Chapter 25 — Gates of Noctis Sanctum

Night swallowed the road as Kai and Selene approached the black gates of Noctis Sanctum. Kai’s hood and mask were drawn tight; his senses sliced through the dark, every shadow catalogued for danger. Selene clung to his arm more than usual, fingers cold but grip tight, an uncharacteristic tremor in her posture.

Two tall guards blocked the gateway, armor glazed in moonlight. As Kai and Selene tried to pass, the nearer guard sneered. “Well, what’s this? Little Selene Duskryn slumming with human trash. Thought you’d have better taste, girl.”

The second guard snorted. “You’ll never be anything here. A half-blood like you — a disgrace to your line.”

Selene’s face tightened, crimson eyes darting to the guards and then away. Kai felt the warning thrum in his body; lightning prickled along his forearms, visible as faint blue arcs in the darkness. He didn’t like their tone.

“Oi,” Kai said sharply, voice low with a hard edge.

The guards turned, affronted. “What’s your business, human scum? We could drain you dry before you blink.”

Kai’s jaw went tight. “Try,” he said coldly. “We’ll see who’s left standing.”

The men bristled, hands drifting toward blades — then a voice cut through the standoff, smooth and cold. “That’s enough.”

A figure detached from the shadowed steps near the manor: tall, draped in fine dark cloth, bearing the Duskryn bearing in subtle embroidery. Selene’s knees gave a small tremble. “Father,” she whispered.

Lord Marius Duskryn’s eyes flicked over Kai with polite disinterest. “Still causing trouble, child? Must you always embarrass me? Control yourself.”

His words were mild but laced with the old, practiced disdain of nobility. Selene’s shoulders drooped; she looked smaller in that moment. Kai’s anger flared — not at the guards, but at the man who could deliver that cutting dismissal with a single sentence. He watched Selene’s face carefully as she moved, a wounded animal in a silk collar.

“Let us pass,” Selene said quietly.

Lord Marius’s lips curved faintly. “Very well. But remember your place.”

They moved through the gate and past the carved archways into the dark heart of the vampire quarter. Selene guided Kai in a quiet, urgent way, steps taking them through shadowed courtyards until they reached her family manor — a brooding place of high windows and iron balconies.

Inside the manor, Selene stumbled and then pressed herself against Kai, hugging him so tightly he could feel the chill of her skin against his. For a beat he didn’t know what to do; then he put a hand on her shoulder, awkward and steady at once.

Later that evening, Selene spoke in a voice barely above the candle’s whisper. “Someone I trust is coming. We will discuss the plan to remove King Vorath Malachir.” Her tone was fierce now, the old hunger for power returning, sharpened by the wound of the day.

A knock sounded at the manor door. Selene’s expression brightened and then smoothed into careful composure. A slender, blond figure stepped inside — hair like sunlit wheat, eyes a startling crimson that matched Selene’s. She moved with the easy confidence of someone born to court intrigue and smiled with edges sharpened by purpose.

“Selene,” she said softly. “I came as you asked.”

Selene stepped forward with a quick, relieved smile. “Aurelia — thank you for coming.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly as Aurelia glanced at him with a polite, assessing tilt of her head. Her crimson stare lingered a beat too long. He felt the old, automatic unease rise up.

“I don’t trust her,” Kai said under his breath, quiet enough for only Selene to hear.

Selene looked between Kai and Aurelia, then back at Kai. For an instant something complicated flickered across her face — gratitude, calculation, something else. “She’s been with me since childhood,” Selene murmured. “I trust her.”

Kai’s jaw tightened. He didn’t lower his guard. In Noctis Sanctum, alliances wore thin and loyalty often had a price. He watched Aurelia as she moved through the manor’s shadowed hall, every step deliberate, every smile practiced.

Outside, beyond the manor walls and the glitter of lanterns, the city of Noctis Sanctum thrummed like a living thing — old, patient, dangerous. Within it, Kai could feel the threads of politics and hunger pulling taut. The hunt for King Vorath Malachir had begun.