Chapter Twenty
The Claudius who was standing in the doorway was a far cry from the coven leader who’d appeared when they first arrived at the estate.
Blood still streaked his face from the magical backlash, and his pale gray eyes had gone nearly white with fury.
Gone was the controlled, arrogant mask - in front of him was the Claudius Viktor remembered from old - the messy version.
Edmund and Nathaniel flanked him, along with three other guards Viktor recognized from the garden confrontation. All of them looked like they’d been dragged through hell, but the mere fact they were still conscious meant they were still a threat.
Five against one, with Ant defenseless behind me. Viktor widened his stance slightly, blocking more of the doorway. Could be worse. Could be ten.
“Move aside,” Claudius said, his voice dropping to that deadly quiet tone Viktor remembered from centuries ago. The tone that preceded executions.
“No.”
“I will not ask again.”
“Good. Saves us both time.”
Claudius’s lip curled back, exposing fangs. “You forget yourself, Viktor. You forget what you are, where you came from…”
“I forget nothing.” Viktor kept his voice level, conversational almost. “I remember exactly what this place was like, and I’ll never forget what an asshole you are.”
“I am your elder. I am…”
“You’re a paranoid coward who built a version of your world because you were too afraid of real life to actually live in it.”
The words landed like physical blows. Edmund actually took a half-step back, eyes widening. Nathaniel’s jaw tightened. The three younger guards exchanged rapid glances.
Claudius went very still. “You dare speak to me…”
“I’ll speak however I want. For the last time, you’ve got no authority over me. You are barely older than I am, certainly not enough to be my elder, and you haven’t earned an ounce of respect from me in all the time I’ve known you.”
“I invoke lex antiqua…”
“Invoke whatever dead language bullshit you want. It doesn’t mean a damn thing.
” Viktor felt something shifting in his chest, some ancient weight finally cracking apart.
“You stood in that hallway earlier and tried to claim power over me simply because I spent forty years in this gilded cage. Forty fucking years of watching you humiliate anyone who questioned you, kill anyone who threatened your control, and hide behind walls you called protection.”
“This coven is protection,” Claudius snapped. “You abandoned your people for a human criminal, degraded yourself…”
“I left because I couldn’t stomach one more second of your paranoid power games.
” Viktor’s voice sharpened. “You rule through fear. You demand loyalty but give nothing worth being loyal to. You built this estate into a fortress and convinced everyone inside that the real threat was out there instead of standing right in front of them.”
“I kept us safe…”
“You kept yourself comfortable.” Viktor gestured at the safe.
“How many humans did you enthrall? How many families did you destroy for money you didn’t even need?
Ronald Finch was a forensic accountant trying to help people you’d victimized, and you murdered him because he found your dirty secrets. ”
“He broke into my home…”
“He didn’t break in because you had him staying in a guest room, and this isn’t a home. It’s a monument to your ego.”
Claudius actually flinched, his composed mask slipping for half a second before slamming back into place.
“You speak of degradation,” Viktor continued, “but I’ve lived more in the past year with my mate than I did in four decades here.
I chose him. Not because some archaic law demanded it, not because I feared what would happen if I didn’t - I chose him because he’s worth choosing.
Because that’s what actual freedom looks like. ”
“Freedom.” Claudius practically spat the word. “You call submitting to a human…”
“Ant is not human. How many times do you have to hear that before it registers in that thick brain of yours?” Viktor met Claudius’s gaze directly. “He’s my fated mate. That bond alone supersedes every hierarchy you cling to, every law you invoke, every bit of authority you think you possess.”
“The mate bond is a fairy tale…”
“There you go again with the same fabricated nonsense you tell yourself to soothe your soul. A mating bond is a documented scientific fact studied by the Justiciary and the Academy,” Ant interjected calmly from behind the desk.
“We’ve already had this conversation at dinner.
Your refusal to accept empirical evidence doesn’t alter reality, and never will. ”
Claudius’s hands clenched into fists. “You will surrender that mage to me now…”
“His name is Anthony,” Viktor said quietly. “Doctor Anthony Channon. And you’ll address him with respect, or you won’t address him at all.”
