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My foot edged forward, but Arianna’s arm slid in front of me, stopping me in place. “Let her do it,” she said, her voice low and even, just for me. “If she needs help, we’ll know.”

It took everything in me not to go. Every nerve in my body screamed to defend her. I could feel Alex’s expectations crawling up my spine like a weight. He would want me to protect his mother, no, he would expect it. It felt like a betrayal of my own blood to stand still and watch her flounder. But I knew this world didn’t coddle anyone. She had to learn its rhythm, its danger. So we stayed in place, feigning interest in the shelves nearby, listening, watching, every movement with quiet, clenched restraint.

As he studied her from every angle, a sick smile curled across his lips, lingering far too long as his eyes trailed down to her ass, swaying slightly in the air. I saw the stir of emotion flicker behind his gaze, hunger, curiosity, and amusement. He finally dipped down to help gather the scattered bottles. His tone shifted, slick and condescending, no longer strangled but calm, smooth, and rich like velvet laced with venom. “You must be new around here,” he said, voice low near her ear. “No smart person goes around grabbing strangers. Got a death wish or something?”

Martha rose onto her knees, startled by his closeness. Her breath caught in her throat before she answered, her voice unsteady. “You reminded me of someone… that’s all.”

The grin on his face deepened, curling like smoke. He placed the bottles carelessly on the table beside them. “Well, I’m not the man you’re looking for,” he murmured, leaning closer. “But I can make you forget about him. For the night.”

Fear coursed through every fiber of her body, sending sharp pulses through the air like a warning signal. Even the air seemed to sour with the taste of her dread. Her hands trembled as she stood, a bundle of bottles cradled to her chest. She gave a nervous laugh, brittle and forced. “Oh, no. I’m really okay.”

He rose with her, that same unsettling smile still etched across his face. He leaned in closer, invading the space she tried to reclaim by stepping back. But he followed, closing in, pressing her against one of the towering shelves. “That wasn’t really a question,” he murmured, voice low, almost too quiet for even me to hear.

I could hear my own heart quicken as the scene unfolded.

He wasn’t just aggressive; he was deranged. Whatever piece of humanity he had left had long since been warped into something crueler, darker. I looked to Arianna, already feeling her gaze on me.

There was no hesitation.

We moved at once.

Arianna stood at his right, and I took his left. Together, we grabbed his shoulders and yanked him back with brutal force. His body slammed into the hard, damp stone floor below him, the impact cracking the rock beneath him, sending jagged shards splintering out in every direction. The shock rippled through the building like a quake.

“That’s how you talk to women?” Arianna asked coolly, narrowing her gaze as she stepped forward. She planted her foot against his chest, pinning him in place. Her ankle twisted slightly, pressing deeper into his sternum, grinding down with slow precision.

A few nearby vampires peered from behind the shelves, curiosity overcoming caution as they watched the scene unfold.

He groaned, disoriented, until his eyes locked onto the face of the woman standing over him. And just like that, all the bravado drained from him. “A-Arianna?” he stammered. “What are you doing in the city?”

Her foot bore harder, dragging another ragged groan from his throat. Her voice, however, remained steady, calm, and even. “Don’t change the subject, pervert,” she said, her tone silk over steel. “I think you owe this woman an apology, before I shove my hand down your throat and rip your tongue out just to hear the sound you make.”

“I’m sorry!” he screamed through gritted teeth, writhing beneath her boot. But still, she didn’t let up. Every squirm only forced another shard of stone deeper into his side. His agony was the only thing keeping him ground; he was utterly at her mercy.

Without a word, Arianna removed her foot, only to grip him by the throat, hauling him up like a rag doll. Her fingers sank into his jugular, nails grazing skin. Then, with terrifying ease, she marched him backward until his spine slammed against a bare stretch of wall. Her grip tightened, lifting him clear off the ground, his feet dangling five inches above the floor, kicking uselessly.

Martha stood frozen, her face lit with shock. I placed a gentle hand on her arm before stepping forward to stand beside Arianna.

“If I hear even a whisper of you laying hands on another woman in Eari,” Arianna began, her voice like venom sweetened by honey, “I’ll unleash my bultungin on you.” She leaned in, her words curling like smoke around him. “He’ll start by tearing into that soft, pathetic flesh between your thighs, the very thing you take such pride in. Then I’ll peel the skin from your bones myself… slow enough to savor every twitch.” Her hand drifted threateningly down his center as her smile twisted. “You’ll have nothing left to play with.” Leaning in to close the distance, her lips brushed the curve of his ear as she whispered, “There will be no question to my words. I mean every single one.” Then she released him.

His body dropped like a stone, slamming into the ground with a wet thud. Panic laced his features as he stared up at her, lips parted and breath shaking. One hand flattened to the floor, fingers trembling as he tried to lift himself upright. That’s when his gaze shifted and landed on me. He didn’t devour me with his eyes like he had Martha. No, his expression twisted into something colder. His stare burned with recognition… and hate. It crawled across my face, over the silks of my gown, the veils, the embroidery, every detail that marked me as other. Then his lips curled back, revealing a set of gritted teeth and venom. “You’re with the Crown,” he spat. It wasn’t a question. It was a curse.

He turned back to Arianna, scanning her again like he was trying to find an explanation. She hissed sharply at him before he could say another word, but his eyes returned to me.

“And why would that concern you?” I asked, my tone was like ice.

He shook his head once, hard, then locked eyes with me. Before I could register it, he sucked in a breath, snot rattling up through his nose, and hocked a thick, acid-green glob of phlegm straight into my face. “Fucking scum,” he sneered, and bolted past us both before I could even move.

Wiping my face with the back of my hand, harsh and fast, rage boiled like bile in my throat. “What the fuck,” I snarled, my voice cutting through the shop like a whip. My feet pivoted sharply, heels slamming against the stone as I burst through the door and into the street. The cold hit me like a wall of knives, thin, biting, and merciless, but I didn’t stop. Even in the sparse light cast by the hanging tealights, I could see him. A dark figure slicing through the snow like a shadow with no soul. He wasn’t going to get far. Not from me.

He would pay.

I didn’t care how.

Either I’d rip his throat out with my bare hands, or I’d have my father bring ruin down upon whatever shack he dared to crawl into and call home. He spat on me, on the Crown, on everything we were, and he would regret it. Drawing in a long breath, I filled my lungs with the city's air. His scent burned through it like cedar smoke and rust. I seared it into memory as I trailed him through narrow alleyways and moonless corners. He was lucky I hadn’t been in this city for years… or I would’ve already had him cornered.

The bastard wasn’t far now. I was closing the distance with every second; his breath labored just ahead of me. He was only barely faster, but I was fueled by something more than speed. I was powered by rage. Once I caught him, I wasn’t going to show an ounce of mercy. Alexander made me promise not to harm another soul, but this madness would be my exception. He’d understand. He’d see this scum for what he truly was, a threat to his mother. He’d thank me for it.

Some bloodshed was inevitable, but this one? This one would be poetic.