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The change comes more easily than ever before—not a violent seizure of control, but a gradual integration. I can feel my fangs extending, my senses sharpening, power flooding through my limbs. But this time, I remain aware. In control. The line between my human consciousness and vampire nature blurring until they are no longer separate entities but aspects of a single, unified self.

When I open my eyes, I know they’ve changed—pupils expanded, irises glowing with unnatural red light. I let a growl build in my throat, let my lips pull back to reveal extended fangs.

Dmitri steps closer, triumph evident in his expression. “There you are,” he says softly. “My son. My true son.”

I snarl in response, straining against the restraints with renewed vigor. The metal creaks but doesn’t give.

“Easy now,” Dmitri soothes, reaching for the straps that bind my wrists. “I’ll release you, but first you must promise to obey. To be the son I know you can be.”

I force myself to nod, to appear compliant while keeping the rage burning just beneath the surface. Somehow I’m able to thread both parts of me and remain in control. Dmitri unfastens the restraint on my right wrist, then my left, then moves to the ankle straps.

As the final restraint falls away, I remain motionless on the gurney, watching Dmitri through narrowed eyes. Waiting for the moment to strike.

But Dmitri is cautious, stepping back as soon as I’m free. “Stand,” he commands.

I obey, rising from the gurney with fluid grace that belies the tension coiled within me. My muscles ache to attack, to tear him apart for what he’s done, but I hold back. Not yet. Not until I’m sure I can overpower him.

Dmitri observes me carefully, searching for any sign of deception. Finding none, he smiles coldly.

“Good,” he says. “Now, I have a task for you. A simple one, to prove your loyalty.”

I remain silent.

“Bring me Lena Reid,” he says, his voice taking on a hypnotic cadence. “Find her. Capture her. Bring her to me unharmed…or at least alive. Unharmed is probably asking for too much.” He steps closer, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Be a good son and bring me Lena Reid.”

Something shifts in my consciousness at his words, a compulsion that wasn’t there before. A pull toward obedience that threatens to override my own will. I fight against it, struggling to maintain control as darkness clouds the edges of my vision.

Be a good son and bring me Lena Reid.

The phrase bounces in my head, wearing down my resolve, and the patient look in his eyes tells me there’s no escape. That he knew I was faking it.

No, I think desperately.I won’t betray her. I won’t be your weapon.

I will stay in control, I will keep up the façade.

But the darkness is winning, consuming my thoughts, reshaping them into something alien.

Something monstrous.

Bring me Lena Reid.

The command echoes in my mind, drowning out my own voice, my own will.

Be a good son.

The last thing I see before surrendering to the darkness is Dmitri’s triumphant smile, certain and cruel.

Be a good son.

Bring me Lena Reid.

And may God forgive me for what I’m about to do.

29

LENA

The colony house is silent save for the distant crash of waves against the cliffs below. Unlike Abe’s modernist structure on the bluff, this smaller building is tucked into the canyon, partially embedded in the hillside like a secret waiting to be discovered. From the outside, it appears to be little more than a modest bungalow. Inside, it stretches deep into the earth, connected to Abe’s main house by a tunnel that winds beneath the Roosevelt Highway.