Chapter 10
Sophia’s conference room resembled a scene from a spy movie. Maps of Europe were spread out on a large oak table, surveillance photos pinned to cork boards, and laptops displaying security feeds from across the country.
Devon stood at the head of the table, his usual composed demeanor replaced by something harder, more dangerous. He’d been working tirelessly since Kate’s transformation six days ago, and it showed in the sharp angles of his face, the predative stillness of his movements.
“Give me an update. What do we know?” he asked without preamble.
Antoine consulted a tablet, his expression grim. “Aleksander left Paris within hours of taking Kate. A private jet, which filed a flight plan to Prague, but the plane never landed there.”
“Diversion,” Sophia commented from her position near the window. “Classic misdirection. He could be anywhere in Europe by now.”
“Or beyond,” added Liliana, one of Sophia’s security specialists. “We’ve had reports of unusual activity in Morocco, Istanbul, even as far as Hong Kong.”
Devon’s jaw tightened. “He’s covering his tracks.”
“It’s much more than that,” Antoine said, pulling up a new screen. “He’s been liquidating assets. Three properties sold in the last week, two more on the market. Bank accounts emptied and transferred to offshore holdings.”
“He’s running,” Devon said, the words spilled like ash from his mouth. “He knows what he’s done, the consequences, now he’s trying to disappear.”
Sophia turned away from the window, her expression unreadable. She’d seen empires rise and fall, watched councils form and fracture. This was just another move in a game she’d been playing for centuries.
“The Council has issued a formal warrant for his arrest. Viktor is displeased that Aleksander chose to openly challenge their authority.”
“Displeased?” Devon’s voice had a dangerous tone. “He violated a human under Council protection, turned her against her will, and abandoned her to die or become a monster. ‘Displeased’ seems insufficient.”
“Viktor’s exact words were ‘an affront to the natural order that demands swift and permanent correction,’” Sophia replied carefully. “I believe his intentions are clear.”
Devon felt a grim satisfaction at that. The Council’s justice would be absolute, but it would also be impersonal. Devon wanted something more personal. He wanted to look Aleksander in the eyes when he died.
“Any word from your contacts in Eastern Europe?” Devon asked Antoine.
“Nothing concrete. A few sightings that might be him, but by the time our people arrived, he was gone.” Antoine pulled up a map dotted with red pins. “He’s staying ahead of us, but just barely. He’s also making mistakes.”
“What kind of mistakes?”
“Feeding in public and leaving witnesses. In Rome, he killed a hotel clerk who asked too many questions. He’s getting sloppy.”
Devon studied the map and thought about the patterns. “He’s heading east, toward his old territories.”
“That’s what we thought, too,” Antoine said. “But look at this.” He brought up a new screen that displayed financial transactions. “Three days ago, a castle was purchased in Romania. It was a cash deal with no paper trail except for the deed transfer.”
“Romania,” Devon repeated, a cold feeling settling in his chest. “Near the Carpathian Mountains?”
“How did you know?”
“Because that’s where he was made,” Devon said quietly. “It’s where his maker trained him, where he learned to be what he is. If he’s planning something desperate, something final, he’d go back to his origins.”
Sophia moved to stand beside him, her expression troubled. “Devon, if he’s gone to ground in his ancestral territory, this becomes much more complicated. He’ll have allies there, resources we can’t easily counter.”
“Then we’ll have to be smarter than him,” Devon said. “And more ruthless.”
The room fell silent. Everyone present understood what Devon was really saying, that this hunt would not end with Aleksander’s capture and delivery to Council justice. This would end with blood and death and the kind of violence that even immortals whispered about in the dark.
“There’s something else,” Antoine said reluctantly. “About Kate.”
Devon’s attention snapped to him with laser focus. “What about Kate?”
“The maker bond. It’s more powerful than we initially thought. Luc reported that she’s been having… episodes. Moments where she’s not entirely herself.”
“What kind of episodes?”
“Yesterday, she was in the garden with one of Sophia’s staff. Mid-conversation, she suddenly stood up and began walking toward the gate. When the staff member asked where she was going, Kate said she had to meet someone. She had no memory of saying it.”
Devon felt ice form in his veins. “He’s calling to her.”
“It appears so. And the episodes are becoming more frequent.”
Devon closed his eyes, fighting against the rage that threatened to consume his rational thought.
It wasn’t enough for Aleksander to have violated Kate, to have stolen her humanity and abandoned her to suffer alone.
Now he was using the maker bond to puppet her, to drag her consciousness away from her own will.
“We need to find him,” Devon said, his voice very quiet. “Quickly.”
“Devon,” Sophia said carefully, “there’s one more thing. About the mark itself.”
“What about it?”
Sophia looked at Antoine. “Its placement is not random. Aleksander chose that spot for a reason.”
“I know that,” Devon said, feeling frustrated. “He wanted to torment me.”
“It’s more than that,” Sophia’s voice was gentle but firm. “The underside of the breast, near the heart… in the oldest traditions, that’s where a maker places their mark when they intend the bond to be permanent. Unbreakable.”
The words hit Devon like a physical blow. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that Aleksander didn’t just turn Kate out of spite. He turned her with the intention of keeping her forever. The placement of the mark suggests he believes he owns her now, that she belongs to him in a way that supersedes any other relationship.”
Devon’s hands clenched into fists. “Over my dead body.”
“That may be exactly what he’s counting on,” Antoine said quietly.
“Think about it, Devon. He takes Kate, turns her, and marks her as his permanent progeny. Then he waits for you to come after him. When you do, he has every legal right under our laws to defend his progeny from outside interference.”
“Even if that interference comes from her chosen lover?”
“Especially then. Maker’s rights supersede all other bonds.”
Devon stared at the map, at the red pins marking Aleksander’s potential trail across Europe, and felt something cold and final settle in his chest.
“Then we don’t rely on vampire law.”
“Devon—”
“No.” Devon’s voice cut through the room like a blade. “Aleksander wants to play by the old rules? Fine. But he’s forgotten something important about the old rules.”
“What’s that?”
Devon looked up from the map, his eyes blazing with an inhuman light. “In the old days, justice wasn’t dispensed by councils or courts. It was dispensed by whoever was strong enough to take it.”
He moved to the window, looking out at the Paris skyline. Somewhere out there, Aleksander was hiding in his mountain fortress, believing himself safe behind ancient laws and older loyalties.
He was about to learn how wrong he was.
“Gather everyone,” Devon said without turning around. “Every ally, every contact, everyone who owes us a favor. I want Aleksander found within the week.”
“And when we find him?” Sophia asked.
Devon’s reflection in the window smiled, and it was not a pleasant sight. “When we find him, we’re going to remind him why the old ways died out.”
“The Council—”
“Will thank us for solving their problem,” Devon said. “Viktor wants Aleksander dealt with permanently. He just can’t be seen ordering it directly.”
Devon turned back to the room, his gaze sweeping over the assembled vampires. “Aleksander made this personal when he took Kate. He made it unforgivable when he violated her. And he made it fatal when he marked her as his permanent possession.”
He returned to the table and placed his hands flat on the surface, leaning forward with focused intensity.
“We’re not just hunting a rogue,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute conviction. “We’re hunting a dead man who just doesn’t know it yet.”
The hunt had officially begun.
And somewhere in the mountains of Romania, Aleksander was about to discover that some prey fought back.