"Dead." He processes this. "All six."
"All six."
The silence stretches. I watch understanding dawn on his face. The plan had been precise. Specific. Capture, don't kill. We needed what they knew. And between my team and his, we have nothing. The ones who attacked Julian scattered into the night. The ones who attacked Celeste are in pieces in an alley.
"So we have no intelligence," Julian says slowly. "No information about Konstantin's operations. No way to identify other operatives."
"No."
"The entire point of tonight…"
"Was wasted. Yes."
I betrayed her trust for nothing. Put her in danger, let her believe it was routine, watched her fight for her life against six attackers. And when the moment came to salvage something from the wreckage, to at least gain the tactical advantage that was supposed to justify all of it, I threw it away.
I killed them because I couldn't stop myself. Because seeing her hurt broke something in me that strategy couldn't reach. Because in that moment, nothing mattered except ending the things that had touched her.
And now I have nothing. No intelligence. No advantage. No justification.
Just blood on my hands in more ways than one.
"Sir?" Julian's voice cuts through the silence. "What are your orders?"
Orders. He wants orders. Because I'm the one in charge, the one who makes decisions, the one who's supposed to know what to do.
"Double the security on the compound," I hear myself say. "Konstantin knows his assault failed. He'll be assessing, regrouping. I want to know the moment any of his people move. And pull Celeste from all field operations until further notice."
Julian hesitates. "She won't like that."
"I'm aware."
"She's amazing, sir. What she did tonight, holding off six of them alone until you arrived, most vampires her age would have been dead in the first thirty seconds."
"I know exactly how good she is." My voice comes out sharper than intended. "That's not the point. She's off field duty until I say otherwise."
He nods, wisely choosing not to argue further. "Understood. I'll coordinate the security increase."
I leave before he can ask more questions.
I makeit to my study before Marcellus finds me.
He doesn't knock. Just opens the door and walks in, closing it behind him with a quiet click. His expression is carefully neutral, but I've known him long enough to read the concern beneath the control.
"She's stable," he says. "Dalton says she'll be fully healed in two or three days."
"I know."
"Julian lost a man. Archer."
"I know."
"And you killed all six attackers instead of capturing any for questioning."
I don't respond. There's nothing to say.
He crosses to the sidebar and pours two glasses of whiskey. Sets one in front of me without asking. Takes the chair across from my desk.
"Your hands are shaking," he observes.
