Kayden snarls, fangs bared. His eyes cut between us, calculating, feral.
"How the hell is he awake already?" Johnny asks, voice tight.
"We need to increase the nightshade concentration, clearly," Darlene mutters. "Vanessa?"
"I need twenty more minutes," Vanessa calls from the back, not looking up.
Konstantin returns, soldering iron in hand.
Kayden spits blood onto the floor, then flashes a broken grin. "If I knew there was a private afterparty, I'd have brought friends."
Piotr lifts his fist again, but I step in. "No. Don't make him bleed. We need every drop."
He hesitates, then mutters something sharp in Slavic—definitely not a compliment—and grabs an oily cloth from the floor. After a brief struggle and a few attempted bites, he manages to shove it between Kayden's teeth. With the nightshade's effects and the blood loss, the vampire is too weak to resist.
Still, his eyes burn, and they're locked on me. There's fury in them. And something else—betrayal. Which is almost funny, considering he was trying to drink me dry.
I want to snap. Tell him not to look at me like that—like he's the one who was wronged. But I don't.
Instead, I watch as Konstantin kneels beside him and powers on the soldering iron. A hiss, a flare of heat. The glow blooms too bright in the shadowed container.
The bracelet isn't jewelry—it's survival. The nightstone embedded in it allows the vampire to walk in daylight. Without it, the sun will burn him to ash.
Kayden's eyes widen, muffled gargle coming out of his stuffed mouth. His body coils against the restraints as the iron sears into the metal. And into his skin.
The burly leshy works with precision, but the tools aren't made for finesse. The pain must be blinding.
I stay still, breathing evenly, trying not to let the scent of scorched flesh or the sound of sizzling skin shake me. Trying not to let the look in his eyes do it either.
But I feel it. All of it.
"Maybe you were right," Darlene says, voice cool and amused as she steps closer. "Thisismore fun than chopping off a limb." She leans in, lips curled in something that's not quite a smile. "All the centuries of suffering you've caused… think of this as retribution, vamp."
Kayden's gaze flicks to her, his expression menacing.
And then it's done. Konstantin straightens, the armband still steaming in his hand. He tosses it toward me. I catch it.
"Souvenir," he says, wiping his hands, the iron already cooling.
I glance at the cracked band, then at Kayden. He's stopped fighting the chains. Doesn't move. Just watches me with eerie calm, like he's already accepted what's coming.
The shadows are thinning. Sunlight slices across the metal floor, inching closer.
Vanessa stands. "I'm done. We've got enough." She lifts the bags filled with rich, dark blood that will heal many.
For the right price.
"Let's move," Darlene says. Efficient and detached as usual. Everyone starts packing up, clearing out.
I turn to go, too, reaching the exit last.
Then I stop.
Something makes me look back.
Kayden's eyes are still on me. Dull from blood loss, but steady. The sunlight is crawling closer. Just minutes now.
I turn away.
