CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: VICTOR’S FURY (1)

Victor’s knuckles stilled against his knee.

The hum of the car’s engine felt suddenly inadequate, too smooth, too slow for the sharp spike that lanced through him.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice a razor’s edge.

"There was an intruder," Adam replied immediately. "He bypassed the motion wards. Likely ether‑trained. Robert and the others are securing him now."

Victor’s jaw flexed. His gaze dropped to the phone in his hand, but in his mind, he was already back there, in that dim room, the faint scent of imperial irises still in the air, Elias’s pulse fluttering against his lips.

"And Elias?"

"He’s unharmed," Adam said. "Shaken. Matteo is still on the line with him, distracting him, he doesn’t know. Robert’s with him now."

Victor’s lids lowered, crimson eyes gleaming faintly in the shadows of the car. The tether in his chest, that strange resonance he never stopped feeling, throbbed hot and insistent. ’Unharmed isn’t enough.’

He leaned forward, voice low. "Driver."

"Yes, sir?"

"Double speed. West wing. Now."

The car responded instantly, tires biting into the road as the engine roared higher, the city lights flickering faster past the tinted windows.

Victor closed his eyes briefly, drawing a slow breath as the ether stirred under his skin, restless, impatient. He could feel the disturbance like ripples against a tether, the faint aftershocks of power flaring from the manor, Robert’s steady signature, the golden crackle of one of his fighters, and the sharp-edged dome of the shield-weaver. And underneath all of it, Elias’s resonance, bright and fragile, like a bell on the verge of shattering.

His fingers curled against his jaw. ’You dared step onto my terrace. You dared stand where he sleeps.’

"Adam."

"Yes, my lord."

"Move Elias to my wing. Keep the line open with Robert." Victor’s tone deepened, each word threaded with a dangerous calm. "And tell anyone who hesitates that I’ll handle the fallout personally."

Adam’s voice crackled back over the line, crisp and steady, though Victor could hear the tension buried beneath his professional calm.

"It’s already in motion, my lord. Robert’s escorting him through the interior passages. We’re locking down the west wing."

Victor’s eyes opened, the glow in them sharper now, catching in the passing streetlights like molten metal. His knuckles stilled against his knee, jaw grinding once as the words left him in a growl barely above a whisper.

"They touched my wards. "

The hum of the car’s engine became a roar as the driver pushed it harder, weaving past the distant street traffic, climbing toward the elevated private road that cut through the woods. Victor’s breath was slow and measured, but his ether was anything but. It stirred beneath his skin like coals catching wind, seeping into the air in faint crimson threads that curled and hissed against the glass of the windows. The leather seat beneath him seemed to tighten, the polished metal trim faintly vibrating under the weight of him holding himself back.

"They were ether‑trained," Adam repeated cautiously. "We are running a background check, but Tom recognizes him as one of Samael’s men."

Victor’s hand lowered from his jaw, fingers flexing once before curling into a fist against his knee.

"One of Samael’s," he repeated softly, too softly. The words carried the kind of weight that made the air itself feel heavier in the cabin.

The car lurched forward as the driver took the next turn at reckless speed, headlights streaking across the trees that lined the private road. Victor barely noticed. His focus had tunneled inward, to the ripple of ether that had brushed against his wards, to the memory of that faint, unmistakable thread that belonged to Elias, bright, steady, terrified.

The tires screeched as the car shot past the last curve and onto the lantern‑lined drive, gravel spraying in a pale arc under the wheels. The manor loomed ahead, its west entrance lit, guards already posted in a wider perimeter, lanterns casting long shadows across the courtyard.

Victor’s gaze sharpened, his jaw tight. The tether to Elias still throbbed in his chest, quick and bright, like a heartbeat just beyond reach. The closer he came, the stronger it pulled, until it was all he could feel over the roar of the engine.

The car hadn’t even come to a full stop when Victor’s hand was on the door. The moment the tires crunched to a halt, he pushed it open, stepping out in a blur of motion that made the guards straighten reflexively, instinct bowing to the raw force rolling off him.

The cold night air hit him, sharp and clean, but it did nothing to cool the storm under his skin. Ether stirred around him in faint red wisps, curling along the edges of his coat, rippling faintly across the polished stone as though the ground itself responded to his presence.

"My lord—" one of the alphas at the west entrance began, but Victor didn’t slow. He strode past them, shoes striking hard against the steps, eyes locked on the door as if he could already see Elias beyond it.

The double doors swung wide at a guard’s frantic push, revealing the glow of lanterns and the sweep of marble halls within. Robert’s voice crackled over the comms somewhere ahead, low and controlled, giving orders as he moved Elias deeper into the manor. Victor caught fragments... "passage two clear," "secondary wards active"... but it only stoked the coil of anger riding under his skin.

He didn’t wait for a report. He didn’t need one. His stride lengthened, long coat snapping behind him, ether spilling faintly into the air with each step. The servants and guards he passed pressed themselves to the walls, bowing their heads, instinctively making space as that crimson heat pulsed stronger, filling the west wing corridor with a pressure that made the sconces tremble in their mounts.

He cut through the first hall, then the second, his senses reaching ahead, the thread tied directly to the terrified heartbeat he couldn’t stop feeling. Elias was close. Close enough that Victor’s chest tightened, a sharp ache spreading there.

Then... there. A familiar pulse, faint but steady, hidden behind thick walls and a locked interior door. He pushed forward, every movement precise, controlled only because fury demanded to be leashed until Elias was safe in his sight.

"Robert," Victor’s voice thundered through the hall, low and commanding, carried by ether like a ripple of power. "Report."

A brief crackle, then Robert’s voice, steady despite the tension in the background: "Moving him now. He’s secure. West passage three."

Victor rounded the corner at a near run, eyes narrowing. "Hold position," he ordered. "I’m coming to you."

And he did, each step faster than the last, the hum of ether under his skin rising like a storm about to break, until the narrow corridor ahead opened into the passage Robert had indicated, and Victor’s gaze locked on the silhouette he’d been chasing through walls, through miles, through fury itself.