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Chapter 29 - Chapter 29 - The Cost of Wanting What's Mine

Ryan tilted his head slightly, a crooked smile forming on his lips, as if all of this was nothing more than entertainment for someone profoundly bored. In truth, he seemed particularly thrilled about "Stefan's" arrival. Now he could finally deal once and for all with the vampire who had been eyeing his "girlfriend" — and, as a bonus, have even more fun.

Could the situation possibly get any better?

Unable to feel pleasure in ordinary satisfactions, he could only compare the sensation to something extremely specific: like an ice cream lover receiving a free pass to indulge for an entire year, or a gamer who finally manages to buy the game he'd wanted for years but never had the money for.

Either way, one thing was certain: that night was turning deliciously entertaining for him.

He tilted his head a little more, the crooked smile widening like that of someone who had just stumbled upon unexpected fun in the middle of the night. His green eyes roamed over Stefan from head to toe, calmly assessing him, as if he were choosing an item from a menu.

"Well, well…" he said, in an almost warm tone, thick with irony. "Your name is Stefan, right? It's unexpected that you're a vampire…"

Ignoring the human's words, Stefan coughed, his chest still burning from the impact that seemed to have rearranged every bone in his body. Air returned to his lungs in short, painful gasps, searing inside. He propped himself up on one elbow, struggling to rise, his deep green eyes — like a living forest — turning first toward Damon.

The sight made his heart clench.

His brother was destroyed, moaning on the ground in a way Stefan had never witnessed. His face was a bloody ruin, his body twisted in agony, and one of his legs had even been torn off. Every movement his brother made screamed extreme pain. The protective instinct overrode any personal suffering. The hero complex that had always defined him pushed his heart to ignore his own broken body.

"Damon…" he murmured, voice low but filled with genuine urgency.

He dragged himself toward him, fingers trembling as he tried to assess his brother's wounds, even knowing there was little he could do in that state. Damon had already fallen unconscious from the sheer brutality of his condition…

Then he lifted his gaze.

His eyes locked onto Ryan, who remained perfectly relaxed, watching their every movement like someone enjoying a long-awaited performance. The casual posture almost gave the impression that he was waiting — eagerly — for Stefan to try to save his brother, just so he could crush that hope effortlessly.

Those green pupils of his seemed veiled by a disturbing layer of pleasure and amusement. There was something profoundly wrong with that look. He wasn't merely watching their suffering; he was savoring it. Every groan of pain, every desperate attempt to react, was absorbed like part of a grotesque banquet, something designed to satisfy an ancient, cruel appetite.

The aura radiating from him was suffocating, unmistakable — like a man who, after wandering days in a desert without water or food, finally finds an oasis. Yet there was no rush to throw himself upon it, no urgency to quench the hunger or thirst. It was as though Ryan wanted to savor the moment to the fullest, to prolong the anticipation, to enjoy the oasis slowly despite the almost uncontrollable appetite overflowing from his gaze.

Stefan recognized it instantly.

It was the same look he had seen reflected in his own mirror countless times during his Ripper days.

The realization came with a slow, creeping chill down his spine. For Ryan, this wasn't a confrontation. It had never been. It was the purest form of entertainment — the cruel amusement of toying with food before finally feasting on it.

He had thought he was saving his brother from yet another mess. Damon had always been like this: provoking the wrong people, messing with forces he couldn't control. It wouldn't be the first time Stefan had to clean up his mistakes.

But this time, the situation was far worse than he could ever have imagined.

Damn it… what the hell had Damon gotten himself into this time?

Stefan hadn't even known his brother had returned to Mystic Falls. He had only heard noises earlier and come to investigate, expecting to find some reckless vampire attacking someone at a crowded party, maybe an injured animal — anything but this scene. And now there was Damon, reduced to this state, destroyed before his eyes.

He had to do something.

Even if their relationship was far from good, even with all the fights, resentments, and accumulated mistakes over the years… Damon was still his older brother. And that alone was reason enough not to turn his back.

But what could he do?

The "human" standing before him was far stronger than both him and Damon combined. And to make matters worse, he still faithfully followed an animal blood diet, which left him considerably weaker than an average vampire. Any false move, any desperate attempt at confrontation, would only make the situation even worse.

Deep down, he knew. Anything he did at that moment had a high chance of simply making everything irreversibly worse.

