Chapter 97: Levi's POV

Derek was joking. He had to be.

Lucifiel was one of the strongest vampires alive—probably the strongest. The idea that someone could capture him felt impossible. He moved like he controlled the wind itself, like the world rearranged itself around his will.

“If you’re telling me this to get me back to his building,” I said, “sorry, it’s not going to work.”

“I’m being serious.”

His expression looked like it. Flat and grim. No trace of his usual sarcasm.

“I was a few blocks from here when Rahul called. Gareth and Lucifiel can’t be reached.”

The moment the last word left his mouth, I was on my feet.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?” Derek stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

“To look for the vampire king, of course.”

“Can you hear yourself? You want to go rescue the notorious vampire king who’s being held captive somewhere we don’t even know?”

“I think I know where he is.”

“You’re crazy.” Derek shook his head hard. “Do you know how many vampires are currently scouring the earth looking for you? If Lucifiel had truly kept you just to kill you, imagine how many more want you dead.”

His words should have stopped me. But they didn’t.

Because every horrible thought I’d been carrying since I left Lucifiel’s building suddenly had competition. The image of Lucifiel chained somewhere—hurt, alone, possibly because of me—hit harder than the fear.

I hated him. For making me feel like this. I was angry at him,furious even. I was heartbroken because of him. Ok maybe I exaggerated the hate part a little.

“I need to find him.”

Derek stared at me. “Levi.”

“I need to find him. Besides I have you.”

“You’re proving my point.”

“What point?”

“The point where you’re still hopelessly in love with him.”

“Don’t start.”

“You left his building because you found out he was hiding the prophecy.”

“Yes.”

“You told him you’d rather stay with Voss.”

I immediately looked away. The memory of Lucifiel’s face after those words still burned.

Derek winced. “Okay. Maybe that one was harsh.”

“thanks for reminding me.” I almost rolled my eyes.

“its the obvious truth”

A terrible feeling settled in my stomach. At the time I had wanted to hurt him. Now I wished I could take the words back—not because they weren’t cruel, but because they weren’t true.

“like I said, I have you.”

Derek sighed, long and defeated. “Then we’re doing it properly. Because I might not be able to defeat ten percent of the vampires after you.”

Before I could ask what the 'proper' meant, he pulled out his phone. The call connected almost immediately.

“Tell me you found something.”

Rahul’s voice answered, tight and controlled. “I have a possible location.”

I froze. Derek straightened.

“How reliable is ut?”

“Eighty percent.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It’s the best we’ve got.” A pause. Then Rahul added, “And Levi is coming with us.”

I blinked. “You already knew?”

“Of course I knew.”

“How?”

“Because you’re predictable.”

I felt offended. Derek laughed under his breath.

Rahul continued, calm as ever. “The moment you heard Lucifiel was missing, you were always going to come.”

I hated how accurate that was.

“Where are we meeting?”

Rahul gave an address—an abandoned district near the edge of the city. A place I had never been before. Be for the call end Rahul said" Make sure to keep your ass safe and don't do anything stupid he wants."

I stared at Derek for a few seconds "what does he have to do with your ass?" I said grinning.

"Shut the fuck up." He said ignoring my question.

Then he rubbed both hands over his face. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“We’re doing this.”

“No. You’re doing this. I’m being dragged along.”

“That’s not true.”

Despite every complaint, he was already moving with me to leave Gracie's place.

A few minutes later we were on the road.

The drive was quiet.

Derek focused on the road. I focused on not thinking. Unfortunately I failed.

Lucifiel had hidden the prophecy. That was true. He had known he was supposed to kill me. That was also true.

But so was the fact that he had protected me, saved me, chosen me, and—against every rational argument—loved me. I squeezed my eyes shut. Nothing made sense anymore.

“are you having second thoughts?” Derek said.

I looked up. “What?”

“Your face looks like you're regretting this already.”

“you wish..”

I still don't know why I felt like I could find Lucifiel. But that would be a topic for another day .

“I’m serious.” Dereke glanced at me. “You don’t have to forgive him immediately.”

“I’m not.”

“But?”

I looked out the window at the darkening streets. “But I need answers.”

That was the closest thing to the truth I could manage.

By the time we reached the meeting point, Rahul was already waiting. Several vehicles surrounded him. Armed vampires stood nearby, tense and ready. The air itself felt tight.

We were practically going to fight a war.

Rahul approached the moment we stepped out. His gaze landed on me.

“You look frustrated.”

“Good to see you too.”

“I wasn’t trying to be rude.”

“You succeeded anyway.”

Derek snorted. Rahul ignored him. “We don’t have much time.”

“What did you find?” Derek asked.

Rahul unfolded a map and tapped a location. “We tracked Gareth.”

“Where is he?”

“Here.” The building looked ancient—far older than anything surrounding it. Thick stone walls. An underground structure. The kind of place people used for secrets they never wanted found.

I didn’t like it. “What makes you think Lucifiel is there?”