“I will rip his throat out…”
“You’ll die trying.” Viktor let his eyes flash red. “I’ve killed for him before. I’ll do it again without losing a second of sleep.”
Edmund shifted uncomfortably. Claudius stared at Viktor for a long moment, and something ugly twisted across his face. Not just anger - something closer to genuine incomprehension. Like he couldn’t process how Viktor had slipped so completely beyond his control.
“You would betray your own kind,” Claudius said slowly, “for a mage who will die in a handful of decades…”
“I would choose my mate over every vampire in this building,” Viktor corrected. “Over every vampire in the state. Over you, especially, without hesitation.”
“Then you are no vampire at all.”
“Good. If being a vampire means ending up like you, I’ll pass.”
Claudius’s composure finally shattered. His fangs extended fully, claws erupting from his fingertips as his eyes bled to pure crimson. “You worthless…”
A high-pitched wail cut through the air. Distant, but growing rapidly closer. Sirens. Viktor’s enhanced hearing picked out at least three vehicles moving fast down the access road, maybe four. The Justiciary had finally arrived, and now there were no wards to keep them out. Thank fuck.
Claudius heard them, too. His head snapped toward the window, then back to Viktor, and something desperate flickered across his face. The look of a man watching his entire world collapse.
“No,” Claudius breathed. “No, you cannot…”
“We already did.” Ant’s voice remained infuriatingly calm. “I contacted the Justiciary eleven minutes ago. They made good time. They’re here to arrest you for Ronald Finch’s murder, illegal vampiric trances, financial exploitation, and attempted murder of a Justiciary investigator.”
“Your testimony is compromised…”
“The photographs aren’t.” Ant held up his phone.
“Every ledger, every bank statement, every journal entry documenting two hundred years of crimes. All backed up to secure servers the moment I took them. Even if you destroy my phone, the evidence exists, and I will stand up in any court in the land and in front of any truth sayer, and state that evidence again, so it’s known to be true. ”
The sirens grew louder. Viktor could hear tires on gravel now, vehicles pulling up to the manor’s front entrance.
Claudius stood frozen, face contorting through a rapid series of emotions - fury, disbelief, calculation, and finally something that looked almost like panic.
“You will not leave this room,” Claudius said, voice gone flat and dangerous. “Neither of you will leave alive.”
“You really want to murder a Justiciary investigator while the Justiciary is literally pulling up outside?” Viktor raised an eyebrow. “That’s your solution to all this?”
“I want you dead.” Claudius turned to his guards. “Kill them both. Now.”
Nobody moved. Edmund glanced at Nathaniel. Nathaniel stared at the floor. The three younger guards looked anywhere except at Claudius.
“I gave you an order,” Claudius snarled.
“The Justiciary is here,” Nathaniel said quietly. “If we kill them…”
“If you disobey me, I will see you exiled from every coven on this continent.”
“If we obey you,” Edmund said slowly, “we’ll be arrested as accomplices to murder.”
Claudius whirled on him. “You dare…”
“I dare consider consequences,” Edmund interrupted, and for the first time since Viktor had arrived, the vampire’s polished composure cracked completely. “You told us the accountant was a thief. You said there was no evidence. You promised the Justiciary had nothing.”
“They have nothing without…”
“They have photographs of your confession.” Nathaniel gestured at Ant. “Written in your own hand, in your journal, Claudius. How could you be so…?”
“Don’t question me.”
“Someone should’ve questioned you decades ago,” Edmund said flatly. “Before you dragged the entire coven into your mess.”
Heavy footsteps echoed through the manor’s main floor. Multiple sets, moving with purpose.
“Justiciary!” someone shouted. “We have a warrant to search the premises.”
Claudius’s face went pale. Not just pale - ashen, like he’d finally grasped the magnitude of what was happening.
“No,” he whispered. “No, you can’t…this is my estate…”
“This estate is now a crime scene,” Ant said calmly. “And you’re under arrest.”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs. Viktor counted at least six sets, moving fast. Claudius turned back to Viktor one last time, and the expression on his face was almost pitiable.
