Chapter 101 Levi's pov

Chapter 101 Levi's pov
I must have heard Derek wrong.
I thought we were supposed to be orphans, how come we have a living Father now. And how did Derek know about him?
The room went silent as everyone turned to look at Him, then back at the screen. The video continued. The figure walked down the hallway then the footage ended.
I stared at the screen, waiting for someone to say that's a lie. Or peek-a-boo.but nobody did. Derek stood abruptly. The movement knocked over his chair.
“That’s impossible.”
His voice sounded broken. I’d never heard Derek sound broken. Rahul remained silent.
“He’s dead.” Derek looked around the room, almost desperate. “He’s supposed to be dead.”
If he was dead, how...
“No.” I shook my head. “Youre joking right.”
Lucifiel’s hand settled on my shoulder and this time I didn’t pull away. Because I needed it, I needed him.
“Are you sure?” I asked weakly .
Rahul looked exhausted. “We ran facial recognition. Multiple times.”
My stomach sank.
Derek slowly sat back down, like his legs had stopped working. “What did it say?”
Rahul’s answer came quietly. “Ninety-eight percent match.”
I stared at the frozen image—at the face on the screen. No wonder he looked familiar. The man who looked exactly like ours.
“But he couldn't be the killer right?"
The room felt smaller and nobody said anything.
Rahul broke the silence. “We don’t know what happened.” His voice remained calm. “We don’t know if it’s him. We don’t know if it’s someone who looks like him or if it’s manipulation, We don’t know anything.”
I appreciated the honesty. Even if it didn’t help. Derek laughed suddenly. The sound wasn’t funny. It was the kind of laugh people made when they were trying very hard not to fall apart.
“Great.” Nobody responded. “Just great.” His eyes remained fixed on the screen. “Mom is going to love this show from above.”
I closed my eyes.
God. I have pushed all thoughts of parents away from my head. Moving from the orphanage then from one foster home to another was traumatic enough, now this.
How were we supposed to explain this? How were we supposed to explain anything?
Rahul closed the laptop. The image disappeared. Thank God. I didn’t want to see it anymore. Not right now. Maybe not ever.
“We’ll investigate.”
Derek looked up. “We?”
“Yes.”
Rahul didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second. The answer came automatically, like there had never been another option.
Something softened in Derek’s expression—just briefly. Poor Rahul and Derek.
Neither of them realized they were being kind of obvious.
Then another phone buzzed. Rahul checked the message. His expression darkened immediately. Apparently the universe wasn’t done with us yet.
“What now?”
Rahul looked up. His voice came out grim. “We have another problem.”
I buried my face in my hands. “Can we finish one apocalypse before starting another?”
“This is even crazier,” Rahul said, eyes fixed on his phone. “Seraphine is dead. Now the witches think we did it.”
Derek blinked.“Sorry. What?”
Rahul looked up. “Seraphine was found dead less than an hour ago.”
The room fell silent. I sat upright. The exhaustion that had been hanging over me vanished instantly.
“Dead?”
“Yes.”
“Like actually dead?” I thought it was hard to kill witches. I was still far from getting the hang of the supernatural world.
Rahul gave me a look. “Is there a different kind of death?”
But my stomach had already started sinking. Because Seraphine wasn’t just some random witch. She was the reason everything had exploded in the first place—the prophecy, the meeting, the council, the forbidden blood, everything. And now she was dead, which meant someone was cleaning up loose ends.
Lucifiel’s expression darkened. "Why would she get herself killed so easily?” I could hear the pain in his voice even though he refused to show it.
Rahul slid his phone across the table. I looked at it and immediately regretted it. The image wasn’t nearly as graphic as the safe-house photographs, but it was enough: yellow police tape, a covered body, and a symbol painted across a nearby wall. The same symbol. The L inside the C.
My stomach twisted. “Who found her?”
“The coven.”
“And they think we did it?”
“Apparently, her blood was drained."
I rubbed my face. “So now we have vampires trying to kill me all over.”
“Yes, plus Witches who hate you. And probably enter vampire clans."
"And my now undead father."
Rahul nodded. “Yes. And maybe a few werewolves who lost their family because of Adrian.”
I stared at him. Sometimes I wondered if Rahul secretly enjoyed suffering. But I couldn’t rule it out.
Derek groaned. “Can we go back to when our only problem was being broken?”
"Sadly no. And I was never broke." Rahul answered.
"Fuck off, you're such a show off." He didn’t even look offended, he just smirked.
Lucifiel finally moved away from where he’d been standing behind me. He walked toward the window, his expression distant and calculating. Which meant he was planning something—which usually ended badly for everyone except him. And sometimes for him too.
“What are you thinking about?”
His gaze shifted toward me. “Everthiing feels off."
Rahul nodded immediately. “I thought the same thing.”
I looked between them. Unfortunately they were both having one of those conversations where they somehow communicated without explaining anything. I hated those.
“Would someone like to share with the class?”
Lucifiel sighed. “The attacks and now Seraphine. I was hoping it was just Aldric and a few clan leaders. All of these events are happening too quickly. Whoever is responsible I don't think. They're acting alone.”
That shut me up. Because he was right. None of this felt random anymore.. Everything felt connected, like pieces moving toward something bigger. Something none of us could see yet. The thought made my skin crawl.
A phone rang again. I was officially beginning to hate phones for real. Rahul answered, listened, then immediately stood. The room became alert.
“What happened?”
Rahul lowered the phone. “The council wants a meeting.”
Lucifiel laughed, a sound that contained absolutely no humor. “No.”
“They think the attacks are targeting supernatural leadership.”