Rahul’s expression darkened. “Because we have someone there who said Gareth is behind lucifiel's capture and Gareth entered the place on different occasions from last month.”

Silence settled over us. That was convincing.

Derek looked toward the distant structure. “You know this feels like a trap, right?”

“Obviously.”

“And we’re still going.”

“ Definetly. ”

He groaned.

The building looked abandoned—dark windows, cracked stone, no visible guards. Which somehow made it worse. Places like this always had guards. You just couldn’t see them.

Rahul signaled for everyone to stop, then looked at us. “Stay behind me.”

“I don’t need protection.”

“You absolutely do.”

I wanted to argue. But I stayed quiet instead . This wasn’t about pride. This was about Lucifiel.

The first attack came without warning.

One second the street was silent. The next, something moved in the darkness. A vampire lunged from the shadows. Rahul intercepted him instantly; the impact echoed through the empty street. Then chaos erupted.

More vampires appeared. Dozens. Maybe more.

“Damn it,” Derek muttered.

So much for stealth.

The battle exploded around us—steel clashing, bodies colliding, power crackling through the air. I ducked as someone was thrown over my head. The entire street became a war zone in seconds.

“This way!” Rahul shouted.

They ran at my speed and kept me between them the whole time.

The entrance was hidden beneath the building—it looked like a normal basement of any building.

My pulse accelerated. I couldn’t explain why, but I knew we were close. I was so sure Luciefiel was here but I couldn't explain why so I kept it to myself.

For some reason my chest ached, then I froze.

“What is it?” Derek asked.

My plan not to talk was thrown out of the window.

" He's here," I said.

We continued moving. The fighting above faded behind us until only silence remained. Then voices—ahead, several of them.

Rahul signaled for everyone to stop. They were two doors and voices came from both.

Rahul signaled for Derek to check the other door while he and I checked one. As we moved closer I carefully peeked around the corner.

And saw him. My breath caught instantly.

He was chained to a stone wall, his wrists bound above his head. Blood stained his shirt. His expression remained calm,but seeing him like that made something painful twist inside my chest.

I was grateful for how fast we found him. For a moment I forgot how angry I was about the prophecy. All I could think was that they hurt him.

Then his eyes lifted and met mine as if he could smell me. Everything stopped.

For one impossible second it felt exactly like before—before the lies, before the betrayal, before all of this. Something flickered across his face. Relief. Then anger. Then relief again.

“Levi.”

The way he said my name almost broke me.

Unfortunately a weird man ruined the moment.

“Well.” The older man who is possibly also a vampire rose from his chair, looking entirely too pleased. “This is unexpected.”

Rahul stepped forward immediately. “No. It’s exactly what you expected.”

The vampire smiled. “Fair point. Seeing as I already told him" he pointed at Lucifiel" that you're with me.”

Something about him unsettled me. He looked completely relaxed, like he wasn’t facing a rescue operation at all. Like everything was still going according to plan. Which was deeply concerning.

Then another vampire moved beside him—tall, broad, with hungry eyes that landed on me and lingered. I immediately disliked him.

The older looking vampire sighed. “This doesn’t need to become violent.”

Derek laughed. “We’re way past that.”

“Perhaps.” his eyes shifted toward Lucifiel. “You see?”

Lucifiel didn’t answer. His attention remained fixed on me, as if he were making sure I was real and actually here.The realization did strange things to my chest.

Then everything went wrong.

The vampire beside the older Vampire moved suddenly—too suddenly. One moment he was standing still and the next he was charging directly toward me, fangs extended, eyes glowing with pure hunger.

I barely had time to react.

The room erupted. Rahul moved to block him, but the vampire was faster. Far too fast. His hand closed around my arm. Pain exploded through my shoulder. I heard someone scream. It took me a second to realize the sound had come from me.

The vampire grinned and lowered his mouth toward my throat.

The next sound shook the entire room.

A metallic crack. Everyone froze—including the vampire holding me.

I turned.

And saw Lucifiel.

The chains binding his wrists had gone taut. His crimson eyes burned with Pure rage,violence and pure possessiveness.

The stone wall behind him fractured. The Older Vampire's expression changed instantly. For the first time since we’d arrived, he looked shocked.

“Impossible.”

Another crack echoed through the chamber. The chains trembled violently. Lucifiel’s gaze never left the vampire touching me.

The temperature dropped. The room shook.

CRACK.

One chain snapped. The sound echoed like thunder. Every vampire in the room went pale—including the old proud looking one. The vampire holding me released my arm immediately. Too late.

Lucifiel moved.

And for the first time since I’d met him… I was genuinely afraid for someone else’s life.

Because the expression on his face wasn’t human. It wasn’t even a vampire, it was something out of this world. The kind of thing legends warned people about. The kind of thing that existed before fear had a name.

And it was looking directly at the man who had touched me.

The last thing I heard before chaos exploded across the room was Lucifiel’s cold, lethal voice.

“You touched what belongs to me.”