Stefan took a deep breath, ignoring the throbbing pain in every part of his body, and forced himself to stand. His legs shook, nearly gave out, but he stayed upright, even if hunched, like someone refusing to fall out of sheer stubbornness. The world spun for a second, but he clenched his teeth and focused.

"Please…" While looking at the human standing so casually, he said, voice hoarse but sincere. "I'm sorry."

Ryan tilted his head slightly, as if genuinely surprised.

"Oh." The crooked smile returned, lazy. "An apology?"

Stefan swallowed hard, the lump in his throat burning, but he forced the words out anyway.

"If he did anything to you… anything at all… it's my fault." He opened his hands in an almost pleading gesture, fully exposing himself, as if to say he wouldn't try anything and only wanted a peaceful conversation. "I'll take care of it. I promise. Damon will leave Mystic Falls. He won't come near you, or the town, or anyone. I promise!"

His voice cracked at the end, heavy with genuine desperation.

"So please… spare him."

Ryan studied the young man's face — completely broken by despair — and flashed a wide smile of the kind that promised nothing good.

"Stefan… man, I just lost every last drop of respect I had for you…" He clicked his tongue, almost pityingly. "Damn… you say 'I promise' like that's still worth anything. I'll admit, there's something almost admirable about your naivety… but let's make one thing very clear."

"Other than your name and the fact that we go to the same school, you mean absolutely fucking nothing to me." His eyes sparkled with almost childlike amusement. "I already knew you were a vampire. And, look, for a second I thought you might actually grow some balls, you know? Attack me, try that little mind trick… anything to get me away from Elena."

He made a vague gesture with his hand.

"I confess I was a little disappointed."

"And before you try to play dumb — 'what are you talking about?' — let me save you the effort." The smile widened even more. "I noticed your interest in her the exact moment you walked into that school. But it became painfully obvious during that ridiculous little theater you put on in history class, answering every question the teacher asked just for her."

He raised his eyebrows mockingly.

"Like: 'look at me, Elena, I'm smart and mysterious.' Man… you're pathetic. Haven't you ever heard that women prefer guys with balls? Real man energy? I mean, you're a vampire. You've got to be, what, a hundred, two hundred years old at least… and you're there drooling over a teenager."

Ryan made an exaggerated grimace.

"Thinking about it… dude, what's wrong with you? If we're going by age, that's more messed up than pedophilia."

"But honestly? That wasn't even what shocked me the most." His eyes scanned Stefan up and down. "The worst part is you have zero masculine presence and even less attitude. And I don't even know you that well, but I can see from a mile away what kind of person you are — I'd say you're the classic nice guy."

"And let me tell you a little secret of adult life: no woman likes nice guys. That type who does everything for her when he's in love. Nice guys are disposable…"

The smile grew.

"And you know what's even funnier?" He pointed lightly toward Damon, sprawled on the ground. "I don't doubt for a second that if you somehow ended up with Elena… sooner or later she'd dump you. That is, of course, if I didn't exist in the equation. Because she will always prefer someone like me — someone stronger, way more attractive, and let's be real here: I've got a much bigger dick than you, and I know exactly how to use it to satisfy a woman. So now that we've made that crystal clear, let's get back to where we left off… If there wasn't someone incredible like me in the picture, and Elena chose you for being mysterious and intelligent, she'd probably trade you for your own brother sooner or later. Because, let's be honest… he's way more interesting than you."

"He was man enough to face me head-on. He was man enough to try to kill me, even after I'd already crushed his bones and internal organs with a kick — the same way I did to you." Ryan tilted his head slightly, looking at him with calculated contempt. "And I'm saying this because, look… you're in exactly the same state he was. Except there's one glaring difference."

He gave a cold half-smile.

"You're already apologizing and begging. Do you get now why I said I lost all respect for you? For a moment, I confess I got excited when you attacked me — I thought I'd finally get a real fight, man to man, a proper brawl. But that's something you'll never truly understand… because deep down, you're just too much of a coward…"

His tone hardened completely.

"So everything I have to say to you is this: grow some fucking balls."

Stefan felt as though every word had been violently ripped out of him. The air seemed heavier, too thick to breathe, as if the environment itself was conspiring to suffocate him. Each sentence from that human sank deep into his heart, not just as insults, but as a cruel, precise exposure of insecurities he had spent decades trying to keep buried.

