Cain’s arrival at Vazer’s mansion was anything but subtle.
The courtyard was a vast, desolate expanse—cold, unyielding stone bordered by towering iron gates. Dozens of vampires flanked the path, their eyes sharp, their bodies tense. The air was oppressive, heavy with anticipation and the coppery tang of old blood.
Cain stepped out of the car slowly, his boots crunching against the gravel with a deliberate, controlled weight. The wounds from his earlier rampage still throbbed beneath his coat, their angry, ragged edges attempting to heal. His golden eyes remained fixed on the mansion’s massive double doors, which creaked open with a deliberate, foreboding groan.
Vazer erged from the shadows, his stride confident, a smirk etched across his face. His eyes glittered with a predatory glimr, a twisted satisfaction at the sight of Cain. Flanking him were twice the number of guards Cain had brought, a stark display of force. And there, shackled in chains heavy with silver, was Violet.
Her wrists were raw, chafed red and bleeding. Her hair hung in wild, tangled strands, and a thin cut marred her cheek. Yet her eyes—sharp, trembling—t Cain’s across the distance. For a mont, a fragile hope flickered there, a glimr that threatened to shatter under Vazer’s grip.
Vazer’s fingers tightened around the chains, yanking Violet slightly forward. Her gasp was sharp, her knees buckling before she steadied herself, the sound tearing through the tense silence. Cain’s jaw tightened, a barely restrained snarl caught in his throat.
"Quite the reception, Vazer," Cain drawled, his voice low, simring with barely suppressed fury. "Is this how you treat all your allies?"
Vazer’s smirk didn’t falter. His gaze swept lazily over Cain’s entourage—asuring, calculating—before returning to et Cain’s eyes.
"Allies?" Vazer’s voice was smooth, a cruel edge threading through it. "I suppose that depends on whether ignoring a plea for help is your idea of loyalty."
Cain’s expression remained unreadable, but a shadow passed behind his eyes—an acknowledgent, a hint of awareness. Vazer saw it and his smirk widened, crueler.
"Let’s not play gas, Vazer. What is this really about?" Cain’s voice hardened, a growl just beneath the surface.
Vazer’s smirk faltered, replaced by sothing raw and vicious. The grip on Violet’s chain tightened, the tal biting further into her wrists. Her face twisted with pain, and Cain’s fingers curled, nails threatening to shift to claws.
"What it’s about?" Vazer’s voice was a low hiss, venomous. "It’s about my family, Cain. Slaughtered while you sat in your throne room—detached, indifferent. I sent you a letter. I begged for your help." His eyes flashed with a bitter, blazing anger. "And you ignored ."
Cain’s gaze sharpened, his expression freezing over. There was a beat of silence, charged and suffocating.
"Your family?" Cain repeated, his tone steady but edged. "I didn’t—"
"Don’t," Vazer interrupted, his voice cracking, his restraint fraying. "Don’t stand there and pretend you didn’t receive it. I sent you a letter, Cain. Poured my desperation into ink, and what did you do?"
Vazer’s eyes flicked to one of his guards. "Bring the ssenger."
A guard stepped forward, his expression tight and apprehensive. He pulled a trembling vampire from the ranks, shoving him forward. The vampire collapsed to his knees, his gaze flicking nervously between Vazer and Cain.
"Tell him," Vazer demanded, his voice a whip crack. "Tell him what happened."
The ssenger’s voice trembled, his eyes wide with terror. "I-I delivered the letter, Lord Cain. In the café, just as instructed. You... you read it, but... you handed it back. Said it wasn’t your problem."
A flicker of confusion crossed Cain’s face, brief but undeniable. Vazer saw it, his expression twisting into sothing between fury and disbelief.
"You handed it back," Vazer spat. "Like it was a piece of trash. Like my family’s deaths were just another inconvenience to you."
Cain’s eyes darkened, a dangerous glimr sparking in his gaze. The weight of Vazer’s accusations bore down heavily, and the surrounding guards tensed, ready to act at the slightest provocation.
’He didn’t reber getting the letter..but at that mont he didn’t care!
"What I understand," Cain’s voice was a low, simring rumble, "is that you took soone from . Whatever your reasons, Vazer, you don’t get to use her as a pawn."
Vazer’s smirk returned—jagged, sharp. There was a perverse satisfaction in his eyes, a twisted triumph.
"Oh, but I do, Cain," Vazer said, his voice cutting like glass. "Because now, you finally know what it’s like to lose sothing you cherish."
Cain’s eyes flicked to Violet, her gaze terrified but locked onto his. The weight of her chains, the marks on her wrists—each detail seared into him, igniting the beast that simred just beneath his skin.
