Chapter 437

Lord Frederick’s POV
“Nothing yet?” I spat, my angry voice echoing all over the room. The investigator flinched, his head bowed, his heartbeat loud in my ears.
“We tracked the SUV to the forest’s edge, my lord,” he stammered, “but the signal was jammed. Whoever took her knew what they were doing. They—”
“Enough!”
My snarl echoed through the command room, rattling the monitors on the wall. I slammed my fist against the table, splitting the wood clean in half. The men around me froze. No one dared to breathe.
I paced back and forth, my claws threatening to burst through my skin. Rage burned through every inch of me. “She was right outside the gates,” I hissed. “Six men. Six! And not one of you managed to stop them?”
“My lord—” one of the guards began.
“Get out!” I roared, my fangs flashing. The guard scrambled away, tripping over his own boots as he fled. Thɪs chapter is updated by ͟.net
The room fell silent again, except for the furious pounding of my heart. I gripped the edge of the table, my breath heavy. My control was slipping away.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus, but all I saw was her. Selene. Her voice. Her scent. Her eyes the moment she told me to let her go.
And now she was gone. Taken. And if the vampires truly had her, then she wouldn’t last long. They wouldn’t just kill her. They would drain her. Slowly. Painfully.
My jaw clenched. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Expand the search radius,” I ordered through gritted teeth. “Double the patrols. Every vampire nest within a hundred miles—burn it to the ground if you have to.”
“Yes, my lord,” someone said quickly before running off.
I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing toward the window. The night outside was dark and still, but I could feel her faintly. Her scent—warm, sweet—was fading.
“No I whispered, my chest tightening painfully. “Don’t fade. Don’t you dare fade on me.”
For the first time in years, I felt something I had forgotten how to feel. Fear. Real fear.
I pressed a hand to the cold glass, my reflection staring back at me: my eyes red, my fangs bared, a monster wearing a man’s face.
“You can’t die, Selene,” I muttered under my breath. “Not before I tell you the truth.”
My throat burned. I turned sharply to the guard waiting by the door. “Get the car ready. I’m going myself.”
The guard hesitated. “My lord, it’s too dangerous—”
“Do it!” I snapped, my voice echoing like thunder.
He bowed and ran.
I looked out again into the darkness, every nerve in my body screaming for blood. If anyone laid a hand on her—if she was hurt—I would burn their entire world to ashes.
Suddenly my phone vibrated against the desk. I almost ignored it until the display flashed. Hidden number. A cold knot tightened in my gut.
I picked up before it finished ringing. A voice came through, but it sounded altered, cartoon-like. The person must have changed the voice so I wouldn’t recognize it.
“Lord Frederick,” the voice said, “we have your—” it paused, and the line crackled. For a breath I thought I recognized the cadence—a ghost of a laugh, a tilt of a syllable I’d heard before—but the distortion swallowed it. “—guest.”
My hand tightened on the phone until my knuckles whitened. “Who is this?” I ground out. Rage made my teeth ache. “What do you want with her?”
The voice chuckled, low and humorless. “We’ll make a trade. Your woman for ours.”
A laugh bubbled up in my chest, bitter and hollow. “You’ll bring her back unharmed?” I asked, though I didn’t want to believe the answer.
“Yes,” the voice said. “Unharmed. We will return her if you hand over Olivia.”
My frown deepened. “You want Olivia,” I repeated slowly. “You want me to hand her over.”
“Three hours,” the voice said. “Decide. When the time is up, we call. If you refuse, we will send her dead body back to you.”
My heart sank in fear, but I managed to keep my voice steady so I wouldn’t show any sign of weakness.
“You are playing a dangerous game,” I said finally. “You do know who you are up against.” The voice made as if to laugh, but it was only static. “We do not bargain with bluffs, Lord Frederick. We call again in three hours.”
The line went dead.
For a long moment I just held the dead phone to my ear; the silence afterward was louder than any shout. Then I slammed the receiver down so hard the desk rattled.
Three hours.
My mind split into knives. If I handed Olivia over, I would save Selene—but I would doom the pact, the prophecy, the future I had been building. And Olivia… she doesn’t deserve to be a sacrificial lamb. But if I refused, Selene might die.
I dragged my hand down my face until my vision blurred. There was no clean answer. “Find her,” I barked to the nearest guard, my voice setting the room into motion. “Every car. Every scout. Grid search the forest. Now.”
He saluted and ran.
I paced the office, every step a drumbeat to the countdown already started on my skin. Three hours. Three hours to decide whether I would trade one life for another. Three hours to hand Olivia over or to lose someone I couldn’t bear to lose.
The clock on the wall seemed to mock me, its hand moving with slow, indifferent certainty.
I picked up my phone again and stared at it as if the answer might be written there. Instead, I only heard my own breath, ragged and thin.
Suddenly Olivia appeared in my study. I was startled to see her. She raised her brow as she glanced at me. “Any news about her yet?” she asked.
I swallowed hard and looked away. I love Selene. I want to save her but I can’t hand Olivia over—no one knows what they would do with her. I can’t let her go through such a fate.
She stepped closer, not letting me dodge. “Frederick, tell me. Something’s wrong—I can feel it.” Her jaw set. “If you’re keeping anything from me—”
She didn’t finish the threat. She didn’t have to.
She pressed, softer now, the anger replaced by raw worry. “Please. Tell me.”
I let out a breath. “I… got a call,” I said finally. My voice sounded small to my own ears. “A masked number. They have Selene.”
Her face went cold. “What? Who—”
“They offered a trade,” I cut in before she could chain a dozen questions. The words wanted to choke me. “They’ll return her unharmed if I hand you over to them. Three hours. That’s the deadline.”