Ivo paced relentlessly in the tower throne room, his bare feet feeling the cold of the marble floor. That was the first thing he'd changed about the room. He'd ripped off the plush carpet, removing the giant red sign that'll always remind everyone of Yuri.
His next step at making the room his, ant covering up Yuri's pride and joy. The three hundred and sixty-degree windows, which once made sure the room either received the beautiful golden lights of the sun or the silver radiance of the moon, had been covered with thick, dark blinds, plunging the space into an oppressive darkness that he felt at ho in.
The grandeur of the room remained intact, but Yuri's throne had been destroyed, smashed into pieces, and replaced with sothing new, sothing that represented Ivo's rise to power.
Ivo's throne now dominated the room. It was a towering black structure made of twisted iron and sharp edges, resembling a cage more than a seat of power. The arms of the throne curled up like talons, and the high back stretched toward the ceiling, casting an imposing shadow over the space. It was a throne ant for domination, ant to remind anyone who entered of Ivo's control.
But as Ivo paced in front of it, his face twisted in frustration, the air around him vibrated with tension. He was not, in fact, in control.
At the far end of the circular room, opposite the throne, the elevator rose from the floor with a soft hum. A ding echoed through the room, and Armand stepped out.
He looked unhard, but his pants were torn in places, dark streaks of dried blood decorating the fabric and his uncovered chest. He'd taken damage in a fight.
"What happened?" Ivo asked, his voice sharp, eyes took in Armand's disheveled state, "It's bad, isn't it?"
Armand sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he approached Ivo. "The trail we were following? It was a trap." He said, his words clipped as if reliving the encounter. "We were ambushed by the A X E girls. Tore us up in the space of half a second. We had to retreat or should we have not?"
"Good call." Ivo's face darkened, his pacing halted as he turned fully to face his best friend. "How bad was it? Casualties?"
"Thor Odinson lost one of his wives. Two of Amara's girls? Dead. No casualties on Yuri's side. Funny, isn't it?"
Ivo cursed under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he processed the news. He glanced toward the covered windows, his thoughts racing. "This was our last lead in Southside? We've scoured the entire territory?"
Armand nodded grimly. "Yuri's not in Southside. We're sure of it now. Or is there any place you suspect again?"
Frustration rippled through Ivo as he turned back to the throne, gripping the armrests with white-knuckled intensity. The plan was unraveling, and Yuri's proficiency at hiding from them only made the situation worse.
At that mont, there was a muffled flash of light and Amara materialized into the room. He perked up at seeing her. Her presence either brought with it a flicker of hope or just more bad news.
"I heard about your girls." Ivo said, looking away, his voice low. "I'm sorry?"
Amara gave a curt nod, her expression unreadable. "It's fine. There's more important news."
Ivo finally faced her, his eyebrows raising slightly. "More important? What do you an?"
Amara stepped forward, her tone calm but pointed. "We've begun searching over Westside, and we still haven't found anything that could lead us to Yuri. But I've discovered sothing else."
Ivo's eyes narrowed, leaning forward. "What did you find?"
"Ezra." She said flatly. "All this ti, he'd been using his control over Westside to sell off as much vampire property as he could and nobody knew. Judging by the tiline, he started imdiately after we brought him into the coup. This was his plan all along. Taking off when things kicked off. He's stripped the territory of a lot of assets."
Ivo's teeth ground together as he listened. "And the bigger assets?" he asked, his tone becoming sharp.
"Luckily, he couldn't sell off so of the larger properties in ti," Amara continued, her voice steady. "Griffin's forr domain, the Star Heights hotel, for instance. But the damage is done."
Ivo clenched his fists, rage bubbling beneath his skin. He'd ant for Armand to take over the territory after all this was over. "Ezra." He hissed, his voice low. "Always slipping through our fingers. How's the search for him going?"
Amara shook her head, frustration slipping into her calm deanor. "Still no trace of him."
Ivo turned away, staring at his throne, his hands resting on his hips.
"If we don't find him soon, we're in deep trouble." He said, his voice a mix of anger and fear. "The only outco will be a broken oath. If the broken oath doesn't kill , I'll be wishing it did because we won't be dealing with just Yuri. We'll have Vladimir and Solomon to deal with as well. And that's a death as sure as anything else, isn't it?"
Amara and Armand remained silent, but the weight of his words hung heavily in the air. Ivo had considered sothing like his current situation happening but it had just been unlikely. He wouldn't be in this situation if he hadn't made the second deal with Solomon. If he hadn't included handing Ezra Matten to Solomon into the oath.
Ivo turned back to face Amara, urgency in his voice. "I want you to take more manpower from Armand, Amara. Our priority now is finding Ezra. Understood?"
Amara nodded, eting his eyes. She understood the gravity of the situation. "I'll gather more forces." She said quietly. "But Ezra's good at hiding. This might take longer than even finding Yuri."
Ivo's face darkened. "We don't have ti, Amara. If we don't find him, we'll lose everything. Not just Southside, but everything. Do you understand that?"
Amara nodded once, her expression tightening.
Ivo turned to Armand, who had remained quiet. "Armand? Call of the search for Yuri. Instead, I want you to set a trap for her. We'll take a page out of her book. We don't need to go to her.
She's the one who has to co to us."
"Alright." Armand nodded. "I'll set it up. Lure her out, right?"
"Yes." Ivo said, nodding. He finally exhaled deeply, feeling the weight of the situation crushing down on him.
There was a mont of silence as the three stood in the throne room, each of them understanding what was at stake. If they couldn't find Ezra, their fate was sealed.
"Go." Ivo finally said, his voice soft but filled with authority. "We don't have ti to waste, do we?"
Amara and Armand nodded before leaving the room. As the elevator doors closed behind them, Ivo found himself alone in the throne room, staring at the twisted iron structure that now symbolized his rule.
But it felt hollow. Until Yuri and Ezra were dealt with, the throne ant nothing.
He clenched his fists and walked up the small steps to sit on it. He was at the precipice of achieving all he wanted. And he knew that all it would take to destroy everything was just one little misstep.
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