Viktor's ultimatum arrived at dawn.
The message was delivered by Renard—the police captain's expression carefully neutral as he handed over the sealed envelope. His role as intermediary was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but he maintained it anyway. Survival made pragmatists of everyone.
"He's not bluffing." Renard's voice carried warning. "Viktor has identified every Wesen business with Pack connections. The firebombing begins at midnight if you don't comply."
I read the terms. Bring the Key to the Portland docks. Come alone. Surrender or watch everything I'd built burn.
"He wants a confrontation."
"He wants the Key. The confrontation is just... staging." Renard paused. "You know it's a trap."
"I know exactly what it is." I folded the ultimatum and pocketed it. "Tell Viktor I'll be there. Midnight. The docks."
"You're accepting?"
"I'm responding." I smiled in a way that made Renard step back. "There's a difference."
[ULTIMATUM: VIKTOR'S CHALLENGE]
[TERMS: KEY SURRENDER OR ALLIED BUSINESS DESTRUCTION]
[RESPONSE: ACCEPTANCE (CONDITIONAL)]
[ACTUAL PLAN: COORDINATED COUNTERATTACK]
The day disappeared into preparation.
Monroe coordinated Blutbad positioning—he and Angelina would approach from separate angles, providing flanking capability if the confrontation turned violent. Scalpel established a medical station nearby, ready to treat injuries that seemed inevitable.
The Mellifer network provided intelligence on Viktor's force disposition. Twelve Royal agents, professional security detail, positioned throughout the docks with overlapping fields of fire. It was a killing ground designed to eliminate anyone stupid enough to walk in alone.
I wasn't planning to walk in alone.
Adalind arrived at the staging point an hour before midnight.
"Viktor thinks I'm still his." She adjusted the concealed earpiece that would keep her in communication with Pack elements. "I've been feeding him security assessments for weeks. He believes I'm positioning myself for when you inevitably fail."
"And tonight?"
"Tonight he discovers how badly he's misjudged the situation." Her smile held edges. "I've been waiting for this. For someone who'd let me choose sides instead of being traded between them."
"You chose your side. This just confirms it."
"This celebrates it." She moved closer, her hybrid powers subtle but present. "After tonight, there's no going back. Viktor will know I betrayed him. The Royals will mark me as a target."
"After tonight, you won't need Royal protection." I touched her face—a gesture that had become natural over weeks of alliance. "You'll have Pack protection. That's worth more."
The docks at midnight were fog-shrouded and silent.
Viktor waited on the central pier, surrounded by his security detail. Twelve agents, positioned exactly where the Mellifer intelligence had predicted. He wore formal clothes—the kind of outfit European aristocrats chose for occasions they considered significant.
"The Portland Grimm." Viktor's voice carried across the distance. "You came. I wasn't certain you would."
"You threatened to burn businesses that had nothing to do with our conflict." I walked toward him, hands visible, apparently alone. "That's not negotiation. That's terrorism."
"That's leverage. You have something I want. I have something you want—the continued existence of your little experiment." Viktor gestured at the agents surrounding him. "Give me the Key, and I'll withdraw. Continue this pointless resistance, and I'll reduce everything you've built to ashes."
"You're very confident for someone who's lost every direct confrontation we've had."
"I've lost skirmishes. Tonight is different." Viktor's expression hardened. "Tonight, I have enough force to overwhelm whatever tricks you've developed. Your Blutbad friend can't save you. Your stolen abilities can't match professional soldiers. And your ridiculous 'Pack' can't—"
"Can't what?"
The question came from multiple directions.
Monroe emerged from the fog to my left, Angelina from my right. Mellifer representatives appeared on rooftops overlooking the pier. And stepping from the shadows behind Viktor—having accessed the docks through codes he'd trusted her to protect—Adalind.
"You brought a Hexenbiest who should be mine." Viktor's composure cracked as he registered Adalind's position. "A surgeon who harvested children. And mongrel wolves. This is your army?"
"No." I smiled. "This is my family."
[COMBAT INITIATED: DOCKS CONFRONTATION]
[PACK FORCES: COORDINATED DEPLOYMENT]
[ROYAL FORCES: SURROUNDED]
[ADVANTAGE: PACK (POSITIONAL)]
The battle was everything I'd built toward.
Monroe and Angelina hit the agent formation from flanking positions, their Blutbad fury channeled into precision violence. The professional soldiers who'd seemed so threatening scattered under assault from directions they hadn't anticipated.
The Mellifer representatives provided harassment and intelligence—calling out positions, disrupting communications, ensuring that Viktor's forces couldn't coordinate an effective response.
And Adalind's magic swept through the defensive perimeter like a storm, her enhanced hybrid abilities finally unleashed against someone who deserved her fury.
I moved through the chaos toward Viktor.
The Royal prince was no longer confident. His security detail was falling, his position compromised, his carefully constructed trap turned against him. He drew a weapon—some kind of Royal heirloom blade—and faced me with the desperate courage of someone who'd run out of options.
"You can't do this." His voice cracked. "I'm a Royal. I have the backing of European families—"
"You have the backing of families who sent you here to succeed." I closed the distance. "When you return empty-handed, having lost your forces and your agent and your leverage, how much backing will you have then?"
Viktor lunged. The blade was fast—Royal training evident in the technique.
I caught it.
The Iron Flesh synthesis absorbed the impact. The enhanced reflexes guided my response. Viktor's expression shifted from desperate confidence to genuine terror as he realized exactly what he was facing.
"You're not human anymore." The words came out hollow.
"I was never human. I'm a Grimm. And tonight, I'm proving that being a Grimm doesn't mean being alone."
I disarmed him with a motion that felt natural after months of combat development. The heirloom blade clattered across the pier. Viktor fell to his knees, surrounded by his defeated agents, watching his entire Portland operation collapse.
"Kill me." The request was quiet. "Don't make me return to Vienna like this."
"Kill you and make you a martyr? Let the Royals send someone competent next time?" I shook my head. "No. You go home. You tell them what happened here. You explain that Portland isn't territory they can take. And if anyone asks why you failed—tell them the King of Monsters sends his regards."
Viktor's expression was unreadable as Pack members secured him for transport. Whatever he'd expected from tonight, this wasn't it.
The docks were ours. The battle was won. And the Key remained exactly where it belonged.
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