Chapter 4
1227 Words
8:17 a.m. – Voss Corp Tower, 87th Floor
The lighter clicked.
Flame danced between my fingers.
Hargrove’s face went ash-white.
Livia’s fangs snapped out.
I held the flame under my shirt.
Gold veins pulsed like living fire.
“One flick,” I said. “We all burn.”
Hargrove raised both hands. “Elara—Mrs. Voss—let’s talk.”
“Talk fast.”
Livia lunged.
I dropped the lighter.
WHOOSH.
A ring of gold fire erupted from my skin.
Livia screamed—thrown back ten feet.
Hargrove stumbled.
Security froze in the doorway.
I stepped through the flames—unburnt.
The baby kicked. Hard.
I smiled. “It says hi.”
8:19 a.m. – Boardroom
Glass walls.
City skyline.
Twenty board members—half vampire, half human.
They stared at me like I was God.
I walked to the head of the table.
Picked up Cassian’s chair.
Sat.
“New terms.”
Hargrove wiped sweat. “Name them.”
“One: My mother lives. Hospital bills wiped. Full transplant. Today.”
He nodded.
“Two: Cassian walks free. No trackers. No council.**”
Livia hissed from the floor. “He’s property—”
I threw the axe.
It embedded in the table—inches from her hand.
“Three: You give me the council’s names. All seven ancients. Now.”
Silence.
I leaned forward. “Or I walk to the roof. Jump. Baby dies. Prophecy dies. Voss stock dies.”
Hargrove swallowed.
Opened a tablet.
Names flashed.
ANCIENT COUNCIL
Lord Draven – Paris
Lady Seraphine – Tokyo
Duke Vesper – London
Countess Nyx – Moscow
Baron Thorne – New York
Viscount Kael – Sydney
Archduchess Isolde – Rome
I memorized them.
“Four: You broadcast this meeting. Live. Now.”
Hargrove’s eyes widened. “The humans—”
“Will see what you are.”
I stood.
Walked to the glass wall.
Pressed my bloody palm to it.
Gold veins spread like roots.
The glass cracked.
8:25 a.m. – Live Feed
Every screen in the city.
Every phone.
ME.
Pregnant. Glowing. Furious.
I spoke to the camera.
“My name is Elara Kane-Voss.
I was sold for two million dollars.
Injected with vampire blood.
Forced to carry a weapon.”
I lifted my shirt.
Gold veins pulsed.
“This is what they do.
This is what they’ll do to your daughters.”
I turned to Hargrove.
“Tell them.”
He stepped forward—shaking.
“Voss Corp… has been… funding vampire supremacy…”
Chaos.
Phones exploded.
Stocks plummeted.
Livia screamed.
I smiled.
8:30 a.m. – Rooftop
I climbed the emergency stairs.
Helicopter waiting.
Cassian was there—cuffed to a vamp guard.
I walked straight to the guard.
Snapped his neck.
Cassian stared. “How—”
“Later.”
I uncuffed him.
The pilot—human—raised his hands.
I climbed in.
Cassian followed.
I grabbed the controls.
“Ever flown?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I lifted off.
8:35 a.m. – Mid-Air
The city burned below.
Not literally.
But riots. News vans. Police.
Cassian watched the screens on his phone.
“You just started a war.”
“No.” I banked left. “I ended one.”
He looked at me. “Where are we going?”
“Paris.”
“Draven?”
“First.”
He grabbed my hand. “You’re not ready.”
I pulled away. “I was born ready.”
9:10 a.m. – Private Jet
We ditched the chopper at a private airstrip.
A jet waited—stolen.
I boarded.
Cassian followed.
The pilot—another human—nodded.
I handed him a flash drive.
“Upload this. Everywhere.”
He took it.
Cassian sat across from me.
“You’re bleeding.”
I looked down.
Gold blood seeping through my shirt.
I lifted it.
Stretch marks—glowing.
The baby was growing.
Fast.
Cassian’s eyes widened. “How long?”
“Weeks. Not months.”
He reached for me.
I let him.
His hand on my stomach.
Warm.
The baby kicked.
He smiled—real.
I didn’t.
“This changes nothing.”
He nodded. “It changes everything.”
2:45 p.m. – Paris, Underground Catacombs
We landed in a field.
Stole a car.
Drove to the catacombs.
Lord Draven’s lair.
I walked in alone.
Cassian waited outside.
Skulls lined the walls.
Candles.
Blood scent.
Draven sat on a throne of bones.
Ancient. Beautiful. Terrifying.
He smiled. “The breeder.”
I stopped ten feet away.
“I’m here to end you.”
He laughed. “With what?”
I lifted my shirt.
Gold veins flared.
The baby moved.
Draven’s smile faded.
“You feel it,” I said. “Don’t you?”
He stood.
“The daywalker… is female.”
I smiled. “Surprise.”
He lunged.
I dodged.
Gold fire erupted from my hands.
He screamed.
I grabbed a skull.
Smashed it into his face.
He staggered.
I kicked him into the wall.
Bones shattered.
He laughed—bloodied.
“You can’t kill me.”
“Watch me.”
I pressed my palm to his chest.
Gold fire poured in.
He convulsed.
Skin melted.
Fangs cracked.
I whispered, “For every girl you bred.”
He dissolved.
Ash.
I walked out.
Cassian waited.
“Done?”
“One down.”
3:30 p.m. – Tokyo, Skytree Basement
Lady Seraphine.
Neon lights. Glass walls.
She waited in a kimono of blood.
“You’re early.”
I walked in.
No weapons.
She smiled. “The child grows.”
I nodded.
She circled me. “**Give her to me. I’ll raise her as goddess.”
I laughed. “She’s not yours.”
Seraphine blurred.
Claws at my throat.
I caught her wrist.
Gold fire burned.
She screamed.
I slammed her into the glass.
Cracks spidered.
“You bred humans like cattle.”
She spat blood. “We are gods—”
I punched through her chest.
Heart in my hand.
Gold fire consumed it.
She collapsed.
Ash.
4:15 p.m. – London, Thames Tunnel
Duke Vesper.
Fog. Chains. Screams.
He had girls in cages.
I burned the locks.
They ran.
Vesper roared. “You dare—”
I walked through fire.
Unburnt.
He charged.
I caught his throat.
Gold fire poured.
He melted.
Ash.
5:00 p.m. – Moscow, Red Square Crypt
Countess Nyx.
Snow. Ice. Blood.
She waited with wolves.
I burned them.
She begged.
I ended her.
Ash.
6:30 p.m. – New York, Central Park Bunker
Baron Thorne.
Wall Street. Money. Power.
He offered billions.
I burned his vault.
Ash.
8:00 p.m. – Sydney, Opera House Vault
Viscount Kael.
Ocean. Salt. Blood.
He tried to drown me.
I walked on water.
Gold fire.
Ash.
10:00 p.m. – Rome, Vatican Catacombs
Archduchess Isolde.
Last one.
She knelt.
Praying.
I stood over her.
“Why?”
She looked up. “We were dying.”
I nodded.
“So were they.”
I ended her.
Ash.
11:11 p.m. – Mid-Atlantic, Private Jet
I sat across from Cassian.
Six piles of ash.
One left.
He watched me.
“You’re glowing.”
I looked down.
Gold veins pulsing.
The baby moved.
I smiled. “She’s ready.”
He reached for my hand.
I let him.
“What now?”
I looked out the window.
Moonlight on water.
“We go home.”
“And Livia?”
I smiled.
“She’s next.”
- Writer