"You think this is revenge?" Cain’s voice was lethal, a razor’s edge. "You think this justifies betraying , turning on everything we’ve built?"
Vazer’s expression crumbled, raw grief slipping through the cracks of his controlled facade. For a heartbeat, Cain saw the weight of it—the anguish, the loss, the fury so potent it beca all-consuming.
"No! Its simply betrayal," Vazer’s voice trembled, but the bitterness returned, a corrosive shield. "You turned your back on first and now I’m doing the sa. You could have helped but you didn’t. I was the one deluding myself to think a beast like you could ever be an ally,"
The air hung heavy, the silence suffocating. Vazer’s fingers twitched on the chains, his gaze sharp and waiting.
"...But you’re only using her to stabilize your beast! Wasn’t that the agreent?" Vazer’s voice lashed out, cutting. Cain saw the shock flash through Violet’s gaze—saw the betrayal and confusion ripple across her face. It only got worse when Cain didn’t even try to refute the accusation until she heard him speak.
"Yes! But I wouldn’t be here risking my life if I didn’t care!’ speaking more to her than Vazer as they held each other’s gaze regardless of the distance between them.
For a mont, everything held still—a fragile, shattering mont.
"Now," Vazer whispered, his eyes dark and hollow, the weight of his pain barely contained. "What will you do, Mad Beast?"
The guards tightened their stances. Violet’s breath caught. The courtyard seed to shrink, the air choking with tension.
Cain’s claws flexed, his eyes burning. The beast within him raged—snarling, clawing, a force that could shatter bone and spill blood without hesitation.
Yet the sight of Violet, bound and vulnerable, stayed his hand. The monster inside him snarled, but Cain’s gaze remained steady, his voice low and steady.
"Release her," Cain demanded, a final warning lacing his tone. "Or there won’t be a single soul left standing here."
Vazer’s smirk wavered—just slightly. For a mont, his fingers twitched on the chain, indecision warring in his gaze. The guards shifted, uncertainty threading through their ranks.
The mont hung by a thread, fragile and fraying at the ends.
"You’re going to attack ?" Vazer asked, his voice disturbingly calm. A teasing smile played at the edge of his lips, sharp and mocking. He yanked Violet closer, his arm wrapping around her throat like a noose. Her breath hitched, her eyes wide and pleading as she stood trapped against his chest.
"Before you can get to her, I would have snapped her tiny human neck like a twig!"
"If you think I’m joking...go ahead try !" Vazer continued to speak.
Cain’s eyes narrowed, a smoldering fury flickering beneath his composed facade. The sight of Vazer’s fingers tightening around Violet’s neck sent a tremor through his fra — a visceral, instinctive urge to rip the vampire lord’s head from his shoulders.
"You’re a coward, Vazer," Cain growled, his voice a dark rasp. "Using her as a shield because you know I could tear you apart."
Vazer’s smirk widened, a cruel glimr in his eyes. He leaned closer to Violet, his breath ghosting her ear, and she flinched. Cain’s claws threatened to unsheathe, the shift in his posture barely restrained.
"A coward?" Vazer mocked, his tone still maddeningly casual. "No, Cain. I’m just a man who knows his leverage." His gaze flicked to Violet, his grip unyielding. "And isn’t it fascinating? How the mighty Mad Beast stands leashed by a girl."
Cain took a step forward, his eyes locked onto Vazer’s. The guards surrounding them stiffened, weapons drawn, waiting for the order to descend into chaos. Violet’s pulse pounded visibly in her neck beneath Vazer’s hand, a fragile drumbeat against unyielding fingers.
"Let her go," Cain demanded, his voice a low, rumbling threat. "Now."
"...Or what?" Vazer chuckled out loud in response as he stood there with a mocking look on his face as he stared at Cain.
Vazer’s grip remained firm, his expression infuriatingly nonchalant. He tilted his head, considering Cain like a predator toying with prey.
"Why should I?" he mused softly. "So you can try and gut to ensure it doesn’t happen again? So you can claim your little pet and act like the hero?" He laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. "No, Cain. Not until you understand."
"Understand what?" Cain snarled, his patience unraveling. The beast within him roared, a tempest clawing at his restraint.
Vazer’s smirk faltered, a flash of sothing more vulnerable breaking through. Pain. Resentnt. Rage that had festered too long. His fingers dug deeper into Violet’s skin, and she winced, her breath hitching.
"Understand what it ans to lose everything," Vazer repeated again and this ti Cain had heard enough.
"What do you want Vazer?" knowing him well enough to see that he wouldn’t have brought Violet to et him at the gate if he wasn’t willing to hand her over ot risk losing her. He would have hidden her away from him in a secure location instead.
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