Chapter Sixteen
Viktor gripped the heavy dresser he’d shoved against the door and pulled it aside in one smooth motion, the wood scraping against polished floorboards.
He was tense, already anticipating a fight.
He grabbed at the remnants of the door in the frame and set it aside, making sure he was standing so he was blocking sight into the bedroom.
Claudius was waiting in the hallway, framed by guards, his hands clasped behind his back as though he had just stepped out of a painting and forgotten modern life existed and people had moved on. That was always your problem, Viktor thought as he glared at his former coven leader.
“Viktor.” Claudius offered a thin smile. “How kind of you to finally grant me an audience.”
“Cut the shit, Claudius. You were here less than half an hour ago, yelling about a siege at the time.” Viktor positioned himself directly in the doorway, blocking any clear view of Ant behind him. “That didn’t last long, did it. What do you want?”
“What I’ve always wanted.” Claudius stepped closer, until only a few feet separated them. “Order. Tradition. Respect for the laws that have kept our kind safe for millennia.” His sharp eyes flicked past Viktor toward Ant. “And the removal of any threat to our security.”
Claws extended from Viktor’s hands, and he didn’t try to hide them. “Ant’s not a threat. He’s a Justiciary investigator doing his job.”
“His job,” Claudius repeated mockingly, “is to destroy everything we’ve built here.
To expose centuries of careful work to the modern world’s judgmental gaze.
” He straightened, his voice taking on a formal cadence that Viktor remembered all too well from coven meetings long past. “Which brings me to why I’m here.
I am invoking lex antiqua - the ancient right of an elder to command obedience from those who once dwelled under his protection. ”
Viktor went very still. Fuck. If he gave a shit about such a thing, that would be a serious accusation. As it was…
“You lived in this coven for nearly forty years,” Claudius continued smoothly.
“You benefited from our wards, our resources, our knowledge. Under the old laws, that creates a bond of obligation that does not simply vanish because you chose to abandon your heritage and slum among humans.” He gestured dismissively toward Ant.
“I am commanding you, as your elder, to surrender the human to my custody for disposal.”
Viktor didn’t move. In that moment, he couldn’t move. Because for just that moment, Claudius’s invocation had dragged him back through centuries to a version of himself he’d thought he’d left behind.
“You will learn your place, boy.”
The memory hit Viktor like a physical blow.
He was younger then - not even five hundred years old, still learning to navigate vampire society in an archaic coven after decades of isolation.
He’d sought out the Raven Estate, believing it would offer community, structure, and guidance from those who’d survived longer.
Instead, he’d found Claudius, who was only a few decades older than he was, yet had already styled himself as an elder.
Viktor could still feel the cold stone floor of the coven’s great hall beneath his knees, still taste the humiliation of being forced to kneel before the assembled vampires while Claudius lectured him about hierarchy and obedience.
His crime? Questioning whether it was wise to drain a merchant’s daughter when her father was actively searching the woods around the estate, looking for her.
“You dare question my judgment?” Claudius had circled him slowly, each word loud and cutting in tone. “You, who stumbled into our civilized society, barely able to control your own hunger? You are here by my grace alone. Remember that.”
But what Viktor remembered most clearly was the screaming that came later that night - the merchant’s daughter, begging for her life while Claudius made an example of her. Not because he needed to feed, but because Viktor had dared speak up.
Claudius had made him watch.
Viktor’s vision cleared, snapping back to the present. Claudius stood before him now, wearing that same expression of smug certainty, absolutely confident that his ancient authority could and would bend Viktor to his will.
He thinks I’m still that uncertain young vampire, desperate to belong.
Something hot and vicious unfurled in Viktor’s chest. “No.”
Claudius blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said no.” Viktor’s lips pulled back from his teeth in something too sharp to be called a smile.
“You want to invoke ancient law? Fine. Let’s talk about ancient law.
The Vinculum Animarum - the soul bond between fated mates – that predates your precious coven and any of the bullshit laws you dreamed up one night when you were drunk.
It supersedes any oath, any obligation, any authority you think you have over me. ”
“Soul bonds are fairy tales…”
“Soul bonds,” Viktor interrupted, his voice dropping to something dangerous, “are the oldest magic in existence. Older than your estate, older than your bloodline, and definitely older than you with your antiquated ways.”
He took a step forward, forcing Claudius to either hold his ground or retreat.
Claudius stepped back. “I never held any loyalty to you. All you taught me was an example of who not to be. But the moment I tasted Ant’s blood - given to me willingly - and recognized him as my mate, any other loyalty I ever held became meaningless. He is my only priority.”
Claudius’s expression twisted with contempt. “You would choose a fragile human over your own kind? Over centuries of vampire tradition?”
“He’s not human, you arrogant bastard. He’s a Level Twelve mage who could atomize you with a thought.
” Viktor felt his control slipping, felt his second form pressing against the edges of his skin.
“And even if he wasn’t - even if he was a simple academic with no magic at all - I would still choose him. Every single time, without hesitation.”
“Then you are a traitor to your species.”
“No, if anything, I am the only decent vampire standing in this estate, and that’s saying something, because most would call me an uncaring bastard.
” Viktor’s voice came out as a growl now.
