Chapter 14: A Dark Deal
Adrian let Alex's body fall to the ground.
It hit with a heavy thud.
Then it remained completely still.
His neck was twisted at a harsh angle.
And the dirt beneath his body held the mark of that final impact.
Silence spread between the trees.
A heavy silence.
Stagnant.
Even the air seemed slower in that moment.
As if the forest itself had gone still, holding its breath around the scene.
Adrian stood over him.
Straight.
Steady.
His breathing was even.
Calm in a cold way.
And his eyes rested on the body lying at his feet without the slightest hurry.
Without any hesitation.
As if this ending were nothing more than the result he had expected to reach.
He slowly raised his hand.
And wiped the blood clinging to the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
A quiet movement.
Clean.
And so simple that it made it even more cruel.
Above…
Near the shattered window…
The girl was still standing there.
Her body was still by the frame.
The slender glass remained between her fingers.
And the red liquid inside it gleamed under the dim light.
She lowered the glass slightly.
And kept looking at Alex.
A steady gaze.
Cold.
Without confusion.
Without haste.
Even her expression did not move.
As if the body lying below were nothing more than a scene she had watched until it reached its end.
Then her lips moved slowly:
Are you finished?
Adrian exhaled.
A light breath.
Short.
Then he lifted his eyes to her.
His gaze was calm.
Cold.
And empty of any trace of the violence that had come before this moment.
As if what had happened were nothing more than something he had been forced to settle with his own hands.
Take him back inside.
His voice came out low.
Clear.
And decisive.
After that…
You need to return to your home.
His eyes remained on her for another second.
A short second.
But it stretched long enough to make the stillness between them feel heavier.
Then he added slowly:
In any case…
It seems your transformation has become stable now."
The girl's face remained calm.
But her eyes shifted slightly.
A small change.
Faint.
And yet, it was clear.
As if those words had touched something inside her, even if only for a brief moment.
As for Adrian…
He lowered his gaze once more to Alex lying at his feet.
And his eyes remained on him for one more moment.
Calm.
Steady.
Then a faint smile tilted across his lips.
The girl was still standing there.
Her body was still by the frame.
The slender glass remained between her fingers.
And the red liquid inside it gleamed under the dim light.
She lowered the glass slightly.
And kept looking at Alex.
A steady gaze.
Cold.
Without confusion.
Without haste.
Even her expression did not move.
As if the body lying below were nothing more than a scene she had watched until it reached its end.
Then her lips moved slowly:
Are you finished?
Adrian exhaled.
A light breath.
Short.
Then he lifted his eyes to her.
His gaze was calm.
Cold.
And empty of any trace of the violence that had come before this moment.
As if what had happened were nothing more than something he had been forced to settle with his own hands.
Take him back inside.
His voice came out low.
Clear.
And decisive.
After that…
You need to return to your home.
His eyes remained on her for another second.
A short second.
But it stretched long enough to make the stillness between them feel heavier.
Then he added slowly:
In any case…
It seems your transformation has become stable now.
The girl's face remained calm.
But her eyes shifted slightly.
A small change.
Faint.
And yet, it was clear.
As if those words had touched something inside her, even if only for a brief moment.
As for Adrian…
He lowered his gaze once more to Alex lying at his feet.
And his eyes remained on him for one more moment.
Calm.
Steady.
Then a faint smile tilted across his lips.
One of them let out a breath as he watched the news.
His eyes stayed on the screen for a few more seconds.
Then his voice came out low, weighed down by the unease that had begun to spread through the entire room:
It seems we need to move faster.
Things are starting to get complicated in this town.
Even the master has started to become more cautious.
What about you?
Did you find the person the master wants?
Several gazes shifted toward Tomas.
Tomas remained seated where he was.
But his eyes were sharper now.
And when he opened his mouth, his words came out slowly, as if he was still not fully sure whether he should speak or not:
Well… yes.
I am not completely certain.
But we found a girl.
I think she is the person in question.
What about you?
On the other side, one of them remained silent for a moment.
His face was weighed down by clear irritation.
As if merely remembering it was enough to grind against his nerves.
Then his voice came out with plain frustration:
Actually…
We found a boy as well.
But it is really difficult to take him.
The head of the Hill family…
Marcus Hill is protecting him from the shadows.
So I do not think any of us wants to get involved with that dwarf…
Or even with the hunters' community.
A faint smile appeared on another man's face.