Not regretful - Claudius didn’t possess that kind of self-awareness - but genuinely bewildered, like the world had suddenly stopped making sense.
“You were one of us,” Claudius said hoarsely. “You belonged here…”
“I never belonged here,” Viktor said quietly. “I just didn’t realize it until I found somewhere I actually did belong.”
The footsteps reached the hallway. Viktor caught the scent of unfamiliar vampires and mages - Justiciary enforcement teams, trained and armed with legal authority Claudius couldn’t intimidate or threaten.
“I will fight this,” Claudius hissed. “I will fight every charge, contest every piece of evidence…”
“Good luck with that.” Viktor stepped aside from the doorway, clearing the entrance. “You’re gonna need it.”
The first Justiciary enforcer appeared in the hallway. He was a broad-shouldered vampire in tactical gear, badge displayed prominently on his chest. Behind him, three more enforcers and a mage carrying what looked like spelled restraints.
The lead enforcer’s gaze swept the room. “Lord Claudius Raven?”
Claudius drew himself upright, trying to summon what was left of his dignity. “I am. You are trespassing on private property…”
“We have a warrant for your arrest on charges of murder, illegal use of vampiric trance, financial exploitation, and assault on a Justiciary investigator.” The enforcer’s voice was professionally neutral. “You have the right to remain silent…”
“I will not submit to…”
The mage raised one hand, and silver light flared. Spelled restraints snapped around Claudius’s wrists before he could finish the sentence, glowing with containment magic designed specifically for vampires.
Claudius jerked against the bindings, fangs bared. “You dare…”
“Yeah, we dare.” The lead enforcer gestured to his team. “Take him downstairs. Separate holding cells for the accomplices.”
Edmund and Nathaniel didn’t resist when two enforcers approached with additional restraints. Edmund’s shoulders slumped in visible defeat, and Nathaniel just looked exhausted. The younger guards backed away from the door, hands raised in surrender.
Viktor watched Claudius being escorted from the room, still struggling against restraints that wouldn’t budge. The ancient vampire’s protests echoed down the hallway, growing fainter as they dragged him toward the stairs.
Eight hundred years of paranoia and power games, ended by a forensic accountant and one determined mage with a phone camera.
The lead enforcer approached Viktor, his expression cautious but not hostile. “Viktor?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re Doctor Channon’s mate?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he injured? Dispatch said something about him being trapped in a ward and…”
“I’m fine,” Ant called from behind the desk. “Exhausted and experiencing minor nosebleeds, but conscious and coherent.”
The enforcer’s eyebrows rose slightly. “You destroyed Lord Claudius’s ward matrix?”
“The structure was fundamentally flawed and overextended. It collapsed when I applied pressure to the keystone convergence point.”
“Uh-huh.” The enforcer glanced at Viktor. “Is he always like this?”
“Pretty much.”
“Right.” The enforcer stepped into the study, surveying the open safe. “We’ll need your formal statements, scene reading documentation, and any evidence you collected.”
“I have photographs of all documents contained in the safe,” Ant said, moving carefully around the desk.
Able appeared in the doorway, tail wagging when he spotted his mage.
Ant rested one hand on Able’s head, and some of the tension finally bled from his shoulders.
“I can transfer them to your secure servers immediately.”
“Appreciated.” The enforcer pulled out a tablet. “Let’s start with...”
Viktor stopped listening to the procedural details, his entire focus narrowing to Ant. His mate was upright and functional, but Viktor could see the exhaustion in every line of his body, the way he leaned slightly against the desk for support.
He needs sleep. Food. Safety. And he’d get all three, just as soon as they finished cooperating with the Justiciary.
Ant glanced up, catching Viktor’s gaze. I’m okay, his mate sent through their bond. Tired, but okay.
You’re amazing.
I believe the word is thorough. There’s a difference.
You’re both.
Ant’s lips quirked in a small, private smile that nobody else would notice. But Viktor did. He always would.