roars while his hands wildly tear at the gigantic beast slowly working her teeth into his throat.
With a whine, I turn toward Aurora … only to find her sitting still.
Too still.
A chilling grin stretches across her lips, the sharp edges of her teeth barely visible.
Silent tears slip down her cheeks, sliding past her jaw before disappearing into the hollow just above her collarbone.
Her face doesn’t shift, doesn’t flinch. Just the smile … and the quiet unraveling beneath it.
The acrid scent of burning popcorn thickens, crawling into the back of my throat. I huff it out, teeth bared, fighting the tremor beneath my skin.
She’s tipping too far, too fast. I need to pull her back before she burns too hot. Her magic is untethered and wild. If she pushes too far before she claims her power, it could tear her apart—mind, body, and soul.
I try licking her hand to dampen her anger, but the attempt only seems to enrage her further. Sitting on the edge of the chair, she leans forward while her hands grasp the arms so tightly her knuckles turn white.
Aurora’s chilling grin transforms into a menacing smile, as if her sole purpose in life is to harm the old vampire.
Right now, she’s in control of the Cù Fèidh, who responds violently to her fury.
Aurora maniacally giggles at Renato’s pathetic whimpers when the beast tightens its jaws around his throat. Although he could survive a broken neck, I’m not sure Renato would ever forgive Aurora for such a transgression.
I have to stop this.
I let the shift roll through me, settling back into my L?kkda as I drop to my knees in front of her.
She’s shaking.
I can feel the rage radiating off her, just beneath the surface. Her whole body is tight beneath my hands, her jaw clenched so hard I half expect to hear it crack. I cup her face, my thumbs brushing slow, steady circles against her cheeks.
“Come back to me, Aurora,” I murmur, my voice trembling with something close to desperation.
When she was upset earlier, I brought her back with my voice and my touch. Perhaps that will work again.
“Little lupine, all is well. Although I enjoy watching Renato struggle, it would be in neither of our interests if he were to die at your hands. Let him go. You don’t want his blood on your hands, not like this.”
The moment she shudders, her power recoils sharply inside her, snapping back into place. The Cù Fèidh rushes back into me, merging with my shadows in a frantic, instinctive retreat.
The room goes thin. Not quiet, just … thin. Like the air shifts, too soft for sound but enough for instinct to notice.
I exhale, trying to ground myself, but something itches at the edges of my mind. Something’s off. Even the shadows hesitate, twitching against my skin, before pulling back into silence.
She’s powerful. I’ve felt it. But this wasn’t power. It was something ancient. Something buried. Something that’s waking up.
Then again, what do I really know about the Daughters of the Morning Star?
I press a lingering kiss to Aurora’s forehead, my fingers sweeping away the last of her tears.
Then, I shift. Shadows ripple and coil as I melt into my Umbraeth, darkness folding over itself. I surge toward Renato, wrapping around him in a suffocating grip. He thrashes, but there’s no escape. And the more he struggles, the tighter I squeeze.
“Renato, I do apologize for Aurora’s passion,” I purr, letting my shadows tighten—not to strike, but to remind him who the fuck I am. “She’s rather fond of me, don’t you think? All of this … because you lost your favorite toy?”
The shadows wind around him, a parody of sympathy pressing in with every breath.
I let him hang there, wrapped in suffocating darkness.
Let him feel it.
Let him understand. He is nothing here. He exists in this moment because I allow it.
“I will go to the ends of the fucking Earth to protect her. If I speak with my sister, can we forget about this minor incident? I offer no guarantees you’ll like the outcome, but I will do my part, as promised.
You will also not turn your wrath—or your draughs—on me or Aurora if your son is already dead. ”
I tighten my hold, bracing for the violent rage, but Renato goes limp and nods.
Finally, he exhales through his nose, polished and painfully fake, like a CEO pretending everything’s fine while the company burns down around him.
“Agreed,” he says at last, each word soft and stripped bare. “You will handle it. I will stay out of your way.”
He pauses, then murmurs, “She is truly a sight to behold.”
“I know,” I growl. “And if you come anywhere near her, I’ll make sure the last thing you see is a field of dandelions.”
He dips his head in what some might call a bow. I’d call it theater. Bad theater.
“Swear to me you’ll help her,” Renato says. “She needs her power, Ezra. She needs control. Not all underborne, or erevald, will be as … patient as I have been.”
If I had eyes right now, I’d roll them. He still thinks he’s above us. And that? That makes me want to break him.
“So, are we clear?” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “Break your word, and I’ll tear you from existence so thoroughly that even Lucifer won’t recognize what’s left.”
“You have my word.”
I peel my Umbraeth away from Renato, shadows trailing behind like smoke on wind, and rush toward Aurora, shifting into my L?kkda mid-stride.
Her eyes are wide and glassy, her expression disturbingly blank. When I reach out to wipe a rogue tear from her cheek, she flinches.
The fucking vampire did this to her.
I drop my hand to my side, fury curling tight in my gut as I turn back to Renato, who’s already fussing over the wrinkles in his suit.
“Get the fuck off my property,” I whisper, pointing at the front door.
“When will you search for my son?” Renato demands, sounding like the arrogant bastard I know.
“I will leave tomorrow morning and report back to you when I have more information. I trust you can see yourself out.”
I turn my attention back to Aurora. She doesn’t move. Just stares. And those goddamn tears—the ones I promised would never fall again— slide off her chin, bleeding into the fabric of her shirt.
Panic takes hold of my little goddess, its putrid claws tearing at her sanity and threatening to push her over the edge.
Renato clears his throat behind me.
“What is it now?” I mutter, not bothering to turn around.
“Against my better judgment, I believe the information I have might prove useful to you and our young queen. Unfortunately, I must accept that, as a vampire, I have limitations. She’s tied to something ancient.
I don’t know what, but I’ve seen enough to know which way the scales are tipping. I choose survival. I choose her.”
“Spit it out, Renato,” I snap.
“What do you know about the Vermilion Maw?”
“The creature doomsday device? It’s a fucking myth, Ren …”
But the Daughters were a myth only a few days ago, too.
I pinch the bridge of my nose with a tired sigh and will my brain to process what the vampire just told me.
“So, you’re telling me that the Disciples somehow got their hands on the Vermilion Maw, and they’re planning to use it to wipe out all underborne and erevald living on Earth?”
“Essentially … yes. Although I’m obviously not as concerned with the erevald. They can return to their respective planes anytime they wish,” Renato responds without a hint of humor.
He senses my growing frustration and quickly adds, “I have notes at home that might help. If you want, you may pick them up on your way to mediate my son’s release. It’s not much, but I’m hopeful it’s enough to keep us safe.”
“Fine, Renato. Now, can you please get the fuck out of my house?”
I wait until the vampire’s entourage is gone, then I kneel before Aurora.
And that’s when I see it. The exact moment it hits.
Recognition. Realization.
The way she finally sees me—not the charm, not the facade.
Just the thing beneath.