CHAPTER 3 Gabrielle’s POV
1509 Words
“The vampire court.”
The words echoed inside my head as dread settled deep in my stomach.
I stared at Núñez, trying to decide if I had finally lost my mind or if the entire world had decided to reveal its insanity in one terrible night.
“Vampire court?” I repeated slowly, the words tasting ridiculous on my tongue. “You actually expect me to believe that?”
Núñez didn’t answer immediately, standing near the window with his broad shoulders tense as he watched the chaos unfolding far below. Red emergency lights flashed across the streets of New Avalon, their reflections flickering across the glass like restless fire, while distant sirens wailed through the night.
“They’re faster than I expected,” he muttered, his voice low with irritation.
My patience snapped.
“Stop ignoring me,” I said sharply, stepping closer. “You kidn*pped me, dragged me to the top of your skyscraper, and now you’re talking about vampires like this is some kind of fantasy novel. I deserve an explanation.”
Slowly, he turned toward me, his silver eyes darkening as they settled on my face.
“You want the truth?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You won’t like it.”
“Try me.”
For a moment he simply studied me, his gaze searching my expression as if trying to measure how much of the truth I could handle. Then he exhaled slowly, running a hand through his dark hair as though resigning himself to something inevitable.
“The man you saw feeding downstairs,” he began, his voice calm but heavy with meaning, “was a vampire, and the creatures searching this city right now are part of something far older and far more dangerous than you can imagine.”
My stomach twisted as I shook my head stubbornly.
“No,” I said firmly, though uncertainty crept into my voice. “That’s impossible.”
His brow lifted slightly.
“You saw him drink blood.”
“That could have been some kind of sick roleplay.”
His expression hardened.
“And the glowing eyes?”
I hesitated.
My mind replayed the scene upstairs: the blood, the girl’s limp body, the crimson glow burning in the man’s gaze and a chill crawled slowly down my spine.
“I…” I stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
Núñez stepped closer, his movements slow and deliberate, while the tension in the room thickened around us.
“The world you think you know,” he said quietly, “exists because people like me make sure humans never see the truth.”
My eyes narrowed.
“People like you?”
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
“Yes.”
Something about the way he said it made my heart beat faster, and not in a good way.
“What exactly are you?” I asked cautiously.
Silence filled the room as he considered the question, his silver gaze locked on mine with a strange intensity that made it difficult to breathe.
Then, before I could prepare myself, he stepped forward, closing the distance between us in a single smooth motion.
My back hit the edge of the desk behind me.
“Núñez”
“Watch closely,” he murmured.
Before I could react, his hand shot forward, gripping the wooden arm of the chair beside us.
For a second nothing happened.
Then the wood cracked.
Not a small c***k.
The entire armrest shattered beneath his grip, splintering like fragile glass as pieces fell to the floor with a sharp clatter.
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the broken wood.
No human could do that.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze back to his face.
“What… are you?” I whispered.
Something dark flickered in his eyes.
“Not human.”
The simple words sent a wave of cold fear rushing through me as I pushed myself away from the desk, my heart racing wildly.
“No,” I muttered, shaking my head as I backed away from him. “No, that’s not possible.”
But the evidence lay shattered on the floor.
And deep down, I knew it.
Núñez watched my reaction carefully, his expression unreadable as I struggled to process the impossible reality standing in front of me.
“Vampires exist,” he continued quietly, “and so do we.”
“We?” I echoed weakly.
His gaze sharpened.
“The wolves.”
My stomach dropped.
“Wolves,” I repeated, disbelief creeping into my voice.
“Yes.”
I stared at him for several long seconds before letting out a breathless laugh.
“You’re telling me you’re a werewolf.”
He didn’t laugh.
He didn’t smile.
He simply held my gaze, his silence confirming the truth far more effectively than words ever could.
The laughter died in my throat.
“You’re serious,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
A strange mixture of fear and disbelief twisted inside me as I ran a trembling hand through my hair, pacing a few steps across the office floor while my mind tried desperately to keep up.
“This is insane,” I muttered. “Vampires, werewolves, secret courts—what’s next, witches?”
His expression shifted slightly.
“Possibly.”
I stopped pacing.
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
A frustrated groan escaped my lips as I rubbed my temples.
“I should have stayed home tonight,” I muttered.
A faint hint of amusement flickered in Núñez’s eyes.
“Yes,” he said calmly, “you probably should have.”
I glared at him.
“This isn’t funny.”
“No,” he agreed, his voice turning serious again as he stepped closer, “it isn’t.”
The tension between us thickened as he stopped just a few feet away, his gaze dropping briefly to my wrist where he had touched me earlier.
“That reaction earlier,” he murmured thoughtfully, “shouldn’t have happened.”
I frowned.
“What reaction?”
Instead of answering immediately, he reached for my hand again.
I pulled it back quickly.
“Don’t.”
Something dark flashed across his face.
“Gabrielle.”
“What?”
“You need to trust me.”
“Trust you?” I scoffed. “You kidn*pped me.”
“I saved you.”
“From what?”
His expression hardened as he glanced toward the window again, where distant lights still flickered across the city.
“From them.”
A sudden chill swept through me.
“What do they want with me?” I asked quietly.
Núñez’s jaw tightened, as if the answer irritated him.
“That’s the question I’m trying to solve.”
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at me again, his silver eyes filled with a dangerous intensity that made my pulse quicken.
“It means,” he said slowly, “that the most powerful vampire court in the world just invaded my territory because of you.”
A cold wave of fear washed over me.
“But I’m nobody,” I whispered.
“That’s what you think.”
He stepped closer again, his gaze lowering to my throat with unsettling focus as though listening to the rhythm of my pulse.
“My wolf doesn’t lie,” he murmured.
I swallowed nervously.
“And what does your wolf say?”
His eyes lifted to mine again, glowing faintly in the dim light.
“That you belong to me.”
My heart skipped violently.
“That’s not how people work,” I snapped.
“It is for us.”
Anger flared through my fear as I straightened my shoulders.
“I’m not your property.”
Something dangerous flashed in his expression.
“You’re my mate,” he corrected quietly.
“I don’t believe in mates.”
“That doesn’t change the bond.”
Before I could respond, a loud explosion echoed somewhere below the tower, the shockwave vibrating faintly through the building.
Both of us froze.
Then another sound followed.
Screams.
My blood ran cold.
Núñez’s entire posture changed instantly, his relaxed stance disappearing as something far more predatory took its place.
“They’re already inside,” he growled.
Panic surged through me.
“Inside?”
His silver eyes burned with lethal intensity as he moved toward the door.
“Yes.”
Fear gripped my chest as I grabbed his arm.
“What do we do?”
He glanced down at my hand gripping his sleeve before meeting my gaze again.
For a brief moment, something softer flickered in his expression.
Then it vanished.
“We run.”
My stomach dropped.
“Run where?”
His lips curved into a dangerous smile.
“Somewhere the vampire court will regret following us.”
Before I could ask what that meant, the office door exploded inward, crashing against the wall as a cold wind swept through the room.
Three figures stepped through the smoke-filled doorway.
Their eyes glowed crimson.
And every single one of them was staring directly at me.
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