And the worst part was…

He was right.

There really was a part of him that carried exactly that fear. A silent, persistent dread that if he ever got together with Elena, Damon would show up sooner or later and ruin everything — just like he always had. Even if she wasn't Katherine, even if she was different in so many ways, that shadow still existed. The uncomfortable, almost shameful worry that Elena might, at some point, choose Damon over him.

Hearing it said out loud with such cold certainty made that insecurity swallow the entire storm of emotions in his chest for a moment…

"Now that we've established how much I despise you for that…" Not caring about Stefan's silence, Ryan continued casually, "Elena is my girlfriend… You understand what that means, don't you?"

Stefan felt the world spin with those words…

Ryan pointed at himself. "My girlfriend."

Then pointed at Stefan.

"And you're the guy who wants to fuck my girlfriend."

He took a deep breath, as though explaining something absurdly obvious to someone too slow to keep up.

"So yeah, you can imagine how that affects our relationship. We're not gonna sit together braiding each other's hair or sharing deep dark secrets because of this. Because, see… you just put yourself on my blacklist."

Ryan jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward Damon, who was moaning on the ground, reduced to little more than a pile of broken meat.

"But then we have this." He smiled calmly, almost satisfied. "This sack of shit you call a brother, crawling like a worm I was having the immense pleasure of crushing before you showed up."

The smile widened a little more, cruel.

"Then you simply ignored me when I spoke to you the first time… and only after you finally recovered from my kick did you decide to start begging for his life." He shook his head in mock disapproval. "Going back to the main point of how much I despise you for being so pathetic: you showed zero manners when addressing me. And if that still wasn't enough to ruin your reputation with me, there's one more very important detail…"

He tilted his head slightly, as though remembering something trivial.

"Your brother…"

"Just so nothing is left unclear: I punched his face so many times I actually deformed it." He made a thoughtful grimace. "Oh, and I ripped his leg off too. Important detail. I always like to be transparent."

"Now, let's be honest, Stefan. Besides the fact that you want my girlfriend — who you apparently think I stole from you — there's also the small detail that I beat the absolute shit out of your brother. You must be dying to see me dead. Totally fair. I'd feel exactly the same in your place."

He shrugged, relaxed, like he was talking about the weather.

"After all, I wrecked your brother, left him mutilated… and took the woman you love."

Ryan slowly opened his arms in a theatrical gesture.

"So explain something to me…" His voice came out calm, almost curious. "Why, in the name of everything holy and profane, should I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?"

Stefan didn't answer.

Because in that instant, everything collapsed at once.

He was still trying to process the fact that Elena was dating that man. The same girl he was in love with, the one he wanted to win over, the reason he had stayed in Mystic Falls — a place full of memories he would rather keep buried…

And you know what was worse?

The man standing before him was smiling while casually talking about mutilating Damon. The same man who watched their suffering like someone watching a trivial show, a pleasant pastime to fill the time. How could she fall for someone like that? He had to be deceiving her…

Stefan's mind tried to keep up. Tried to rationalize, organize the facts, find some logic in that absurd scenario. It failed.

Everything was too fast, too cruel, too real. And for the first time in a very long while, he felt he wasn't just losing control of the situation — he was losing the ground beneath his feet. The forest seemed to slowly spin around him, as if the world had come off its axis.

But then came the rage.

Oh, the rage came like a violent wave, swallowing his entire body. It washed over reason, crushed the self-control he prized so much — that control built over decades of discipline and guilt. Nothing remained except it. Rage for his brother destroyed, moaning on the ground, reduced to something unrecognizable. Rage for Elena, even if she wasn't his, even if that feeling was unfair, irrational, shameful. And above all, rage for that human. That man who mocked everything, who treated other people's pain as entertainment, like a cruel child playing with two toys he had decided to break. Mocking him. Mocking Damon. Telling him to "grow some balls"…

He didn't think.

His body moved on its own. Vampiric speed exploded in a blur. Muscles strained to their limit as Stefan charged at Ryan, trying to rip his heart out and end it all with his hand.

Before he could even make contact, Ryan raised his arm with lazy ease and caught Stefan's wrist mid-air as if it weighed nothing.

His fingers closed with absolute force.

Bones creaked under the pressure.

"Now we're talking, Stefan…" Ryan murmured, voice low and rough with amusement. "Now you're showing some real man energy…"

The smile widened as he watched the shock on the vampire's face.

