Chapter 38: The Nephilim's prince

"I think the binding is breaking faster than I thought it would." Vance pulled his fingers from Maria's neck and slumped back to sit on his heels. "We'll probably have days – no, a week before he breaks free of her."

Maria didn't move nor did she look up. She brought her legs up and put her forehead on her knees, which continued to tremble every couple of seconds.

The front door thudded heavily as Cross started thrashing around in the trunk.

"We've got to take care of him before that happens." Jenna turned from the window. "He won't stay quiet forever, believe me."

Dorian straightened a little despite his fresh wounds. "They'll arrive within the next day or two." He clenched his jaw. "If they see him here, they'll use him against us."

I watched my wrapped hand. The gauze soaked in dried blood while the skin underneath continued to throb.

"Then we'll move him elsewhere when they come. Somewhere distant enough he can't crawl back," I said.

Zoe shifted slightly in the corner. With bleary eyes and disoriented movements, she pushed up to sit on her elbows. "I can't just lay here." Her voice was rough but slightly stronger than the previous times. "I need some activity or I'll go insane."

She got to her feet with assistance from the wall and approached Mira. She had been sitting there ever since the transfer, occasionally jerking in spasms and making soft noises.

Zoe kneeled beside Mirna, placing her hands close to Maria's shaking ones. "I can't watch you suffer all alone. Not after everything you've done for me. Raze has been inside me. I understand the scraping, the whispers inside your head and the doubts you have about whose thoughts are yours." She squeezed Mira's hand. "I won't let you endure this alone."

Mira looked up. Tears welled up in her red, puffy eyes and ran down her cheeks. Her dry, chapped lips parted and remained silent.

I stood in the opposite corner of the room with my hands hanging uselessly by my side. My bandaged hand throbbed rhythmically with my heartbeat.

Guilt settled in the pit of my stomach. I could've allowed the council to burn through Zoe's life, but I threw Raze inside Mirna instead. She was the one left suffering because of that.

I wanted to tell her I was sorry, but my throat tightened as if I couldn't bring myself to admit it. So, I just stood there in silence.

Jenna turned away from the window with flaring nostrils and gleaming eyes.

"He needs her emotions to stabilize himself," Vance mused, leaning closer to Maria's twitching body. He touched her wrist and listened to the quickening pulses until he finally sat back. "It helps in preserving the binding. It isn't permanent, but it will give us some time."

Dorian winced as he shifted on the bed, pulling the edges of his fresh stitches. "But more time isn't enough. Once the council arrives, they will separate him. They want him out of her so they can make use of him. Separation kills."

The headlights of an unfamiliar car flashed through the window.

Jenna turned and grabbed the iron bar in the office. "Somebody else has arrived. It's not the council. It's a vampire I haven't met before."

Dorian ignored the pain and reached for the sill to draw nearer. "That's my brother," he hissed, practically whispering in order to be heard. "Kael."

Zoe looked at him. "Brother? You never mentioned you had any brothers."

Dorian didn't answer. His knuckles turned white with the effort of holding onto the mattress.

I approached the window and peered through the gap in the curtain.

A tall man stood by a black car parked outside. He had sharp, angular features similar to Dorian's but aged and harshened. His dark hair framed his face, covering the part of his scalp recently exposed by his brother. His hands were in the pockets of his coat and a sardonic smile played on his lips as if he already knew what awaited him inside.

"Even worse than Cross," Dorian said in a cracked voice. "While the latter just wanted the power, the former wants the control. He will smile at you while taking whatever belongs to you and will make you grateful."

Kael raised his hand and waved.

Snowflakes gathered on his shoulders and dripped off the car hood, yet Kael didn't shiver or brush them off.

"I don't know why he's here," Jenna whispered. "There's no way we can fight him. Not with you half-dead and Mira suffering." She looked at me with anxious eyes.

"He'll break down the door anyway." I detached my gaze from the window and turned to the others. "There's nothing we can do to avoid this."

Dorian reached out to hold my wrist. His fingers were cold and urgent. "Trust nothing he says. Nothing he promises. No matter how reasonable and fair he seems, he is not here to help us." He paused for a second and continued with an angry tone. "He's here only for himself."

I withdrew my wrist. "Trust nobody. Nobody anymore."

Kael moved forward, leaving dark prints on the snowy pavement with each step he took.

The doorbell rang loudly, piercing the quiet hallway.

We all stood frozen.

Then the door rang again.

I walked to the door, touched the cold handle and pulled it open.

Kael smiled at me in the same manner as before with snowflakes melting in his hair. "You must be Arya," he said calmly and warmly. "Dorian has told me so much about you."

Dorian exhaled sharply, drawing air in preparation for a long speech that he'd been dreading for quite some time.