Chapter 160

Chapter 160
Calla

Virex's words hung in the evening air like a challenge that nobody dared answer. I stared at him in complete shock, my mind struggling to process what he'd just said.

This was the vampire everyone whispered about in terror? The ancient creature who commanded armies and made even other supernaturals tremble? He looked like he could be in a magazine, not leading some centuries-old vampire empire.

But the way everyone around us had gone dead silent told me everything I needed to know. Even the werewolf packs that had been howling moments before were now watching with the kind of careful attention you gave to apex predators.

Virex smiled at the silence, clearly enjoying the effect his presence had on everyone. Then he started walking in a slow circle around me, his movements graceful and controlled. I found myself trembling with exhaustion and fear, but also something else - a weird fascination with how completely at ease he seemed.

Despite his relaxed posture, I could feel the dangerous energy rolling off him in waves. Like a tiger that appeared to be sleeping but could kill you in half a heartbeat if it chose to.

"Tell me," Virex said, his voice carrying easily across the rocky terrain, "does anyone here truly understand why moonkeepers were feared?"

The silence stretched longer. Nobody seemed willing to be the first to answer.

Virex's smile widened, showing just a hint of those deadly fangs. "No? Well then, allow me to educate you all."

He stopped walking and faced the gathered supernatural armies, his silver hair catching the last rays of sunlight. When he spoke again, his voice held the weight of centuries.

"Moonkeepers possessed abilities that made them uniquely dangerous to my kind. Dreamwalking, yes. Immunity to compulsion, certainly. Enhanced healing, silver claws that could kill even ancient vampires." He paused, letting that sink in. "But those were not their most terrifying gifts."

I felt my heart pounding as he continued his explanation.

"Originally, there were twelve ancient vampires. The first of our kind. The founders of what would become the modern vampire hierarchy." Virex's eyes seemed to glow in the dying light. "Now there is only one left. Me."

The werewolves behind Axel started shifting restlessly. Even from this distance, I could see tension building in their shoulders.

"The others were not destroyed through strength or warfare," Virex continued, his tone almost conversational. "They were trapped. Moonkeepers didn't kill the original ancients - they imprisoned them within their own minds."

My blood went cold as I began to understand what he was saying.

"A truly powerful moonkeeper could create dreamscapes so complete, so compelling, that an ancient vampire would become lost inside their own consciousness. Locked away in mental prisons of pure nightmare, completely unaware of the outside world."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even Blake had stopped his pained writhing to listen.

"That is why we hunted them to extinction," Virex said, his voice turning harder. "That is why every moonkeeper bloodline was systematically erased from existence. Because eleven of the most powerful beings who ever walked this earth are still trapped in mental cages, waiting to be freed."

I felt sick as the implications hit me. "You want to use me to bring them back."

"Very good." Virex turned toward me with obvious approval. "I intend to take you to where the ancient ones lie in their dreamless sleep. Your awakened abilities will shatter the mental barriers that have held them for centuries."

The werewolves behind Axel were starting to snarl, low growls building in their throats as they realized what this meant.

"Eleven ancient vampires returning to the world," one of the coalition members called out. "The old days when vampires ruled everything."

"Exactly," Virex replied without shame. "The natural order will be restored."

That's when everything exploded into violence.

Ten werewolves from Derek's coalition pack suddenly launched themselves at Virex from different angles, clearly hoping to overwhelm him through surprise and numbers. They moved with perfect coordination, silver weapons flashing in the evening light.

Virex simply smiled.

What happened next was barely visible to my human eyes. Virex moved like liquid lightning, flowing between the attacking werewolves with inhuman grace. His hands became claws that tore through flesh and bone like they were paper.

The first werewolf never even saw the strike that opened his throat from ear to ear. Blood sprayed across the rocky ground as he dropped without a sound.

The second managed to get his silver knife halfway to Virex's chest before ancient vampire reflexes caught his wrist and twisted until bone snapped. The werewolf's scream cut off abruptly when Virex drove fangs through his neck.

Three more werewolves attacked from behind, thinking they had him trapped. Virex spun impossibly fast, his claws raking across all three faces in a single motion. They stumbled backward, clutching ruined eyes that would never see again.

Two werewolves managed to land hits. Silver claws raked across Virex's neck, opening deep gashes that should have been fatal. Another set of claws caught him across the face, leaving parallel cuts from temple to jaw.

For a moment, dark blood flowed from the wounds. Then I watched in horror as the injuries closed themselves, flesh knitting back together like the damage had never happened.

The healing took maybe three seconds. Then Virex was moving again.

The remaining werewolves didn't stand a chance. Virex's strength tore through their defenses like they were children playing at war. Spines snapped. Hearts were torn from chests. Heads were twisted completely around with wet cracking sounds.

In less than thirty seconds, ten experienced werewolf fighters were dead or dying on the ground.

Virex stood in the center of the carnage, not even breathing hard. A few drops of blood stained his perfect pale skin, but otherwise he looked exactly like he had before the fight started.

Behind him, his vampire army began laughing. The sounds were cruel and mocking, filled with centuries of superiority over other supernatural beings.

"Dogs," one of them called out. "Pathetic mutts thinking they could challenge true power."

"Should have stayed on your leashes," another added with vicious amusement.

The surviving werewolves - both from my pack, other werewolves and the coalition forces - had gone pale with shock. They'd just watched their strongest fighters get slaughtered by a single opponent who barely seemed to notice their attacks.

I could see the fear spreading through their ranks like poison. This wasn't just losing a fight. This was realizing they were completely, hopelessly outmatched.

Virex turned toward the werewolf armies, his red eyes glowing like embers in the growing darkness. Blood still dripped from his fangs as he smiled with the satisfied expression of a demon from hell itself.

His voice carried easily across the stunned silence. "Does anyone else wish to test themselves against superior creatures?"

Nobody answered. Nobody moved. The werewolves stood frozen like prey animals that had finally understood they were facing their natural predator.

I felt sick with the certainty that none of us were getting out of this alive. Virex had the power to kill every werewolf here, and after what I'd just witnessed, I knew he could do it without breaking a sweat.

That's when we all heard it.

Laughter. Wild, maniacal laughter that echoed off the rocky walls around us.

Everyone turned toward the sound. Blake was on the ground near the facility ruins, pushing himself upright with movements that looked wrong and painful. But he was laughing like a man who'd just won the lottery.

"It worked," he gasped between fits of laughter, his voice cracking with hysteria and triumph. "It actually fucking worked."