Lucifiel’s expression remained unimpressed. “Thats their business."
The conversation went back and forth for several minutes. Eventually I stopped listening—mostly because my brain had reached maximum supernatural-nonsense capacity for one day. Instead I wandered toward the kitchen. Coffee seemed like a reasonable life choice.
I was halfway there when I noticed something.
Derek was gone.
Which was strange, because he’d been sitting on the couch less than five minutes ago. I frowned, maybe he went to. The bathroom .
A thought occurred to me. A terrible. Wonderful. Interesting thought.
I looked around. Nobody was paying attention. Lucifiel was speaking Kael on the. Phone with Rahul nowhere to be found around him. Which meant…
I quietly retreated.
The apartment wasn’t huge. Finding people wasn’t difficult. I checked the hallway, the guest room and another empty room but didn't find them..
Then I heard voices—low, quiet, coming from one of the rooms at the far end.
My eyes lit up immediately. I wanted to know what they were upto. Some people called it nosy. Those people were wrong, it's just a means of being more knowledgeable.
I approached carefully. The voices became clearer. Derek. Definitely Derek. And… Rahul. I smiled and moved closer.
I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. That would be wrong. I simply happened to be standing near a partially open door. Entirely by accident. Obviously.
“…being ridiculous.”
That was Derek.
Rahul sighed. “You almost got yourself killed protecting your brother.”
“I didn’t. And you know what. I'm capable of.”
“I do but still....”
They went quiet for a few seconds, then Derek laughed softly. They sounded softer and warmer. The kind of laugh people only used around specific people.
My eyes widened.
Oh.
Oh.
Things suddenly became much more interesting.
"He is my brother,” Derek said, quieter now. “And I would do it again.”
“I know.”
I should probably leave. I knew that. But my legs refused to budge so I stayed for educational purposes.
Then Derek spoke again. “You’re too worried.”
“I’m always worried.”
“About me or...”
Rahul sighed. “Yes. You make me worried.”
My eyes widened even further. I knew it. I absolutely knew it. I was so happy watching them.
Derek laughed again. Then everything went quiet which made me suspicious.
I shifted slightly—just enough to peek through the gap.
And immediately wished I had popcorn.
Because Derek was standing very close to Rahul. Like… very close. Neither of them seemed to notice. Or maybe they did. Then Derek reached out and touched Rahul’s arm. Rahul looked down at the hand, then back at Derek. The atmosphere practically screamed tension.
I was witnessing a nature documentary. Two idiots in their natural habitat.
Then Derek said something I couldn’t hear. Rahul’s expression softened.
And then...
Oh.
Oh wow.
Derek pulled him down and placed a soft kiss on his lips. For a second Rahul looked completely shocked. Then he pulled him in closer and kissed him back.
My eyes nearly fell out of my head. I knew it. I absolutely knew it. Several weeks of suspicion—confirmed.
And honestly? Good for them. After everything we’d been through recently, someone deserved happiness. Even if they were idiots.
I carefully stepped backward, because unlike certain ancient vampires I actually respected privacy.
I retreated down the hallway before either of them noticed. The smile refused to leave my face.
Unfortunately my retreat ended the moment I walked directly into Lucifiel.
Literally.
One second I was escaping. The next I was staring at a very familiar chest.
I froze. He looked down.
“You appear pleased.”
Fuck me.
I tried to look innocent. Apparently I failed, because one eyebrow slowly rose.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Levi.”
“Absolutely nothing illegal.”
His eyes narrowed. Then understanding appeared—which was terrifying, because it meant he somehow knew.
“I see.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Then I realized. Of course he knew. Vampire hearing. Damn supernatural creatures.
“I hate all of you.”
“No you don’t.”
I folded my arms. “I’m leaving.”
“Where?”
Good question. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Somewhere.”
“Very specific.”
I glared at him. He looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Then his expression changed. The amusement vanished, replaced by something more serious.
“What happened?”
My stomach dropped. Because suddenly I knew. Whatever brief moment of peace we’d had was over. Again.
Lucifiel leaned close to my ear. At first I thought he wanted to kiss me so I closed my eyes,"I'm sorry." The moment I heard those words my eyes snapped open.
“What?”
His face was in front of mine now."I'm sorry for not telling you about the prophecy."
My heart rate spiked up. Somebody hold me please. Did the almighty vampire king just apologize?
I didn't even know how to react. I stood there frozen from excitement and a few other emotions I couldn't name. Lucifiel placed a soft kiss on my forehead that almost sent me to heaven. "I'm glad you're my mate."
I didn't even bother asking what it meant because I've heard. About mating and all but it was for the werewolves. At this point, I don't mind being the psycho vampire king's mate.
Suddenly I was grinning from earlier to eat. No matter who. Was after me or Us, I don't care, I was where I wanted to be at the moment.
A few seconds later Rahul appeared. While Lucifiel and I already took our seats on one of the couches. His expression looked grim.
“What now?” I asked.
Rahul looked directly at Lucifiel, then at me. “We found something else.”
“Go on,"Lucifiel ordered.
“ About the attacks, The killer isn’t hunting randomly.”
“What do you mean?”
Rahul’s eyes settled on me. “The victims.” He paused. “Every single one of them had direct or indirect contact with you.”
I felt my head spin for a few seconds.
“Thats crazy." I muttered.
“This isn’t about power.” Rahul’s voice remained calm. “It isn’t about vampires or witches.”
The silence stretched. Then Lucifiel spoke. His voice sounded colder than I’d heard it all day.
“It’s about Levi.”
Nobody argued. Because deep down… we all knew he was right.
"To get to the real mastermind, let's use Levi as bait."
What the hell?