Stefan tried to pull his arm back but couldn't. The only thing he could think to do was swing his other fist in a desperate, lightning-fast punch — too fast for any normal human — but Ryan was already moving. His body spun with a martial grace that looked like a deadly dance as he sidestepped and slipped into an automatic boxing stance, throwing a short jab that connected cleanly with Stefan's chin.

The impact cracked like breaking wood. His head snapped back in a blur of pain. He grunted, spinning his body to counter with an elbow strike, but Ryan slipped away as if he had predicted the move before it even happened.

His fist sank into Stefan's stomach with brutal precision.

The air was crushed from his lungs. Pain exploded like fire. Stefan gasped, doubling over, but still tried a low sweep, vampiric instinct driving the speed.

Ryan hopped over it casually.

His knee rose mid-motion and smashed into Stefan's face.

A wet crack echoed through the woods as the nose broke, blood exploding in bright red. Stefan staggered backward, eyes watering, world spinning, but he didn't stop.

He couldn't stop.

He charged again, fangs bared in a snarl, hands aiming for the neck to snap it, his entire body reduced to a blur of protective fury.

Ryan laughed low.

He blocked with his forearm. The impact vibrated through Stefan's bones like a hammer. Then came the response — fast, precise, merciless: left to the liver, right to the ribs, uppercut to the chin…

Each strike was clean, technical, martial. As if he were training on a living heavy bag.

Stefan felt each impact like an internal demolition. Bones cracking. Blood filling his mouth. Still he tried to fight back any way he could — a low kick, claws digging into an arm, a desperate headbutt — but it was useless.

Ryan was beating him effortlessly. At one point, deciding to end the "fun," he reinforced his body even further with [Cursed Energy] and delivered a final punch. His right fist flew like lightning, smashing into Stefan's face with a force that echoed through the woods like dry thunder. The impact completely deformed the young man's features: nose crushed inward, cheekbone shattering like old porcelain, left eye torn from its socket in a gush of blood and viscous fluid, rolling across the damp earth like a rotten grape…

"GAAAHH— NO— AAAAAHHHHH—" Screaming, Stefan collapsed to his knees beside Damon, body convulsing in shocks of pain, vision blurred and one-sided, the world spinning in red and black as he gasped…

Damon, waking from the pain-induced stupor that had knocked him out, blinked slowly through his ruined face. Swollen eyes focused on his brother beside him — mutilated and bleeding just like him. A hoarse, raw scream of panic and concern he barely recognized in himself tore from his gurgling throat.

"Grrhh— aaaahh— Stefan… what… what the hell are you doing here? Run… fuck, run now!"

Ryan watched the pathetic attempt of the older brother to save the younger when he couldn't even save himself, a lazy smile on his face as he raised two fingers casually.

"Dismantle…"

Damon's remaining leg was severed clean at the thigh, the limb flying sideways in a bloody arc, the invisible cut perfect as an ethereal guillotine.

"AAAAAHHHH— NO— MY OTHER LEG— AAAAARRGH—!" Damon roared in agony, the scream echoing high and broken through the woods. His body collapsed completely, convulsing as fresh blood gushed from the new stump, the torment consuming him like living fire, grunting low between screams: "Grrhh— aaaargh—!"

Stefan, dazed and seeing the world through a red haze, his remaining eye blinking in panic, let out a hoarse roar — a guttural sound of fury and despair — and attacked Ryan again. His body launched forward in one last vampiric surge, hands outstretched to tear into the neck: "GAAAHH— NO—! Leave Damon alone…"

Ryan raised his fingers once more, tone casual as if ordering a drink.

"Dismantle…"

Both of Stefan's legs were torn off at once, the invisible cuts slicing cleanly through the thighs. The limbs fell with wet thuds onto the earth. The vampire crashed face-first into a pool of his own blood, screaming in agony as the world darkened at the edges.

"AAAAAHHHH— MY GOD— NO— AAAAAAHHHHHH—!" He groaned between waves of pain, "Khk— hrrghhh— aaaahh—!"

Ryan observed the two fallen figures for a moment longer than necessary. The forest had returned to an almost embarrassing silence, broken only by their irregular breathing and the muffled moans escaping between clenched teeth. He let out a slow sigh, as if finally releasing built-up tension.

