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Something inside me snapped—not my control, but my patience for this game. I laughed directly in Teresa’s face. The sound startled her enough that she pulled back slightly.

“The war has officially started.” I declared as I looked from Teresa to Marisol and back again. “And you’ve already lost. You just don’t know it yet.”

My words landed like physical blows. Teresa’s composure cracked and her fangs nearly appeared in public. Marisol hissed and mumbled something in Spanish under her breath.

“You arrogant bastard.” Teresa spewed. “You think you’ve won? I’ve barely started making you suffer!”

I maintained my composure, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing me rattled. With deliberate calm, I extracted myself from between them. I straightened my jacket with a casual air that I knew would infuriate them both.

“Thank you for the dance.” I said mildly.

I strolled away from the duo and nodded almost imperceptibly at my team. They responded with practiced efficiency. Natasha glided toward the main exit. Harlen fell into step beside me. Matt and Marco created a protective formation without being obvious about it.

“You walk away now, and I’ll kill another Chanel Taylor tonight.” Teresa yelled after me and over the music.

I turned back and met her gaze from across the distance that now separated us. “No, you won’t.” I smirked with absolute certainty. “Because from this moment on, you’ll be too busy looking over your shoulder.”

Teresa’s eyes bulged. This was the first hint of genuine fear crossing her. Beside her, Marisol shifted uncomfortably. I couldn’t read her face, but she had to realize this would be a fight like none she’d ever encountered.

We exited the club smoothly. The night air hit my face as we stepped outside. Josh and Marco left to bring the SUVs around as Natasha gave me back my Cripo Glock.

“The team confirmed Teresa had at least three more vampires with her. All women.” She reported quietly. “Two werepositioned outside in the rear of the club. Two more were inside, watching you on the dance floor.” She said.

I placed the weapon back in my shoulder holster. My mind was already calculating our next moves. “Were you able to track them?”

“Da.We have the location of their nest. An abandoned warehouse near the river, just as we suspected.”

Harlen joined us at the curb. “What’s the play now, brother? They’re expecting us to hit them.”

“Then we’ll do the unexpected. We’ll take them out one at a time. Let’s start with Marisol. Teresa values her as a weapon against us. Without her, Teresa is on her own. All the other vamps she created have no reason to go against us.”

Natasha nodded, already understanding my strategy. “Divide and conquer.”

“Exactly. Teresa wants me to lose everything.” I glanced back at the club entrance, where the neon lights cast bloody reflections on the pavement. “Let’s show her what it feels like instead, to lose everything.”

We slid into the vehicles. The engines roared as we pulled away from Club Bailar Caliente. For the first time since Teresa appeared in Chicago, I felt something close to victory. She had made herself clear. I wanted her to leave this city. But she didn’t. It’s my turn to make myself clear. Chicago was mine and mine alone.

CHAPTER SEVEN

HARLEN

My watch read 2:47 AM. I’d been parked in this same spot for nearly two hours, waiting. I scanned the nearly empty parking lot of the Parkview Apartments. The name promised a view of something other than the dilapidated buildings across the street and the overflowing dumpsters at the edge of the cracked asphalt.

I didn’t want to be here, but I had to be here. There was this thing called revenge.

My specially made Cripo Glock was currently resting against my ribs from inside my jacket. I didn’t know much about how this handgun was created. I only knew what Natasha told me. If this thing could put a vampire down, it really was the secret weapon we needed to run shit in this town.

I adjusted the side mirror to get a better view of the building’s west entrance. The exterior lights flickered, casting uneven shadows across the concrete walkway. A stray cat darted between parked cars. It was the only movement I’ve seen in the last hour. In the distance, a siren wailed and faded. Chicago at night was always windy and always restless.

I glanced down at my cell phone. I had an incoming text.

Morgan

Are you still coming over later?

Me

Yes. As soon as I wrap this up.