Episode 5

The silver moonlight washed over Lucien’s face, but instead of bringing the comfort it usually offered his clan, it brought a familiar, cold weight behind his eyes.

The light began to warp. Images flashed in his mind like shattered glass—a sequence of events he knew was rapidly approaching. He saw Kael standing over the fresh rune in the woods, his face twisted in a mask of absolute betrayal. He saw Kael storming back to the estate, his shadow magic manifesting as razor-sharp tendrils ready to tear the western wing apart.

Lucien snapped his eyes open, his breathing shallow. "He found it," he whispered to the empty balcony.

The suppression ward in the eastern woods wasn't a trap laid by the Celestial Vampire Clan, but Kael would never believe that. In the ninth timeline, Lucien had tried to clear his family's name immediately, only for Kael to take his defense as a confession of guilt, leading to a brutal fight that left them both permanently scarred and emotionally estranged for years.

Lucien turned back into his bedchamber, his mind racing. He couldn't just sit and wait for Kael to break down his door. He needed to change the sequence.

A quiet knock rattled the heavy oak door of his chamber.

"Lord Valerius?" Elias’s voice purred from the hallway. "I have brought a nightcap to help you settle into your new quarters."

Lucien’s gaze darkened. He stepped across the room and pulled the door open, his posture stiff and unyielding. Elias stood there, holding a silver tray with a crystal decanter filled with a deep crimson liquid. His smile was a masterpiece of servitude, completely masking the malice Lucien knew lay beneath it.

"Leave it on the table, Elias," Lucien commanded coldly, not breaking eye contact.

"Of course, my Lord," Elias said, bowing smoothly as he glided past Lucien to set the tray down. "If I may ask... you seem tense. Is the estate not to your liking?"

"The estate is fine. The company, however, remains to be seen," Lucien replied, his voice laced with an intentional double meaning that made Elias’s smile falter for a fraction of a second. "You may go."

As Elias bowed himself out, Lucien looked at the decanter. It wasn't poisoned yet—Elias wouldn't risk moving so early in the arrangement—but it was a stark reminder of how many enemies were lurking in the periphery.

Before Lucien could form a plan to intercept the furious Alpha, the heavy front doors of the estate slammed open downstairs with a concussive boom that vibrated through the floorboards. The temperature in the mansion plummeted instantly, a telltale sign of Kael’s runaway shadow magic.

Lucien closed his eyes for a brief moment, steeling his resolve. *The first five episodes are concluding,* he thought, adjusting the heavy cuffs of his robes. *The hostility is set. Now, I have to survive the confrontation.*

He walked out into the corridor and looked down from the grand balustrade. At the bottom of the stairs stood Kael, covered in the scent of the dark forest, his amber eyes burning up at Lucien like twin coals through the shifting shadows.

"Valerius!" Kael’s voice boomed, rattling the chandeliers. "Down. Now."

Lucien didn't waver. He placed a pale hand on the marble railing and began his descent, meeting the Wolf Alpha's lethal gaze step for step.

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