Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Angelo

The door to my office creaked open, and I glanced up from my computer. The sight of Enzo Di Salvo, my trusted longtime enforcer and best friend, pulled my attention away from the screen. His heavy boots thudded on the hardwood floor as he took a seat in the leather chair facing my desk. He was dressed in one of his customary navy-blue suits with a white shirt and black tie, and his long, wavy brown hair was, as always, combed perfectly. Image was everything to him.

"What news do you have from the Fondatori ?" I asked, my voice tinged with urgency.

Enzo met my gaze with worried, amber eyes. "There's been a big meeting on Seafarer's Island in Nova Scotia." His tone hinted at disaster, and I braced myself for the worst. " One of the kings, Heinrich Rainer, managed to get himself beheaded in Germany."

This was the last thing I wanted to hear. I didn't respond until after several deep breaths. Yet another chess move that put my family in check. The loss of Heinrich Rainer could make our precarious house of cards wobble and perhaps topple. Vlad ?epe?, or Dracula as the humans called him, would be pleased with this new development. He was our number one enemy and wanted nothing more than to destroy our empire.

I sat taller in my chair. "Any idea who's behind it? And who's taken charge of Berlin now?"

"Leon Miller," he said with a grimace. "Seems like the Wolf King's allies might be involved, too."

Trystan Hunter, the Wolf King, was a thorn in my side, a constant threat to my family's territory in Crescent City. The possibility of his involvement in Heinrich's death, and what it might mean for our territory, needed immediate attention.

"We can't rule any of them out?" I pressed, the stakes of our situation growing ever higher.

"No, we can't," Enzo confirmed.

I knew the answer, but still asked it as I leaned back in my chair. "Any more news of Vlad?"

Enzo shrugged. "All we know is that he's here. Hiding in plain sight. He could be anywhere. You really need to watch your back, Angelo. He's coming for you first."

I dragged my fingers through my long hair. "Tell me something I don't know. And Dracula breathing down my neck isn't our only problem. On that note—do you still have men watching my sister?"

Enzo nodded. "Yes, I assigned three men to watch their place. Dimitri seems to be very protective of her, though. I don't think?—"

"Keep the men on her," I said sharply. "Dimitri isn't as strong as we are."

Enzo cleared his throat. "He saved your sister twice."

I gave him a don't-mess-with-me-glare. "Don't press me."

"Okay." Enzo held up his hands. "But she won't be happy about us spying on them."

I grimaced. "She's not happy I made him my chauffeur, either. She's not happy about a lot of things."

Gianna, my younger sister, had defied me by marrying a vampire who was born, not turned, against my wishes. It was a bitter disappointment, especially since I had carefully arranged for her to mate with Anton Lange, an ancient and powerful vampire who now served as the headmaster of Legacy Academy in Colorado.

Despite my efforts to ensure her continued safety and status, she spurned the match I had so meticulously planned. Even when I offered for them to live at Crescent Manor, Gianna stubbornly refused, insisting on living with her husband in a townhouse near me that belonged to the family.

As a compromise, I "requested" that they visit me every Sunday. Dimitri, Gianna's husband, was well aware of the consequences should he fail to bring my sister to these weekly meetings. It was a small measure of control, but one I clung to fiercely in the face of Gianna's relentless defiance.

The conversation with Enzo shifted toward the night's business matters, including the auction at Crimson Stakes, a cornerstone of our empire, not just for its actual revenue but its value as a front for more covert operations.

As Enzo's footsteps faded away, leaving me lost in thought in the solitude of my office, my gaze drifted to the Aeternum Stone beside me. Its once-vibrant light now flickered weakly, a somber reminder of the encroaching darkness that threatened our world. The stone's magic, a gift from the witches that kept Dracula at bay and allowed our shadowy empire to thrive, was fading. Without the stone's power, our very survival was in jeopardy.

Memories of battles fought alongside Dracula, my maker and onetime brother-in-arms, haunted me. His shift away from our shared path, fueled by a love I had never known, had created a rift between us that was filled now with nothing but enmity. I had turned against him, not just to lead but to protect what we had built from his strange new beliefs. Yet I was now dependent on a magic that was fading as rapidly as my certainty.

The chill that swept through the room was a grim reminder of the evil presence I felt always lurking in New Orleans. Dracula's very breath seemed to brush the back of my neck, a sensation at once familiar and unsettling. I knew he was close, an ever-present threat to my city, my family, and to me.

I sighed and returned to my work as the day stretched into evening, a blur of preparations and strategies. The sky outside my window gradually deepened into the velvet of night. Time to get ready for the auction where I hoped to procure magical items that might restore the Aeternum Stone's power.