CHAPTER 91:Another pause, longer this time.Then Volkov's voice, tight with barely controlled anger. "You would start a war over...""Over my nephew? Yes. Without hesitation."Rafael let that sink in. "Sixty seconds, Prime Minister. Starting now."Isabella could hear muffled conversation on the other end, Volkov speaking rapidly to someone in Russian.Then: "You will have access within the hour.""Thirty minutes," Rafael countered."...Fine. Thirty minutes."The line went dead.Isabella was staring at Rafael with wide eyes. "You just threatened the Prime Minister of Russia.""Yes," Rafael said simply, already dialing the next number.Jean-Baptiste's expression was thoughtful. "The Valerio family has significant international influence, I see.""When necessary," Rafael said, his tone making it clear he wouldn't elaborate further.The next call rang longer, seven times, before a cultured British voice answered."Buckingham Palace, Office of His Majesty. How may I direct your call?"Isa

CHAPTER 93:Adrian's eyes snapped open slowly, consciousness returning in fragments.The first thing he noticed was the pain.Not the sharp, immediate pain of injury, but a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed behind his eyes like a second heartbeat. His head felt heavy, as if someone had filled his skull with lead.He tried to raise his hand to massage his temple, to ease the pressureHis arm didn't move.Adrian frowned, confusion cutting through the fog in his mind. He tried again, pulling harder this time.Nothing.His arm remained exactly where it was, as if pinned by invisible weights.Then he tried to lift his head.That didn't work either.His eyes widened in shock as full awareness slammed into him like a freight train.The memories came flooding back in vivid, terrible detail.The explosion. The smoke. Being dragged away from Miguel and Rafael.The forest. The chase.The fight.And the masked man, that bastard in the black mask, standing over him with that cruel smile, holding hi

CHAPTER 95The convoy of armored vehicles screeched to a halt in front of the old munitions factory.The building loomed against the night sky like a sleeping giant, massive, decrepit, its broken windows staring out like empty eye sockets. Rust stained the corrugated metal walls, and sections of the roof had collapsed inward, leaving jagged holes that exposed rotting support beams.But despite its abandoned appearance, the place was very much alive.Rafael could feel it, the hum of activity, the presence of people, the weight of power emanating from somewhere deep underground.He stepped out of the lead vehicle, his eyes scanning the perimeter with predatory focus.Behind him, vehicle doors opened in synchronized precision. Miguel, Fabian, and fifty of the Valerio family's most elite security personnel fanned out, moving with military discipline.Kael emerged from another vehicle, his green eyes already glowing faintly as he assessed the magical signatures around the building.And fr

CHAPTER 97The chanting continued.Low. Rhythmic. Relentless.The twelve robed figures surrounding the altar swayed slightly as they spoke the ancient words, their voices rising and falling in perfect unison. The symbols carved into the stone beneath Adrian pulsed with each syllable, glowing brighter and brighter until the entire chamber was bathed in sickly blue-white light.Adrian pulled against the chains again, desperately, frantically, ignoring the searing pain that shot through his wrists and ankles as the metal burned his skin.I have to get out. I have to warn Rafael. I have to...But the chains didn't budge.His supernatural strength, the power that had let him tear through steel and snap necks like twigs, was completely useless against these cursed shackles.Adrian's breathing was ragged now, his chest heaving as panic clawed at the edges of his consciousness.The Imago, cold, logical, ruthless, fought to maintain control, but even that iron discipline was beginning to crac

CHAPTER 99The doors to the underground chamber exploded outward with a deafening BOOM that shook the entire factory.Metal screeched. Stone crumbled. Dust billowed into the night air.And through the destruction...Adrian walked.But it wasn't the Adrian that Rafael knew. Wasn't the cautious, kind-hearted nephew who hesitated before violence. Wasn't even the cold, calculating Imago who fought with ruthless efficiency.This was something else entirely.Something primal.Flames erupted around Adrian's body, not the orange-yellow of normal fire, but a deep, blood-red inferno that clung to his skin like living shadow. The flames didn't burn him, didn't consume him. They were him, an extension of his power made visible, crackling and hissing with supernatural energy.His fangs had extended far beyond what they'd ever been before, four inches long at least, gleaming white and sharp as razors, protruding past his lower lip like the tusks of some ancient predator.His hair, normally styled n