Alexander’s POV
A few hours later
The predawn air on the balcony was biting, a jagged blade of frost that felt far more honest than the suffocating, artificial warmth of the suite I had just left. Inside, Lilian was sleeping, or perhaps drifting in that cold, silent state of Nightwalker rest, wrapped in the crimson gown I had bought with a third of my kingdom and the promise of a bloodbath.
I stepped away from the glass doors, the weight of the Blood-Covenant book feeling like a slab of lead in my hand. Walking toward the far end of the terrace, I stopped before a secure holographic emitter already pulsing with a low, violet light.
I keyed in the encryption. The air shimmered, and a second later, the flickering, translucent image of a man appeared. He was leaning against a jagged rock
