THE RETURN OF THE DEAD

Chapter 5

The Return of the Dead

A cold silence stretched between us.

Damien's grip on me tightened, his body still pressed against mine. His face, a mask of fury and something darker—fear. The rogue's dying words echoed in the cavernous space.

"He knows now... your brother..."

I barely had time to process it before Damien tore away from me, his movements sharp and violent. He snatched the rogue by the throat, lifting his broken body like he weighed nothing.

"Where?" Damien's voice was a snarl, lethal and raw.

The rogue choked on blood, his lips curling into a weak smirk. "You feel it, don't you? He's close... and he's coming for her."

Damien's hand clenched—and with a sickening crunch, the rogue's neck snapped. His body crumpled, lifeless.

I pressed my back against the cold stone, my breath uneven. "Your brother?"

Damien's jaw flexed, his eyes burning into me. "Lucian is dead."

A chill crawled up my spine. "Then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

His fists clenched at his sides. "Because if he's alive, it means he's coming for you."

The way he said it—the certainty—made my stomach twist.

Before I could demand more, a sudden gust of wind ripped through the ruined chamber, and with it, an electric pulse of power. My breath hitched as an unnatural chill slithered across my skin.

Damien's entire body went rigid.

And then—

"Hello, brother."

The voice was smooth, deadly, and laced with amusement.

The shadows in the far corner shifted, thickening like smoke. Then, with the slow, deliberate grace of a predator, he emerged.

Lucian.

I knew instantly.

His features were like Damien's—sharp, hauntingly beautiful—but where Damien was all fire and dominance, Lucian was ice and seduction. Midnight-black hair, storm-gray eyes, lips curled in a smirk that promised both pleasure and pain.

He looked at me. And in that instant, my heart stopped.

I should have felt nothing. The bond tethered me to Damien, made me crave him beyond reason. But when Lucian's eyes met mine, something shifted. A new heat curled in my stomach—foreign, forbidden.

And he felt it too.

Lucian inhaled slowly, his smirk deepening. "Oh. This is interesting."

Damien was in front of me in an instant, his body a barrier. "You don't get to look at her."

Lucian chuckled. "Ah, but she's looking at me."

I swallowed hard, my pulse a chaotic drum. What the hell was happening?

Lucian's gaze flicked over Damien, his amusement fading. "You always were greedy, brother." His eyes darkened. "But you should know better than to try and keep something that doesn't belong to you."

Damien's snarl shook the air. "She's mine."

Lucian tilted his head, considering me. "Is that true?"

His voice was a whisper of sin, and my body betrayed me—heat pooled low, my breath catching.

Damien felt it.

His control snapped.

With a growl, he turned on me, grabbing my wrist. The bond pulsed hot and savage, and before I could process it, I was pressed against the nearest stone wall.

"Damien—"

His mouth crushed against mine.

Possessive. Brutal. A punishment.

I gasped, my body bowing into him as his hands tore at my clothes. The air was thick with power, the raw hunger between us undeniable. He didn't just want me—he needed to remind me.

Lucian watched.

A slow exhale. "So desperate."

Damien ignored him. His lips trailed down my throat, his fangs grazing the sensitive skin. My fingers dug into his shoulders, pleasure and defiance warring inside me.

Lucian hummed. "I wonder... if she moans like that for me."

Damien snapped.

In a blur, he spun, slamming Lucian into the opposite wall. Stone cracked under the force.

"Touch her, and I will end you."

Lucian only laughed. "Now, now. Don't be jealous, brother." He wiped a streak of blood from his lips. "We both know she feels it." His eyes flicked to me. "Don't you, sweetheart?"

I hated him.

I hated that he was right.

The bond tied me to Damien. But Lucian? He was something else. A different kind of hunger, dark and dangerous.

Lucian's gaze burned into mine, his smirk softening just enough to make my stomach twist. "You don't belong to him, little one." His voice lowered. "You belong to me."

Damien lunged.

The impact sent them crashing through the cavern wall, disappearing into the darkness beyond.

I staggered back, my heart hammering. The air vibrated with fury, with power, with something ancient and wrong.

Then—

A whisper of movement.

Before I could react, cold fingers brushed my throat.

I turned—only to find Lucian right in front of me.

My breath hitched. How?

Damien was still in the ruins, but Lucian—Lucian was here, untouched.

He grinned. "Poor Damien. Always playing checkers when the game is chess."

His fingers trailed down my jaw. I should have flinched. Should have recoiled.

But I didn't.

Because the moment his skin touched mine, something inside me ignited.

A second bond.

A second fucking bond.

I gasped, stumbling back. "No—"

Lucian's smirk was slow, knowing. "Oh, yes."

Damien's roar split the air, and in the next instant, he was there, slamming into Lucian.

But Lucian—

Lucian only laughed.

Damien wrenched him back, his fangs bared. "I'll kill you."

Lucian wiped at his mouth, unbothered. "You can try." He turned, stepping away like he had all the time in the world. "But we both know she's not just yours anymore."

His storm-gray eyes found mine one last time.

Then he whispered the words that shattered everything.

"War it is, then."

And he vanished into the night.