Marcus laughed, a dry, rasping sound. "I’d love to see you try. Lilith’s father was just the beginning, Adrian. I’m going to take you out one by one. You’ll be the last one to die. I can’t wait to feel what your 'awakened' blood tastes like.""I will kill you before you harm another soul," Adrian vowed."Is that so?" Marcus chuckled. "Well, there’s someone I’d like you to meet."Marcus hit a button, switching the call to a live video feed. He held the camera up to Vanessa’s face."VANESSA!" Adrian screamed through the phone, the sound so loud it distorted the speakers.Marcus reached out and grabbed a handful of Vanessa’s hair, yanking her head back violently. Vanessa let out a muffled, agonized scream behind the gag, her eyes filled with tears as she looked into the camera at Adrian."Let her go! Let her go right now!" Adrian’s voice roared through the speaker, vibrating with a power that seemed to crackle the very air in the room.Marcus threw his head back and laughed, a jagged, ug

Vanessa watched in horror and awe. She had never seen anything like this. Adrian tore through the elite guards as if they were made of paper. Marcus backed away, his face turning pale as his "army" dwindled to nothing in a matter of minutes.The last guard, a giant of a man, lunged at Adrian with a roar. Adrian stepped inside the man’s reach, delivered a lightning-fast strike to his solar plexus, and then a spinning kick that sent the man crashing into the oil drum.Adrian stood alone amidst the wreckage of three hundred men. He looked down at his arm, where a small piece of a guard's flesh was stuck to his sleeve. He flicked it off with a look of pure disgust."Do you still think you’re in charge, Marcus?" Adrian asked, his voice calm, which made it even more terrifying.Marcus looked around at his fallen army, his chest heaving. He looked terrified, trapped, and utterly broken. Adrian took a step toward him, the emerald light in his eyes beginning to flare. "I warned you to release

"You called, Boss?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the cowering Marcus. "Take Marcus on a brief flight around the city," Adrian ordered, his voice cold and flat. "Teach him what it feels like to be truly helpless. When you are done, dump his body where the vultures can have what’s left. I never want to see his face in this realm again." Marcus’s laughter died instantly. He stumbled back, his face turning a pasty, sickly white. "What? No! Stay back! What are you? Don't you dare come close to me!" Lyra stepped toward him, a wicked, predatory smile spreading across her face. "Oh, don't be like that, Marcus. You said you wanted to reach the top of the world, didn't you? How would you like to go on a fun little flight?" "Keep away from me! Guards! Someone!" Marcus screamed, scrambling backward, but there was no one left to save him. Lyra reached out, her fingers locking onto his collar with the strength of an iron vice. With a casual flick of her wrist, she vaulted into the air, draggi

Clara’s scream ripped through the air as she scrambled over the broken wood and drywall, rushing toward the guest room where Adrian lay buried under debris. Before she could reach him, a wave of unseen energy slammed into her, tossing her aside like a rag doll."You are not worth killing, you're not even a true Lancaster.""Clara, no!" Adrian roared, his voice thick with blood and fury.He pulled himself from the wreckage, his clothes torn and his skin bruised, but his eyes were glowing with a terrifying, desperate light. The energy around him began to boil. He ignored the pain in his shattered ribs and his pounding head."I will make you regret ever setting foot in this house!" Adrian screamed.He launched himself forward, moving so fast he became a blur of green light. He aimed a strike that could have leveled a building, but the robed figure didn't even move. Just as Adrian’s fist was an inch from his face, the figure reached out with impossible speed and caught Adrian’s hand m