"Funny…" he said, almost reflective. "A lot of people would find it strange that I specifically targeted both of your legs."

He walked a few steps, gravel crunching under his shoes, and stopped in front of them.

"But there's something extremely satisfying about seeing someone who thinks they're strong, fast, or dangerous… reduced to crawling." The smile returned, calm and cruel. "On the ground. Like worms."

Stefan tried to move; his body responded only with disordered spasms. Damon let out a hoarse sound, somewhere between pain and rage, but didn't even have the strength to curse.

Ryan crouched slowly between them.

"Relax…" he continued, almost gently. "I've decided I'm not going to kill you today."

The words hung in the air like something wrong, misplaced. There was no relief in them — only renewed terror.

"Consider it a favor." He tilted his head. "Or better yet… a warning."

With calm movements, he grabbed Damon's face with one hand — firm enough to force him to look up — and did the same to Stefan with the other. Despite both their faces being smashed (and one of them missing an eye), they could still look at his face…

Ryan studied them for a few seconds, green eyes attentive, registering every reaction, every involuntary tremor.

"Burn this into your memory," he said in a low, controlled voice. "Because if I ever see either of you again… in Mystic Falls, near Elena, Bonnie, or Caroline, or even breathing the same air as them…"

His fingers tightened just enough to make the threat unmistakable.

"I will make you beg for death. And only after that… will I grant it."

After saying that, he decided to do just one more thing before returning to the three beauties waiting for him…

"You both look relieved that I decided to spare you, I can see it…" Ryan tilted his head, amused.

"But hey, Stefan… you lusted after my woman. Thought you could hit on Elena right in front of me, like I wouldn't notice." His tone dropped, dangerous. "That deserves special punishment, don't you think? Just to make sure you remember to keep your hands — and everything else — far away from what's mine."

Stefan blinked slowly through the haze of pain. His remaining eye was glassy, lost between confusion and horror. His body still trembled in weak spasms when Ryan moved.

Before he could process anything, Ryan's foot rose and came down with calculated force against Stefan's chest, flipping him onto his back like a discarded doll. The impact tore a guttural grunt from the vampire, air fleeing his lungs in a broken sound.

"Khk— hrrghhh—!"

Beside him, Damon tried to lift his ruined head. Swollen eyes focused on the scene, and a hoarse gurgle escaped his throat as he struggled to speak:

"Grrhh— Stefan— aaaahh—!"

Ryan watched without hurry.

Then he raised his fingers once more — the gesture casual, almost bored, as though pointing at something trivial in the air.

A soft "Pu!" sound was heard, as though something had been sliced off — but this time the sound came from between Stefan's legs. This time he had aimed [Dismantle] directly at the crotch of the vampire who had been eyeing his woman.

Stefan felt a cold sensation between his legs. When he looked down, he saw his pants torn. Blood began to flow, and then a mutilated, blood-soaked object fell from inside his trousers.

In that instant, Stefan finally felt the horrible pain exploding from his groin.

"AHHH!!!!!"

With a tearing scream, Stefan clutched his crotch — what little remained functional on one side. Then he began to scream and thrash violently on the ground.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

A terrifying howl echoed — nothing human about it. Blood continued to pour relentlessly from between his legs. Anyone nearby would have seen clearly the mutilated, bloodied object lying on the ground.

"Ah, so noisy…" Ryan murmured, turning his gaze to Damon, who was watching the scene with wide, swollen eyes filled with a mix of horror and his own pain, chest heaving in ragged gasps. "Don't worry, big guy. I wasn't going to leave you out of the fun…"

Knowing he would be the next target of that atrocity, Damon tried to drag himself backward. The stumps of his legs left bloody trails on the damp earth, a gurgling growl escaping his ruined throat. But before he could move more than a few inches, Ryan raised his fingers once again — the gesture as casual as wiping dust off a shelf.

"Dismantle…"

The invisible cut came down like an ethereal blade, aimed precisely at Damon's groin, severing the genitals in one clean, precise motion. The piece of flesh fell to the ground with a wet, bloody thud, fresh blood gushing from the exposed stump.

"AHHHHHHHH, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Damon roared in agony, the scream echoing high and desperate through the woods. His body arched in violent spasms as he clutched his mutilated groin, tears mixing with blood on his ruined face: "GAAAHH— FUCK— NOOOOO— AAAAAARRGH—!"

