Kieran was out late—visiting Mika, checking leads, thinking like a ghost again.
So Leo acted.
He couldn't sit back anymore. Not while the Crimson Vow circled like vultures. Not while Kieran carried all the weight alone.
He waited until midnight.
Dressed in black.
And walked straight into enemy turf.
---
It was a grimy alley downtown—graffiti walls, chain-link gates, the kind of place even cops avoided. But Leo didn't flinch. He found the painted fang symbol on the brick wall. Knocked twice. Then once more.
A panel in the door slid open.
"Password?" a deep voice grunted.
Leo swallowed hard.
"No password," he said. "Just a message."
The door didn't open—but footsteps shifted behind it.
"I'm Kieran's problem. So stop hurting his friends. Come for me instead."
A pause.
Then a laugh. Cold. Slow.
"Brave, little boyfriend."
Click.
The door slid open.
---
Inside, the air stank of sweat and blood.
Leo stepped in.
And Rael was waiting.
"I figured you'd come," he said, arms crossed. "He always liked the reckless ones."
Leo stood tall. "You want a hostage? A warning? I'm here. Take me."
Rael tilted his head.
"I don't want to take you."
He stepped forward, his voice low and dangerous.
"I want you to watch him lose everything."
---
Meanwhile, across the city, Kieran burst into Leo's room.
Empty.
The note on the bed made his heart stop.
"Don't follow me. I have to try something else." —L"
Kieran's breath caught.
"No…"
And then he ran.