Manhattan looked different at night.
From the top floor of the glass tower overlooking the city, the streets below appeared like glowing veins of gold and red. Traffic crawled between skyscrapers, neon lights reflecting off polished windows and wet pavement.
Inside the office, the lights were dim.
Only the soft glow of multiple monitors illuminated the room.
Vaughn leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled beneath his chin as lines of encrypted data scrolled across the central screen.
He was a patient man.
Patient men often saw opportunities others missed.
Which was why the message from his informant had immediately caught his attention.
Lux Ardent.
Recent transaction flagged.
Vaughn tapped a key.
The system decrypted another layer of information, revealing a marketplace interface that looked sleek, anonymous, and deliberately difficult to trace.
The supernatural trafficking network.
A quiet black-market ecosystem hidden beneath layers of encryption and private bidding.
He had known about it for years.
He simply hadn't had a reason to interfere with it.
Until now.
Lux's name appeared again on the screen.
Buyer ID: Verified
Transaction completed
Vaughn leaned forward slightly.
"What did you buy, Lux?" he murmured.
Another command opened the listing.
The information that appeared was surprisingly sparse.
No image.
No detailed description.
Just a classification tag.
MYSTERY DEMON HYBRID
Below that, another note blinked on the screen.
Restricted classification — full data access limited
Vaughn's eyebrows lifted slightly.
Now that was interesting.
Restricted hybrids were rarely listed publicly.
Not unless the seller was trying to offload something… complicated.
He opened a secondary window and began tracing the seller credentials.
The deeper he dug, the more irregularities he found.
Limited access.
Redacted traits.
A steep discount.
Vaughn leaned back again, smiling faintly.
"Lux," he said quietly.
"What exactly did you bring home?"
He knew enough about the trafficking market to recognize the pattern.
Restricted creatures often meant one of two things.
Rare.
Or dangerous.
Sometimes both.
Either possibility was useful.
His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.
A location ping appeared on the side monitor.
Adirondack estate.
Exactly where Lux had been sent after the scandal.
Vaughn studied the blinking map marker.
So that was where his dear rival was hiding.
Interesting.
He tapped a button on the desk.
The office door opened almost immediately.
A man stepped inside.
Tall. Professional. Silent.
Vaughn didn't turn around.
"I need a favor," he said casually.
The man waited.
Vaughn gestured toward the screen.
"Lux Ardent recently purchased a restricted hybrid from the underground market."
The man glanced at the data.
"That's unusual."
"Very."
Vaughn smiled faintly.
"I want to know what he bought."
The man nodded once.
"I'll send someone."
"Good."
Vaughn's eyes remained on the map.
"Don't approach the estate yet," he added. "Just observe."
The man paused.
"You think the hybrid is dangerous?"
Vaughn chuckled softly.
"I hope it is."
Snow drifted lazily through the forest outside the manor.
Lux was in the kitchen when he noticed it.
The change was subtle.
But once he felt it, he couldn't ignore it.
The house felt colder.
Not the temperature.
The heating system was still running normally.
But the warmth he had been feeling all morning had vanished.
Lux frowned slightly as he poured coffee into a mug.
"…Weird."
He glanced toward the living room.
Kael had been there earlier.
Standing near the window.
Watching the forest.
Lux had left him there while grabbing something from the kitchen.
Now the room felt… different.
The strange sense of comfort that had settled around the house since Kael arrived was gone.
Lux leaned against the counter and took a slow sip of coffee.
Then he set the mug down.
"Kael?" he called.
No response.
Lux walked into the living room.
Empty.
The couch was still slightly indented where Lux had been sitting earlier, but Kael was nowhere in sight.
Lux glanced toward the staircase.
Still nothing.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
The quiet suddenly felt heavier than it had before.
Not uncomfortable.
Just…
Colder.
Lux exhaled slowly.
"Okay," he muttered to himself.
"That's definitely not in my head."
He didn't know exactly what Kael's aura did yet.
But one thing was becoming very clear.
When Kael was around…
The house felt warm.
And when he wasn't…
The place suddenly felt far too cold.
Lux stared toward the empty hallway for a moment.
Then he picked up his mug again.
"Well," he said under his breath.
"Guess the mystery demon doubles as central heating."
But despite the joke, a small part of him had already started wondering something else.
If Kael's presence could make the entire house feel warmer…
What would happen if Kael ever stopped holding back completely?
And why did the thought make Lux's pulse quicken just a little?