Colin’s POV
The SUV rumbled forward, its tires crunching against the frost-laced gravel as the towering stone walls of the Vampire Castle faded into the mist behind us. The last slivers of candlelight from the castle’s high windows flickered briefly before vanishing into the dense morning fog. The world beyond was cloaked in muted grays and blues, the sun still too weak to break through the heavy canopy of clouds. Inside, the vehicle was filled with an eerie quiet, the kind that stretched between people who carried the weight of an impending mission.
Beta Liam sat in the driver’s seat, his sharp blue eyes flickering between the road and the rearview mirror, the muscles in his arms tense as he maneuvered through the winding roads. He was always like this before a mission—focused, unreadab