A brief smile.
But it carried no real ease.
Only a cold attempt to push the conversation toward the easier path.
Hm…
Then let us focus on the girl.
Since she is the easier target.
I truly do not want to get involved with that crazy dwarf…
Or with the hunters' community.
Especially after everything we have already done in this town.
Then his eyes shifted toward the one who had spoken first.
And stopped on his face for a moment.
As if something in his expression had not escaped notice.
What about you, Tomas?
Is there something else you want to tell us?
Your expression is hiding something.
The gazes settled on him.
And the brief silence that followed made the atmosphere even heavier.
Then he breathed out slowly.
As if he had known this point would eventually reach him.
You are right, Broqi.
I wanted to take him…
But I could not.
The leader of the Gray Wolf Clan intervened.
He wanted to make a deal with us.
In any case…
At present, it is not in our interest to clash with him…
Or to oppose him in any way.
So I let it pass.
A short, tense silence settled over the lounge.
It lingered there for several moments.
Heavy.
Clear.
So much so that none of them spoke the moment Tomas finished.
The cold light from the screen continued to pass slowly over their faces.
Revealing their features for a moment.
Then withdrawing again.
But no one was watching the news now.
As if the words spoken only moments ago had pulled all their attention away from the screen and placed it entirely on that deal.
After a brief moment…
Broqi shifted slightly in his seat.
Only a small movement.
But he did not look at ease.
His brows lowered as he looked directly at Tomas.
And his gaze was heavier than before.
More probing.
As if the two conditions he had just heard had not passed through his mind lightly.
What is this deal, Tomas?
Tomas raised his eyes to him.
Slowly.
And there was that weight on his face that always came before unpleasant words.
No clear confusion.
And no complete hesitation.
But his expression was far from comfortable.
As if what he was about to say now was the part that had been pressing on his nerves from the beginning.
Then he continued in a low voice.
Steady.
But slow enough to make every word feel heavier:
He will take care of hiding everything we have done in this town over the past years.
And he will also conceal our existence.
And he will help us get the girl without any trouble.
He paused for a moment.
A short pause.
But he did not lift his eyes from them.
As if he knew very well that what came next would change the entire shape of the meeting.
But on two conditions only.
The first…
We must wait a full year before taking the girl.
And the second…
Turn humans into vampires.
The moment the second condition left his mouth, the group was struck with shock.
One of them did not move.
But his fingers tightened slightly over the edge of the sofa.
Another kept his eyes still, yet his gaze narrowed.
Even the faces that showed no open reaction were no longer as rigid as before.
Then Tomas's voice came again:
He wants a huge number of them.
And I do not know what he plans to do with them.
And yet…
It seems to me that he wants to build an army of vampires.
And in my view…
It seems he has gone mad.
No reply came at once.
His words remained hanging between them.
Settling into their minds one after another.
And opening, inside that silence, more than one disturbing possibility.
Because the problem was not only the request itself.
Nor only its bloody nature.
But the chaos that might follow after it.
This is not simple.
The words finally came from one of them.
Low.
But carrying the weight of a real objection.
Not with all this tension between the involved sides.
In a situation like this…
We are the hidden side.
We need to remain that way.
Far from the center of suspicion.
Far from any large movement that might drag attention toward us.
The words paused for a moment.
As the others turned to look at him.
Then his voice came again, slower this time.
And more cautious:
Not become some unknown force moving in the middle…
And drawing every eye toward itself from every direction.
Another silence followed after that.
But this was not the silence of hesitation.
It was the silence of calculation.
The silence of people beginning to see the picture from more than one angle at once.
The head of the Hill family.
Marcus.
The hunters' community.
And the leader of the Gray Wolf Clan had already stepped into the picture.
And none of these sides could be considered simple or easy to bypass.
Any extra move now…
Any mistake…
Any trace that came into the open at the wrong time…
Could be enough to open more than one door at once.
That was why the matter felt close to madness.
Not only because the request itself was horrifying.
But because its timing could not be worse.
They were still the side moving from the shadows.
The side that had not yet been fully exposed.
The side that survived by keeping its name far from the light.
But carrying out a request of this scale…
In a town already full of tension…
And with this many alert forces in play…
Could push them to the front of the scene before they even realized it.
And that alone was enough to make the faces here grow more closed off.
And more silent.
Because every one of them understood the same thing—
If they took this step…
It would not be easy to hide its traces afterward.