Colson

Watching the Beginning

Colson POV

Chaos.

Glorious, loud, beautifully reckless chaos.

I leaned against a brick wall across the street from Ezra’s secondary club, arms folded as I watched Sage and Zane set the entire district on fire—metaphorically speaking.

For now.

“Remind me again,” Zane muttered as he walked beside her toward the entrance, “why we’re doing this?”

Sage rolled her eyes so dramatically I could practically hear it from across the street.

“Because the creepy vampire said so.”

“I don’t trust him.”

“No one asked you to.”

“You agreed with him.”

“I agreed to chaos.”

“Which benefits him.”

She stopped walking and turned toward him.

“And you’re still walking with me.”

Zane sighed.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet here you are.”

I snorted quietly.

Gods.

Watching this knowing how their story unfolds felt like watching the first scene of a movie I had already memorized.

The tension.

The irritation.

The sparks neither of them wanted to admit existed yet.

Sage shoved the club doors open.

Two vampire guards immediately stepped forward.

“You can’t—”

Zane grabbed one by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

Hard.

The other barely had time to react before Sage kicked his legs out from under him.

“Wow,” I murmured. “Starting strong.”

Inside the club, music screeched to a halt as bodies turned toward the sudden violence.

Zane stood straight, towering and furious.

“I’m here to talk about your boss’s financial habits,” he announced loudly.

Oh, this was going to be good.

Sage walked past him casually, grabbing a stack of drink cards from a nearby table like she owned the place.

“Relax,” she told the terrified server. “We’re just borrowing.”

The server nodded frantically.

Across the room, three vampires rushed forward.

Zane cracked his neck.

“Here we go.”

The first vampire lunged.

Zane caught him mid-charge and threw him across a drink table.

The second barely got a swing in before Sage smashed a chair over his back.

The third hesitated.

Smart.

“Wrong night,” Sage said cheerfully before punching him anyway.

I laughed quietly from my shadowed spot outside.

Gods, I loved them.

They had no idea yet what they would become.

No idea what they would survive.

Right now they were just two stubborn idiots punching vampires in a club.

Zane grabbed another attacker and tossed him across the room.

“You said distraction,” he growled toward Sage.

“This feels excessive.”

She jumped onto a table and kicked another guard into the crowd.

“You’re just mad I’m better at this.”

“I’m not mad.”

“You’re mad.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re mad.”

I shook my head, chuckling.

“You two are going to be insufferable mates.”

Inside, alarms began blaring.

Perfect.

Exactly what I needed.

Ezra’s forces would respond fast.

Too fast to worry about me.

I pushed off the wall.

“Alright,” I muttered. “Showtime.”

While the club erupted into full-scale chaos, I slipped down the side alley unnoticed.

Behind me, glass shattered.

Someone screamed.

A vampire roared in anger.

Sage laughed.

“Oops.”

Zane groaned.

“You’re enjoying this too much.”

“Correct.”

Their voices faded as I moved deeper into the streets.

My humor faded with them.

Because the moment I left the noise behind…

The city felt wrong again.

Quiet.

Watching.

I slowed slightly, senses stretching outward.

The witch.

She was still here.

I could feel it.

Like a cold thread running through the night.

And she was closer now.

“Fantastic,” I muttered.

I turned down a narrow side street, adjusting my coat.

The book piece pressed against my chest.

Heavy.

Important.

Dangerous.

If she got it…

If Ezra got it…

Everything ended.

The world wouldn’t explode overnight.

But it would slowly bend into something monstrous.

A vampire-dominated world where creatures like Sage and Zane would spend their lives fighting uphill battles.

And Amaris—

I clenched my jaw.

Amaris would become the key to a spell that would enslave magic itself.

Not happening.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

I moved faster now, weaving through streets I knew too well.

My old territory.

My old hunting grounds.

Every alley carried ghosts.

Memories of the monster I used to be.

The vampire who didn’t care.

The vampire who laughed while people screamed.

Tonight I had already tasted that darkness again.

Already felt how easy it would be to slip back into it.

That terrified me more than any witch.

Because monsters don’t always need to be forced.

Sometimes they just need permission.

And this city?

This timeline?

It gave plenty.

I shook the thought away.

Focus.

Amaris.

I needed to reach her.

Needed to warn her the witch was free.

Needed to find out if the watch was repaired.

Needed to get the hell out of this time before I started liking it too much.

I climbed a fire escape and crossed rooftops, moving faster now.

Behind me the club chaos grew louder.

Sirens.

Roaring vampires.

Breaking glass.

Zane and Sage were doing exactly what I needed them to do.

And I hated that I had dragged them into it.

Even if they wouldn’t remember.

That was the strangest part.

Helping them.

Protecting them.

Knowing they would forget.

I landed on the next roof and crouched low.

Amaris’s house was three blocks away.

Almost there.

Then—

That feeling again.

My head snapped up.

A figure stood on the rooftop across from me.

Still.

Silent.

Watching.

Kendrick’s witch.

“Well,” she called across the darkness.

“That was clever.”

I straightened slowly.

“You should see my long-term plans.”

Her eyes flicked toward my chest.

Toward the book piece.

“You’re running out of time,” she said.

“Story of my life.”

She stepped forward.

The air twisted with magic.

“And when I take that from you,” she continued softly, “you’ll finally understand why you were never meant to interfere.”

I smiled.

Sharp.

Predatory.

“Funny thing about that.”

I took a step back toward the edge of the roof.

“I interfere professionally.”

Then I jumped.

Landing two buildings away and sprinting toward Amaris’s street.

Behind me, I heard the witch move.

Fast.

Too fast.

“Damn,” I muttered.

Because now the race wasn’t just against time.

It was against her.

And if she reached Amaris first…

Everything would collapse.