Ryan laughed low, the sound rough and deeply satisfied as it echoed through the thick air. He tilted his head while watching the two vampires writhe in synchronized agony.

"Look at you two… screaming like little girls. And like I said before — mine is way bigger than both of yours combined. But hey, we're not done yet. Let's make sure this never grows back, shall we?"

Finishing his sentence, he used [Dismantle] countless times while raising his fingers. The invisible cuts rained down in rapid succession, shredding the already severed genitals into small, irregular pieces — as though sliced by invisible ethereal blades. The fragments fell to the earth in a bloody, unrecognizable mess, destroying any possibility of regeneration. Vampires would need the pieces intact to heal — and now only a mangled pulp remained.

It was utterly cruel.

If a man loses that… could either of them still be considered men? How were they supposed to live from now on? This was far worse than losing an arm or a leg. Both of them had been completely and irreversibly destroyed…

Ryan stretched slowly, raising his arms above his head like someone who had just finished a light gym session. The movement was casual, almost lazy, absurdly contrasting with the carnage he was leaving behind: two immortal vampires reduced to bloody stumps, writhing on the damp earth, moaning, crying, and gurgling in a symphony of agony that echoed through the woods.

He let out a long, satisfied sigh, like someone who had just finished a perfect meal.

"Whew… what a productive night."

He glanced one last time at the two mutilated bodies.

"Take care of yourselves, boys." His voice came out light, almost affectionate. "Remember the warning, yeah? Because I'm a man of my word… but I don't give second chances."

He turned and raised his right hand in a lazy wave as he began walking toward the forest party.

"See you later, girls…"

With those final words, he strolled unhurriedly through the dark woods, footsteps light and calm, as if he had just finished some boring paperwork. The distant sounds of the party in the clearing were already returning — music, laughter, lively conversations. The three beauties waiting for him were probably getting impatient, wondering where he had disappeared to.

Ryan smiled to himself, casually wiping his hands on his pants.

"What a night…"

He vanished among the trees, leaving behind only the heavy silence broken by the low, broken moans of the Salvatore brothers, who soon lost consciousness from blood loss and unbearable pain.

_____________________

(A/N: Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

We've reached another chapter, and I think it's important to share a bit of what guided my creative decisions up to this point. Honestly, while writing Ryan, he ended up feeling much closer to Negan from The Walking Dead than to Sukuna — perhaps a mix of both, since he carries that provocative, ironic, and talkative tone, something Sukuna never really had in excess. Ryan isn't just violent; he takes pleasure in control, in the feeling of superiority, and in psychological games.

More importantly, what did you think of this chapter? Did you like it? What do you think could be improved? Keep in mind that Ryan is still going to change, so if you "hated" this side of him being a sociopath, that's intentional. I want to build his character in a Dexter-style arc, where, by the end, he genuinely loves his wife and child.

As for the Salvatore brothers… well, they were literally broken — and are now the Salvatore sisters. They can still regenerate physically, but what once defined them as men is gone forever. Because of that, Damon leaves Caroline alone, and Stefan no longer pursues Elena. Still, they don't disappear from the story, especially due to the mystery surrounding the Tomb.

Ryan didn't kill them for a simple reason: he found it more entertaining to leave them alive. In his eyes, neither of them poses any real threat, although this will be explored in more detail in the next chapter.

From here on, the pace of the story will speed up considerably. The first season of the original work mostly revolves around Stefan and Elena's romance, Damon as a chaotic element, and the mystery of the Tomb. In the upcoming chapters, the focus will shift to the development of Ryan's romance with the girls, as well as the arrival of Stefan's old friend — a five-hundred-year-old vampire.

And now, I leave you with a question: what do you think I should do with Lexi? Simply kill her off?

We'll also have Anna, the Asian vampire, and all of her involvement with the Tomb.

Overall, I plan to wrap up the first season in about 10 to 20 chapters. Thank you all for following along.

Did you enjoy the chapter? Then you should know that over on my Patreon you can read up to chapters ahead for just 5USD! And yes—for that price, you also get full access to all of my content. That's right: cheaper than a snack… and with way more drama, action, and guaranteed emotional damage.

The link is right below. See you there!

My Patreon: patreon.com/Adam_Kadmon

Thank you so much for your support — you make all of this worthwhile.)

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