Chapter 157 Seraphine
The moment I stepped into the living room, barefoot and half awake, horns still curled from my temples and my talons still extended from instinct, my dragon surged forward inside me like she’d been waiting.
And the second my eyes landed on Stephen—
The urge hit me so hard it almost knocked the breath from my lungs.
Kill him.
The thought wasn’t vague. It wasn’t abstract.
It was detailed.
I could picture it, crossing the room in two strides, grabbing him by the throat, dragging my claws through his chest before he even understood what was happening.
My dragon growled low inside my mind.
Threat.
I blinked slowly, forcing my breathing to slow.
He’s my brother, I reminded her.
She didn’t care.
She hated him.
Not annoyed. Not suspicious.
Hated.
Like something about him was wrong in a way that made her skin crawl.
Stephen, meanwhile, was standing near the kitchen island looking like he’d just survived a bar fight and lost the moral high ground. His short red hair was a mess, his scruffy beard uneven like he’d been pulling at it all night, and his shirt looked like someone had tried to tear it off him mid-argument.
When he saw me standing in the hallway with horns, tail, glowing eyes, and claws—
“…you’ve got to be kidding me.”
My voice came out cold. “Why are you here?”
Not a question.
A demand.
Stephen rubbed his face tiredly like a man who had aged ten years in the last hour. “Well,” he started slowly, glancing between Dante, Lucian, and Amara like he was still trying to process the fact that half the room now had horns. “Funny story.”
“Make it fast,” I snapped.
Because my dragon was still whispering kill him and it was getting harder to ignore.
Stephen sighed. “Right. So. I told them already but apparently I have to repeat myself because the dragon council here needs the director’s commentary version.”
Lucian leaned against the counter with his arms folded. “You’re doing great so far.”
Stephen pointed vaguely toward the door. “I got back to my building tonight. Just grabbing dinner like a normal human being trying to survive a suspension and a divorce at the same time, and this guy steps out of the shadows like he’s auditioning for the villain role in a medieval horror movie. Pale, tall, creepy as hell.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Stephen continued, pacing now. “He says he has a message for my sister. Starts going on about blood laws and how things were better before she showed up. Says women are going back to their proper place once he rewrites everything.”
Amara made a disgusted sound under her breath.
Stephen nodded. “Yeah. That was my reaction too.”
He rubbed his neck, glancing briefly toward the floor. “Carol was with me.” Stephen continued, voice rising again. “Carol tells him to screw off, because she had the survival instincts of a drunk raccoon, and the guy just smiles. Like he’s amused. And then the horns grow.”
He tapped his temples aggressively.
“Right out of his damn skull.”
The room was quiet now.
Stephen swallowed. “Then he leans forward and drives those horns straight through her chest.”
Amara grimaced.
Lucian winced slightly.
Stephen rubbed his face again. “She died in about three seconds.”
Lucian shrugged. “Honestly that might improve family gatherings.”
Stephen pointed at him. “I don’t care that she’s dead!”
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Stephen added quickly, “good riddance, but that’s not the issue! The issue is that a man just grew horns and murdered someone in front of me!”
Lucian nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, fair.”
Stephen pointed at me again. “Then he tells me to deliver a message to you. Says if you keep interfering he’s going to overwrite you. Says women will go back to being breeding stock and food.”
My jaw tightened.
Stephen exhaled. “Then he just… walks away.”
I stared at him for a long moment. Then my voice dropped. “You should have thought about my safety before selling me out to Renee.”
The room went silent again.
Stephen’s face fell. “That wasn’t—”
“You gave someone information that almost got me killed.”
“I didn’t know she was going to do that!”
“You still did it.”
Stephen ran his hands through his hair again. “I owed people, okay? Bad people. Loan shark people. The kind who send pictures of your kneecaps before they break them.”
Lucian muttered, “Classic.”
Stephen continued. “Giving Renee information cleared ten percent of what I owed.”
I stared at him. “Ten percent.”
He nodded miserably. “I still owe."
My dragon snarled.
Weak.
I pointed toward the door.
“Get out.”
Stephen blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Dante stepped forward immediately, fire rolling along his arms as he cracked his knuckles. “I’d be happy to assist.”
Stephen looked between us both and then—
Dropped to his knees.
Hard.
Amara gasped.
Lucian burst out laughing.
Stephen grabbed the edge of my robe dramatically. “Please don’t throw me out.”
I stared down at him. “You sold me out.”
“I said I was sorry!”
“You also helped someone attempt to murder me.”
“That was an accident!”
“Those usually involve spilled drinks, not assassination attempts!”
Stephen pressed his forehead to the floor. “If I leave this building I will die.”
Lucian leaned over to Dante. “He’s not wrong.”
Stephen pointed desperately at him. “See?! Water guy gets it!”
Lucian began counting on his fingers. “Pros of kicking him out: peace, quiet, fewer whining noises.”
“Cons?” Amara asked.
Lucian shrugged. “Thane probably kills him in the parking garage.”
Stephen raised both hands. “Exactly!”
Dante added flatly, “Or uses him as leverage against Seraphine later.”
Stephen’s face fell. “Oh.”
Lucian pointed at him. “You’re basically a walking hostage.”
Stephen groaned. “Fantastic.”
Dante looked at me again. “If Thane wants leverage, keeping him here removes that option.”
Lucian nodded. “And if we throw him out, we’ll probably be cleaning his corpse off the sidewalk in the morning.”
Stephen looked up hopefully. “So… I can stay?”
Lucian pointed a finger at him. “Temporary.”
Dante added calmly, “And if you try selling her out again I will personally throw you out the window.”
Stephen nodded vigorously. “Fair.”
I rubbed my temples. Because somehow... After trials, dragons, kings, and political warfare. My biggest problem right now was my idiot brother begging for asylum on the living room floor.
My dragon muttered darkly inside my mind.
He still smells wrong.
Great.
That was comforting.