It’s not the kind of silence that comes before the violence.
It’s the kind that means something is already here.
The voice has a slight Spanish accent, polished and confident with just enough arrogance to make it grating.
“Please open up, or my draughs will break down the door. I would hate for our reunion to begin on such negative terms.”
Ezra’s shadows detonate. They slam into the walls again, knocking books to the floor—hungry to consume the space, or rip it apart.
Others coil around me, winding close and trembling with tension, trying desperately to shield me from whatever comes next.
Ezra mutters a furious string of curses as he lifts me gently off his lap and rises to his feet. His shadows tighten, the last thread of restraint holding him back from tearing through the door.
“Ezra?” My voice is barely a breath.
He exhales through his nose, dragging a hand through his hair.
“It’s nothing,” he says softly, but there’s an edge to it. “Just something from my past.”
You’d think billions of years on Earth would have made him a better liar.
Ezra straightens, and I catch his human mask slip for a split second, revealing the monster underneath.
I should be terrified. Instead I feel safe … okay, and a little turned on.
“You might as well meet him, Aurora.” His tone is smooth and careful. “It’s possible he might have information on the Disciples. Though … should you intend to claim your title, he may not respond kindly. He considers himself a leader in our world.”
I exhale sharply, already exhausted. “Great. But who, or what, is he?”
Ezra’s jaw tightens.
He hesitates, then says evenly, “He’s a vampire.”
Huh.
Vampires.
Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic.
Ezra
Of all the goddamn underborne that could show up at my door right now, this soul-sucking piece of shit was the absolute last one I wanted to see.
I storm downstairs with a fractured, bitter growl, my shadows curling in tight coils around my wrists, mirroring the tension in my spine.
I force a breath through my nose. The shadows hesitate, then slowly sink beneath my skin, quiet and obedient … for now.
Aurora’s footsteps follow, soft but urgent, right on my heels.
“Vampires?” she says in a curious tone. “They’re real? And they know you? How?”
“It’s a long story. But basically, I fucked up, and to make amends, I promised them a favor. Terrible timing, though,” I mutter as I stalk to the door.
Aurora steps away as I throw it open, the sudden rush of air carrying with it a wisp of ash and burnt honey.
Vampires are mostly civil to the other underborne and the erevald but can be unpredictable when facing challenges. And if Renato seeks to redeem my favor in person, he must be desperate.
Or stupid.
