Chapter 121

Sebastian~

For five hours, I lingered in the velvet-draped lounge of my underground haven, fingers loosely wrapped around a glass of aged AB-negative. The scent of aged blood hung in the air, mixing with the faint scent of sandalwood and old parchment. The fire cracked in the stone hearth. The shadows flickered along the high arches, like whispers trying to tell me something I couldn’t quite hear.

But I wasn’t listening.

I was waiting.

Waiting for someone to tell me they’d found her.

Cassandra.

Or Brielle. Or whatever the hell she wanted to call herself.

I sank into my chair and exhaled slowly, one leg crossed over the other. The leather creaked beneath me. I could still see her in my mind—those eyes, sharp and feral, that voice like a dagger wrapped in silk. And the way she ran… not like a coward, but like a warrior forced to make a terrible decision.

She had her reasons.

I told myself that over and over.

She didn’t kill me.

She ran.

The door opened, and I didn’t even bother looking up.

I felt them before I saw them—Luca’s cool, composed energy, followed by Amelia’s firestorm presence, always two steps from turning the room into ashes. My second-in-command and his mate. My oldest allies.

“You’re late,” I said without looking up. “I told you I wanted updates an hour ago p>

“Well,” Luca’s voice was dry as parchment, “we didn’t want to show up without something useful. Turns out, we still don’t have anything useful p>

I looked up sharply, my brow lifting. “Still nothing p>

He shook his head and moved to pour himself a drink. “We’ve sent out three separate search parties. All discreet. All trained. None of them have even caught her scent p>

“She’s like a damn ghost,” Amelia muttered, tossing herself into the chair across from me. Her long legs stretched out as she scowled into the fire. “No scent trail, no visual. Nothing p>

I clenched my jaw and set my glass down, the crystal clinking on the marble. “Because she can’t be seen. I remembered something p>

They both looked at me.

“When she came to the company with Griffin Blackthorn… the cameras didn’t pick her up. Not once. I didn’t think much of it back then, just assumed it was a glitch. But now p>

Amelia sat up straighter, eyes narrowing. “You’re saying she can mask herself from tech p>

“Not just tech. From everything. No recordings, no reflections, no scent trail. She’s erased herself p>

“That’s… not natural,” Luca said slowly, pacing toward the fireplace. “That sounds like demon magic p>

I nodded. “Exactly. Which means we’ve been looking in all the wrong ways. Technology is useless. We need bloodhounds, not satellites p>

“We’re vampires,” Amelia said dryly, “not the CIA p>

Luca chuckled. “Unfortunately, this also means we’re walking into something far darker. If she’s using demonic shielding, it’s not just her we’re up against p>

I stood. The movement felt abrupt even to me, like something coiled inside finally snapping.

“I don’t care how dark it gets,” I growled. “Find her. I don’t care if you have to crawl through hell itself—bring her to me p>

There was a pause.

Then Luca cleared his throat.

“There’s… something else,” he said carefully.

My eyes snapped to him. “What p>

Luca exchanged a look with Amelia, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms like she was preparing for a fight.

“A while back,” Luca began, “we almost had her p>

My heart kicked against my ribs. “What do you mean, almost had her p>

“We had her cornered in the old chapel ruins near the western border. She was weak, outnumbered. We were ready to strike p>

“And?” I pressed, voice like ice.

“That’s when Griffin Blackthorn happened p>

The name hit me hard.

“Griffin?” I echoed. “He was here p>

Luca nodded.

Amelia’s face twisted into a bitter scowl. “That little snake. He had help us orchestrate the plan that helped us get her. Because then, he had told us he was hunting her too. Said she killed a friend of his—one of our own. He begged us to help bring her down p>

“And you believed him?” I hissed, my voice sharper than intended.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Amelia snapped. “He’s grandfather is respected. Hell, he’s grandfather is known throughout the country. Griffin came in here all fire and grief and made us think he wanted justice p>

“So what happened?” I demanded, my hands clenched at my sides. “Why didn’t you kill her p>

Amelia leaned forward, voice low and tight. “Because he played the ’grandfather card p>

I blinked. “The what p>

She exhaled sharply. “Everyone knows Griffin’s grandfather—Blackthorn—is the greatest seer alive. The old man’s visions have predicted half the supernatural wars of the last century p>

Luca took over, his tone grim. “Griffin said his grandfather had already seen what would happen if we killed Cassandra. He warned us that if we went through with it, we’d all die. And the worst part? Every single prediction Griffin mentioned before we caught Cassandra… had already come true p>

I stepped back, stunned. “So you let her go p>

Amelia stood, fists clenched. “We couldn’t risk it. Not then. And we gave her to him—trusted him to finish what we couldn’t p>

“And clearly he didn’t,” I muttered, internally grateful to Griffin.

“No,” Luca said darkly. “He lied p>

The fire cracked again. I stared into it, jaw tight, the pieces falling together. Griffin. Cassandra. The office visit. The lies. I had no idea what game they were playing, but I was done being played.

