Page 7 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

Chaos.

I’d been fighting two battles all night⁠—

Valerian.

And myself.

And losing either one would end the same way.

Edward exhaled slowly, nodding once. “I’ll manage my people. You focus on yours.”

And with that, he slipped away, gathering the remnants of his faction before Siris could slither in and twist the narrative further.

When he was gone, Con turned to me fully, voice low enough that only I could hear. “Your magic⁠—”

“Is fine,” I snapped.

His brows lifted a fraction, not in judgment but in that particular way he had when he saw directly through me.

“You’re holding it together by sheer force of will,” he murmured. “I can feel it.”

Of course he could.

He always did.

I looked away, focusing instead on the vampire groups still lingering, on the whispers, the tension, the way fear turned people into opportunists.

“I need them to see control,” I said finally. My voice felt raw. “I need them to trust that Rene’s inner circle isn’t falling apart.”

Con stepped closer, not touching, but his presence wrapped around me like a cold shield trying to cool the heat burning under my skin.

“Cass.” His voice was a steady anchor in a storm I didn’t ask for. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”

My throat tightened.

I swallowed it down.

“I can’t afford not to,” I whispered.

Because later tonight, the clan would know everything.

Every spell.

Every flare.

Every weakness.

And I needed to be the one thing they didn’t view as a liability.

Con didn’t argue.

He didn’t try to persuade me.

He simply stood there—unmoving, grounded, protective—letting me borrow a strength he’d never admit he offered freely.

I straightened my shoulders.

Forced a breath.