bChapter /bb106 /b

    b65 /bbvouchers /b

    b“/bbI /bdidn’t know you wereing,” Logan said as he approached the bar counter. He picked up a bottle of wine and tilted it toward his brother. “Wine?”

    “I’ll have whatever you’re having.” Daemon replied.

    Logan nodded, poured a bss/bb, /band slid it bacross /bthe counter.

    “This is bjust /bba /bshort visit. My schedule is full. I can’t afford to inform you beforehand… bif /byou know what I mean,” Daemon said as he took it. “You haven’t been answering my calls.”

    “I’m busy,” Logan said tly.

    Daemon lifted the ss and studied it before taking a sip. “bI /bcan bsee /bthatb.” /b

    Logan snorted, grabbed his own ss, and moved to sit opposite him. “So, tell me, what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

    Daemon set his drink down and leaned back. “I wanted to talk.”

    Logan gave ba /bshortugh. “Thest time you wanted to talk, we destroyed an entire houseb./b”

    “You can’t me me,” Daemon said with a half–smileb. /b“It’s not every day a subject can fight me head–to–head.”

    Logan let out another snort. “Then did youe here to fight?”

    Daemon’s expression shifted. Then he shook his head. “The attacks in Europe and the US have increased. Rogue sightings everywhere. I want to know what’s going on.”

    Logan reached into a stack of folders beside him, pulled one out, and slid it across the table. “That’s the same file I already sent you. Nothing new. You can read it now… if you haven’t yet.”

    Daemon didn’t touch the folder. He narrowed his eyes instead. “Then why do I think you’re lying?b” /b

    Logan exhaled slowlyb, /bset his ss down, and leaned forward. “Because there’s more. There’s a high chance humans are being intentionally exposed to our blood.”

    Daemon’s brow furrowed. “That’s not possible. Humans can’t survive that. Werewolf blood should kill them. The only exception is if they already carry dormant Gene YL.”

    Logan’s gaze didn’t bwaver/b.

    Daemon straightened. “bAre /byou saying someone is infecting humans with Gene YL? Forcing it into their system and turning them into werewolves?”

    “It’s not confirmed. Many have tried in the bpast/bb./bb” /bLogan said. “And now… we’ve already found bodies. Teenagers. Kids too young to be shifting, showing early signs. Their conditions suggest captivity, perhaps an orphanage or… bI /bdon’t know, Daemon. All I know is that it looks like someone is experimenting.”

    Daemon pressed his lips together, his jaw tightening. “Can you handle it?”

    “We’re doing everything we can,” Logan answered. “But I won’t make promises I can’t keep.”

    Daemon picked up his ss, drained it in one motion, and set it down with a dull thud. “The High Council called a meeting.”

    b1/3 /b

    b5:01 /bbpm /bP PPD

    That made Logan bpause/b. His eyes narrowed slightly, though he stayed silent.

    55 vouchers

    Inwardly, his mind went back to why he had gone to the fertility clinic in the first ce–the Council’sws. They had forced every royal bloodline to produce a child. A way to guarantee the continuation of Gene YL. The samews that had steered

    his entire life.

    At first, he believed the solution was simple. Find a surrogate with Gene YL. He ran the tests, verified the results, and ensured every candidate went through the proper screenings.

    He thought he had been careful. But he wasn’t. In the end, Emery was pulled into bit/b, and he had no one else to me but himself… and the cursed bloodline he carried.

    “Is that why you’re here?” Logan asked.

    Daemon let out a humorless chuckle. “Believe me, I didn’t want toe. Our reunions never end well.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sealed envelope, setting it on the table between them.

    “The High Council insisted on inviting someone belse /bto the table,” Daemon said. His tone dropped, heavier now. “The Rogue King. And as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one Rogue king in the world.”

    Logan narrowed his eyes at the ck envelope sealed with wax. His fingers hovered over it, but he didn’t open it yet. “Thest time the High Council called a meeting was before World War Two. Why now? bIs /ba waring?b” /b

    Daemon met his gaze steadily. “That’s the question I should be asking you, brother. You’ve always known more than me. I may wear the crown, but let’s not forget how I got here.”

    Logan finally picked up the envelope, feeling the weight in his hand. “You think this has something to do with the increase in rogue sightingsb?/bb” /b

    b“/bYes,” Daemon said without hesitation. “I don’t think….it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

    Logan leaned back, swirling his ss before taking another drink. “Rogue sightings aren’t new. They’ve been happening for decades. The difference bis /bwe always clean it up. Quietly and well… efficiently. If that’s all this was, the High Council wouldn’t bother calling us together. Not after seventy years of silence.”

    Daemon’s lips twitched, not quite a smile.

    Logan studied him over the rim of his ss. “You know I can always tell when you’re lying, right?”

    Daemon chuckled. He grabbed the bottle, poured himself another ss, and lifted it. “That’s exactly why I didn’t want toe.” He took a long sip before setting it down. “But there’s more. I’ve heard rumors.”

    “From whereb?/b” Logan asked.

    “The ck market.”

    Logan raised an eyebrow. “Nothing goodes from the ck market. Not the trades. Not the people. And certainly not the

    information that filters out of it.”

    Inwardly, he thought of what the ck market really was, the rot beneath both worlds. Humans and supernaturals mingled there, stripped of theirws and morals. It was where forbidden things thrived, where money and blood were the only

    currenciesb. /b

    “I know,” Daemon admitted. “I can’t trust it, not fully. But it’s information, nheless.” He leaned forward slightly, bhis /btone heavier now. “Two, maybe three months bago/b, my men intercepted a shipment in the Antic. Cratesb, /bcontainersb, /bthe kind used for livestock. Inside were female werewolves. Young ones. Most of them from Africa and bAsia/b.”

    b2/3 /b

    b5:01 /bbpm /bP P PD.

    Logan’s frown deepened.

    55 Vouchers

    “They were being transported to who knows where,” Daemon continued. “By the time we reached them, they were already dead. All of them.”

    “I heard about that,” Logan said grimly.

    –

    Daemon nodded. “I bwasn’t /bsatisfied with the report. So I went myself. I traced the handlers. Paid off middlemen. Dug deeper into the ck market than I ever wanted to. And what I found wasn’t just about rogues, or trafficking, or experiments.” His eyes locked with Logan’s. “It bwas /bsomething else.”

    Logan set his ss down with a soft thud. “What?”

    Daemon’s lips pressed into a line. Then he spoke one word.

    “Ancientsb./bb” /b

    AD