“I honestly can’t wait to see that bitch dead,” Amelia said, voice dripping with venom. “You’ll handle it, right, Lord Sebastian? I mean… you of all people should be able to gut her p>

Her words sliced through me like a dagger dipped in guilt.

I laughed. Or, at least, I made a sound that passed as one. “Sure,” I said lightly, brushing invisible lint off the sleeve of my blazer. “I’ll handle it p>

Amelia’s lips curled in that same smirk she always wore when she thought we were all monsters playing a game of chess. “Good. Because if I get to her first, I’m not gonna be gentle p>

She turned and walked off toward Luca, who was staring broodingly into the fireplace again like he thought the flames were about to whisper secrets to him. They always looked to me for direction. Trust. Justice. And what had I done?

I’d sent them all hunting my mate.

Mate.

Gods, I hated the word tonight. The weight of it was coiled tightly around my chest like barbed wire. I couldn’t even say it out loud. Couldn’t tell them that Cassandra—the same woman who had killed their friends, their kin, the people they held sacred—was mine. Bound to me by fate and blood.

And I was supposed to kill her.

“Lord Sebastian,” Luca called from behind me, his voice breaking through my thoughts like the snap of a neck, “we need your call on the southern border detail p>

“I’ll handle it when I’m back,” I said, grabbing my coat from the back of the chair. “I have other things to deal with right now p>

“Other things like obsessively staring at fire until the answers appear?” Amelia called out with that cruel little laugh of hers.

“Exactly,” I replied dryly as I shrugged into my coat. “Except my fire has leather seats and a V12 engine p>

I was nearly at the door when the room’s heavy double doors creaked open. One of the younger coven vampires—Brent, I think his name was—burst in, panting slightly like he’d sprinted the entire length of the contry to reach me.

“Lord Sebastian p>

I froze, back still turned, my hand on the doorknob. “This better be good p>

“It is,” he said, urgency clear in his voice. “Mikhail just came in. Says he sold Cassandra a fake passport. One-way ticket. The whole identity switch. The last time he saw her was around 2 p.m. today. She got into a cab near 3rd and Halden Street p>

My heart dropped to my stomach like a stone tossed off a cliff, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I turned slowly, raising an eyebrow.

“Did he get a name on the cab company p>

“We already traced it.” Brent’s face was pale, his eyes wide. “That’s the thing, sir. The cab driver… he swears she vanished p>

“Vanished?” I repeated carefully, each syllable weighted.

“He said the car stalled mid-route. Just died on the road. He looked back to ask if she wanted to wait for a replacement or get out and—she was gone. No door open, no movement, no scent. She just… blinked out p>

My pulse thundered in my ears. I rubbed a hand down my face, mind racing behind a carefully composed expression.

Amelia was at my side in a flash, eyes wide. “Demonic magic p>

“Likely,” I muttered, then looked at Brent. “Put eyes on every major transit hub. Airports, seaports, bus terminals, all of it. And get someone to interrogate the cabbie again. Gently p>

He nodded and darted out of the room like a shadow.

Luca stepped closer. “Lord Sebastian, are you okay p>

“No,” I said with a tight smile, “but when has that ever stopped me p>

I didn’t wait for their reaction. I turned and strode out the door, my mind spinning so fast it was a miracle my body still moved straight.

The drive back home was a blur of crimson streetlights and the low growl of my Aston Martin’s engine. My fingers clenched the wheel so tightly the leather creaked. Every block, every second, Cassandra slipped further away. But I wasn’t going to lose her. Not again.

She thought she could vanish, disappear into some far corner of the world like smoke. But what she didn’t understand—what she never understood—was that I’d follow her.

To the ends of the earth.

To hell itself, if I had to.

The city melted away as I sped into the hills, the night wrapping around my car like a velvet cloak. Wind howled past the windows my dead heart wishing it could race. I pulled into my driveway and slammed the door behind me, tossing my keys onto the counter.

I didn’t bother with lights. I didn’t need them.

In the shadows of my house, everything was exactly where I left it. The living room was cold and still, the moonlight slashing through the windows like silver blades.

I needed to pack.

That was the first thought that came to me. Clothes. My travel documents. The essentials. I already pictured my suitcase—half open, waiting. The drawer with my passport. The coat I’d throw on last.

I was about to head that way when my phone buzzed.

I pulled it from my coat pocket and glanced at the screen.

Text from Luca: We’ve expanded the search. No sign yet. Will keep you posted. Be safe, Lord Sebastian.

I scoffed under my breath. Safe. What a joke.

I tossed the phone onto the coffee table and leaned back, hands on my hips, eyes fixed on nothing.

“Cass Her name left my lips before I could stop it.

I knew she was running to protect me. From Kalmia. From whatever darkness she thought she had to face alone.

But she didn’t need to protect me.

She needed me.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy, sweetheart,” I muttered, already turning toward the hall. My steps were slow, steady. I was just about to reach my room—just a few more feet—

Then I froze.

Something hit me.

Her scent.

Faint. Familiar. Impossible.