Kyon’s First Person Point Of View.

  The silence was a noose.

  Conrad leaned back, fingers steepled, watching me with that same quiet certainty—like a man who already knew the outcome of this conversation. It made my skin crawl.

  "You see, Kyon," he said smoothly, "Faraday wasn’t just a vampire. He was a man of… business. And business, as you well know, has its complications."

  I said nothing.

  "You didn’t just sever a Blood Link tonight," Conrad continued, voice slow, deliberate. "You pried into his mind. The question is… how much did you see?"

  The air in the room shifted.

  He was playing a game. He didn’t know if I had seen anything, but he wanted to make me doubt myself—to make me wonder if I had unintentionally unearthed something dangerous.

  "Because if you saw anything of importance," he went on, "well… let’s just say there are men in this world who prefer their secrets remain buried. Men who would rather take a preemptive approach than risk the alternative."

  Criminals. Syndicates. Humans who had dealings with Faraday and wouldn’t hesitate to silence loose ends.

  I clenched my fists. I hadn’t even considered that angle.

  Conrad smiled. "It’s fascinating, really. You’ve spent so much time watching your back for vampires that you’ve forgotten the dangers of your own kind."

  I exhaled through my nose. "You’re making a lot of assumptions."

  "Am I?" He tilted his head, eyes gleaming. "Or am I simply showing you the full picture?"

  Third Person Point Of View.

  While Conrad spoke, another conversation unfolded beneath the surface.

  Kadir, Lawrence, and Harvey were speaking through The Pulse. Their lips never moved, but their words rang clear in each other’s minds, a silent debate humming beneath the tension.

  A ripple passed through The Pulse, tension thrumming beneath the surface.

  This is ridiculous. Lawrence’s frustration bled into the connection, sharp and jagged. Why are we letting this leech manipulate the boy?

  Because it is his decision to make. Kadir’s response was steady, but there was an edge beneath it—a quiet warning.

  What decision? Lawrence snapped. He’s just a kid! We’re sitting here playing politics when we should be putting this bloodsucker into the ground.

  A sigh. Harvey. And start a war? Is that your grand plan?

  Lawrence’s irritation flared hotter. It doesn’t have to be a war. Kadir’s here. You’re here. We take out Conrad, and I’ll handle Gerard myself.

  You think it’s that simple? Kadir’s tone carried weight, pressing down like a storm about to break.

  Lawrence scowled but said nothing.

  If we kill Conrad, we will have proven every paranoid fear the Sanguin Antiquus has about us. Kadir’s voice was even, but the warning was clear. They will retaliate. And when they do, it won’t be subtle.

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  Harvey’s gaze flicked toward Kyon. And what of him? If he leaves with us, he should know what he’s walking into.

  Lawrence exhaled sharply. And if he chooses to stay?

  A pause.

  Then, quieter this time—measured, resigned.

  Then we should hope he doesn’t.

  The tension in the link pulsed, the conversation momentarily breaking.

  Then Lawrence, his mind still unsettled, pushed forward again. You wanted me to train him, Kadir. Teach him how to control his Flux. But what was the real reason? Were you interested in seeing what he could take, too?

  A flicker in the link. A hesitation.

  Kadir didn’t answer.

  The silence in The Pulse was louder than any spoken word.

  Lawrence scoffed, a surge of bitterness threading into the link. Of course.

  Kyon's First Person Point Of View.

  I hadn’t realized how quiet the room had become.

  Conrad's voice filled the space like a slow-moving tide, deliberate and steady.

  "You seem to have an impressive resistance to Arguros steel," he said, watching me with that same detached curiosity. "But Arguros and Flux aren’t the only things that can kill a vampire, are they?"

  I didn’t respond.

  His lips curled slightly. "No, of course not. And that’s the real question, isn’t it? How far does that resistance go?"

  My fingers twitched.

  It wasn't just an observation. It was a statement. A quiet confirmation of something I hadn't even considered.

  Tonight hadn’t been about killing me.

  It had been a test.

  Every attack. Every bullet.

  They had wanted to see what I could survive.

  I glanced toward Kadir, but his expression remained unreadable. Lawrence and Harvey were still, silent.

  Had they known?

  Had they realized what I only now understood?

  Plans within plans.

  And I had been playing defense the entire time, just trying to make it through the night.

  How the hell was I supposed to fight someone like this?

  The door was open.

  I could leave.

  But if I walked out now, what then?

  Would I even make it through the week?

  Conrad’s fingers tapped idly against the armrest. "Then, of course, there’s the Moon Tree."

  A slow, creeping dread curled through me.

  I knew of it.

  Rare. Dangerous. More myth than reality.

  And yet, for those with enough power and money, myths could be made real.

  "Ah," Conrad mused, watching my reaction. "So you do understand."

  I forced my face blank, but it didn’t matter. He had already seen the recognition in my eyes.

  "You see, Kyon," he continued, "humans are not creatures of restraint. When they want something dead, they don’t stop at what is proven. They will scour old legends, dig up half-forgotten weapons, test the impossible until they find what works. And if none of it does?"

  He tilted his head slightly.

  "Then they turn to science."

  A slow, measured breath left me.

  This was beyond the hunters now.

  This was the human underworld. The ones who worked in shadows, who didn’t ask questions but made problems disappear.

  The ones who didn’t need to understand something in order to kill it.

  And I?

  I had become a problem.

  A variable too dangerous to ignore.

  Conrad leaned forward, his voice soft. "Tell me, Kyon. Do you truly believe you can navigate this alone?"

  The worst part was—

  I wasn’t sure anymore.

  I had survived tonight. Barely.

  But survival wasn’t the same as winning.

  And if I had only been reacting all along, waiting for the next attack—

  How long before I made a mistake?

  Silence stretched.

  Then, for the first time, Elijah spoke.

  "I know you don’t trust us."

  I turned.

  Elijah’s voice was steady. No malice. No hidden game.

  Just a quiet certainty.

  "And I don’t blame you," he continued. "But you have to start thinking about what’s best for yourself."

  I held his gaze.

  There was no amusement in his eyes. No smugness.

  Just something calm. Measured.

  "You’re not invincible, Kyon," he said. "No one is. And if you keep running, if you keep trying to fight this alone, eventually, you’re going to run out of luck."

  His gaze didn’t waver.

  "Come with us. It’s the best choice for you. And for everyone around you."

  A sharp edge of irritation flared inside me.

  Everyone around me.

  Of course.

  They weren’t just worried about me. They were worried about what I might bring down on them.

  And they weren’t wrong.

  My survival didn’t just affect me anymore.

  The realization settled, heavy and unwelcome.

  Conrad had painted the battlefield. Now Elijah was offering the only visible way out.

  But was it truly a path?

  Or just another leash?

  I exhaled slowly.

  "I don’t like being cornered," I muttered.

  Elijah nodded. "Then don’t wait until you have no other choice."

  I turned back to Conrad.

  He was still watching me, still waiting.

  Waiting for me to see the inevitable.

  I already had.

  But that didn’t mean I had to accept it.

  Not yet.

  The silence stretched.

  Then—

  A shift.

  A presence pressing at the edges of my awareness.

  The Pulse.

  Not mine.

  Theirs.

  A conversation happening just beneath the surface.

  One I wasn’t meant to hear.

  Yet.