Page 22 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

A tightening of his posture.

A flicker of something like fear or regret.

But it was far, far too late.

CHAPTER 5

The room stayed painfully still after Jana’s confession. Marcus stood frozen, Isra sat shattered in glitter and silence, and Raven drew in a slow breath that trembled through the bond we shared.

She looked at Marcus with an expression that held no anger now.

Only truth.

And truth was far more devastating.

“Marcus,” Raven said quietly, “there’s something you need to understand before this goes any further.”

He glanced her way, almost relieved for a distraction from Isra’s heartbreak.

Raven didn’t soften her voice.

“Rene is dying.”

The words fell heavy, as if they carried the weight of centuries behind them.

They did.

Marcus blinked, processing, but Jana gasped, and Isra flinched as if the sentence were another blade driven straight through him.

Raven continued before anyone could react.

“If Cass and Constantine don’t locate the remaining pieces of the Pentacoris, he won’t survive. Every missing fragment weakens him. Every hour the artifact stays incomplete pulls more life out of him.”

Her hands shook as she spoke, though her voice stayed clear.

“The Pentacoris wasn’t just a relic Valerian collected. It’s entwined with my magic and lineage. And now Valerian is holding Rene’s life hostage to force us to find it.”

I felt the pressure of her grief through our bond, tight, aching, barely contained.

Raven stepped closer to Marcus, but not in aggression.

In warning.

“If any person, any broker, any collector stands between us and those fragments… Rene dies.”

She let the words settle.

“And if Rene dies, the clans fall. Every clan. Every balance we’ve held for centuries collapses.”

Marcus swallowed hard.

Raven’s gaze sharpened.

“So if what Dimitri told us is true, and you have access to the seller, or to the auction, or to anyone who touched the last piece, then you need to tell us. Now. Because this isn’t about criminal history or shady contacts.”

Her voice broke for a moment, just a crack, regaining strength.

“This is about saving the man I love. And protecting all of us from a war we cannot win without him.”