The moment Kraven saw the call connect, his voice came through the phone, urgent and strained. "Selene, Elder Victor wants you back at the castle immediately."
Selene stood in the damp, echoing sewer tunnel, the smell of rain and refuse thick in the air. She glanced at her remaining Death Dealers, their faces grimy in the beam of her flashlight. She had the Dragon Ball. The mission was accomplished.
"Understood. We're returning now."
She ended the call, and the sudden silence was broken only by the sound of dripping water.
Soren, who was sealing the waterproof box again just in case, looked at her with obvious confusion. His brow furrowed. "What do you even want that thing for? And why are the werewolves hunting it too?"
Selene met his eyes, her own unreadable in the dim light. "This concerns the glory of our coven and our future evolution."
Soren blinked. Glory? Evolution? How could a single orange bead relate to any of that? What the hell did it actually do?
Before he could press further, Selene raised a hand, her tone final. "Elder Victor has awakened. We return to the castle. Now."
One of the other Death Dealers spoke up, his voice rough. "What about Michael's payment? He's going to turn into a werewolf eventually anyway."
Selene considered that for a second, her head tilted. "Transfer the money. I said I'd buy his Dragon Ball, so I'll buy it. As for him becoming a werewolf, the werewolves won't want to kill their own kind. We don't need to protect him anymore."
Everyone nodded. It was a clean transaction. They loaded into their vehicles, the engines rumbling to life in the wet, empty street, and headed back.
At the Fraternity's London safehouse, Alexei and Mr. X had returned with their werewolf prisoners. The interrogation room was sparse. Bare concrete walls. A single, cold metal table. A bright, buzzing fluorescent light overhead cast harsh shadows.
Mr. X sat across from a bound Raze. "Tell me about your situation with the vampires. Your action trying to kidnap civilian. And why you sold vampire intelligence to the Fraternity."
He placed a test tube filled with dark blood on the table. He'd confiscated it from the werewolves during the firefight. "Also, what are you doing collecting vampire blood?"
Faced with Alexei's overwhelming, quiet power and Mr. X's cold, bureaucratic authority, Raze adopted a desperate tone. He leaned forward as much as his restraints would allow.
"Sir, you have to hear us out. Those vampires are monsters. You know about slavery, right? The Civil War? Liberation movements?"
His voice grew strained. "Those vampires treated us like animals. Slaves. For centuries. They whipped us for entertainment. Killed us for sport."
"We resisted freedom and survival. That's why our species are at war."
Alexei stepped forward. With a sudden, violent motion, he kicked Raze's chair, the metal legs scraping loudly as it tilted dangerously onto its back two legs.
He leaned down, his voice low. "Answer what you're asked. Nothing more. Why are you kidnapping ordinary people?"
Raze grimaced, catching his balance, but kept his expression meek. "We're not kidnapping ordinary people. We're searching for a relative. Someone from the original bloodline."
That caught Mr. X's attention. "Explain."
Raze didn't dare hold back. He laid out the whole story. The origin of vampires and werewolves. Their shared ancestor, Alexander Corvinus. The existence of a third, uncontaminated human bloodline. Their plan to use it to eliminate weaknesses and, one day, merge werewolf and vampire powers.
Alexei listened, stunned. So the older brother enslaved the younger brother, and the younger brother's entire bloodline had been oppressed for a thousand years.
This family really knew how to profit off tragedy.
Mr. X drummed his fingers on the metal table, the sound a sharp tap, tap, tap in the small room. "Were all those men you captured before from this original bloodline?"
Raze lowered his head. "No. Those were ordinary people. But we've found the actual heir now, so we won't be taking anyone else."
He looked up, his eyes pleading. "Sir, please let us go. We haven't attacked ordinary people. We barely even surface anymore."
"As for the vampires, they're abominations. I believed the righteous Fraternity would want to punish them, so I leaked the information."
Mr. X stared at him for a long moment, then stood up, having heard enough. Alexei followed him to the door.
As Mr. X opened the heavy steel door, he glanced back at Raze and the other captive werewolves. "Go confess to those ordinary people you captured and killed."
He walked out. Alexei followed.
Behind them, a Fraternity kill team entered the room. They were silent, clad in black, and carried assault rifles loaded with silver rounds.
The door clicked shut. The gunfire started immediately, loud and final.
Alexei didn't react to the muffled screams and gunshots from the room behind them. He fell into step beside Mr. X in the sterile hallway. "What's next? Do we go after the vampires now? Or dig deeper into other werewolf cells?"
"We know where the vampire castle is," Mr. X said calmly, as if discussing a logistics report. "Tomorrow, the Fraternity sends them a formal inquiry. We request information about their activities. Then we pay them a visit."
Alexei was impressed. Mr. X showed no fear, no hesitation at the idea of confronting these supposedly ancient and powerful creatures. The Fraternity's confidence was something else entirely.
"I heard both species are long-lived," Alexei mused. "Aren't you tempted? Though they do have drawbacks."
As a high-ranking member of the Fraternity, Mr. X knew about dragon bones and their true properties. He understood what real immortality looked like.
"Turn myself into one of those creatures?" His disdain was genuine, a slight sneer touching his lips. "I have zero interest."
Alexei studied Mr. X's expression. The man meant it. Though Mr. X's physical capabilities were clearly inferior to his own, he possessed unique skills and an unwavering, cold conviction.
Never underestimate anyone in the Fraternity. The lesson was worth remembering.
Selene and her surviving Death Dealers entered the castle, their boots echoing on the ancient stone floors. They descended to the elder's chamber. Victor sat on his throne, and the power emanating from him was a palpable force, like heat from a forge.
Selene walked to the center of the room and dropped smoothly to one knee. "Elder, you summoned me."
Victor rose and descended the steps. He moved with a grace that belied his power. He reached out and stroked her head gently, his fingers cool against her hair. "Why 'elder'? Call me father."
"Stand up."
Selene rose. Victor studied her face with something that was almost like affection. "My dear daughter. You always surprise me."
Victor felt a complicated warmth toward this adopted daughter he had created on a whim centuries ago. He had slaughtered her entire family. He had lied and told her werewolves were responsible. He had turned her into a vampire that very night.
For hundreds of years since, she had called him father. She had thrown herself into hunting werewolves with a fanatical, unmatched dedication. She had built a legendary reputation within the coven as the most feared Death Dealer.
And today, she had given him something he'd never known existed. A Dragon Ball that could grant wishes.