“I rejected your authority the day I walked out your door. I rejected everything you represent - your cruelty, your paranoia, your pathetic clinging to outdated hierarchies because you’re too afraid to adapt to the modern world. ”
He could feel Ant’s presence behind him, solid, steady, and absolutely fearless despite being surrounded by vampires who wanted him dead. That certainty, that trust, gave Viktor the final push he needed.
“You want to know why I left?” Viktor continued.
“It wasn’t because I couldn’t handle your rules and expectations.
It was because I realized you were building a prison and calling it a kingdom.
You gather power by feeding on fear - your guards’ fear, your coven’s fear, the fear of anyone who might challenge you.
You’re not an elder, Claudius. You’re nowhere near it.
You’re just a bully who lived long enough to convince yourself you’re important. ”
Claudius’s face went rigid with fury. “How dare…”
“I dare because I don’t answer to you anymore.
I don’t answer to anyone except my mate.
” Viktor’s smile turned vicious. “And right now, my mate needs to leave - he has a report to file with the Justiciary. So here’s what’s going to happen.
You’re going to get the fuck out of my way, or I’m going to paint this hallway with your guards’ blood and make you watch this time. ”
For a heartbeat, nobody moved. Then Claudius’s composure completely shattered. His face contorted with rage, his eyes flashed red, and he snarled, “Kill them. Kill them both. And make sure that human screams loud enough that Viktor can hear him in hell.”
The guards lunged forward, but this time Viktor didn’t go on the defensive. Instead, he spun around, grabbed Ant and scooped him into his arms, then bent down and hauled Able up with his other arm. The German shepherd yelped in surprise but stayed still, trusting Viktor completely.
“Hold on,” Viktor whispered.
Then he pulled his invisibility around all three of them like a cloak. He’d used it countless times to move unseen through the world, to protect himself, to hunt, and sometimes just because he was nosy, such as when he first started spying on Ant.
But he’d never tried to extend it to cover two other living beings at the same time.
Viktor felt the magic behind it trying to slip, felt the edges of his invisibility rippling and threatening to fail.
He gritted his teeth and forced more power into it, pulling from reserves he didn’t know he had. Hold. Just hold.
The first guard’s hand swept through the space where Viktor had been standing a moment before, encountering only empty air. Viktor had already moved. Confusion flickered across the vampire’s face, then alarm.
“Where…”
It’s holding, and that was all Viktor needed to know.
Confident that none of them could be seen, Viktor ran.
He burst past the guards before they could process what was happening, moving with every ounce of speed he possessed.
Ant’s weight barely registered, and Able remained perfectly still against his chest. It’s not like Viktor hadn’t carried them both before.
Behind them, it was pure chaos. Guards were shouting, Claudius was screaming orders as if that would make any damn difference, and footsteps thundered through the hallways as the entire estate mobilized to find them.
Viktor had never been so grateful for the way his gift worked. They couldn’t be seen, heard, or smelled in any way. The only way they could be found was if a guard accidentally bumped into them, but Viktor wasn’t going to let that happen.
Taking the steps three at a time, Viktor’s boots made no sound against the marble. A guard rushed past him going the opposite direction, so close Viktor could have reached out and touched him - if he had his hands free - but the vampire’s gaze slid right over them without stopping.
It’s working. Holy fucking shit, it’s actually working.
Through the foyer, past the stunned house staff who were being ordered to seal all exits. Out the front doors that Viktor shoved open with his shoulder, praying that in the chaos nobody would notice, storming his way into the garden.
The sun was bright after the dimly lit halls of the coven house, but Viktor didn’t slow down or stop.
It was tempting to just get in his SUV, still standing in the driveway, but Viktor had no way of knowing what the wards might have done to the electrics in his vehicle, and that was a plan deviation.
Ant wanted to get to the fountain, so Viktor wove his way through ornamental shrubs and flower beds to get there.
“Fan out.” Claudius’s voice carried clearly across the grounds. “They’re still on the estate, they have to be. Check every shadow, every corner. Use your other senses if you can’t see them.”
Viktor felt his invisibility beginning to fray. The strain of covering three bodies was too much. Already, he could feel his magic starting to crack, little ripples of visibility flickering at the edges like a failing lightbulb. It was fifty meters to the fountain…forty…thirty…
“There!” One of the guards pointed directly at them. “I can hear something…”
Viktor didn’t care. He covered the final distance in a burst of speed, skidded to a stop beside the fountain’s stone basin, and carefully set Ant down on his feet while Able jumped free and took up a protective position.
The invisibility shattered completely the moment Viktor released it, the magic collapsing inward with an almost audible snap.
Suddenly, they were visible again - three figures standing exposed in the garden’s center while guards closed in from all directions.
Viktor’s second form burst through - another shirt ruined, but his vampiric side wasn’t a fashion buff.
Thank fuck I always pack a couple of spares.
Although if they had many more of these incidents, Viktor would be running around shirtless.
Yet another reason to get the hell out of here.
Tearing the shreds of material from his shoulders, Viktor turned to face their attackers.
“You wanted twelve seconds, babe,” he growled. “I’ve got you.”
Behind him, Ant’s hands were already glowing with gathering magic.