Chapter 19: The Safe House Siege
Lucius
The safe house door was reinforced steel. I kicked it off its hinges.
Enhanced Strength Lv.3 turned what should have been impossible into routine violence. The metal screamed, hinges exploded from the frame, and the door crashed into the guard standing behind it.
His partner was faster—already drawing his weapon, already pivoting toward the noise. But not fast enough.
Two rounds from my Beretta. Custom hollow-points. His skull burst like overripe fruit.
[ BP ACQUIRED: 81 ]
The first guard was struggling beneath the door, pinned but not dead. One round solved that problem.
[ BP ACQUIRED: 78 ]
[ CURRENT BP: 869/1000 ]
Three seconds since breach. Two guards eliminated. Element of surprise holding, but not for long.
I advanced into the safe house—converted apartment, industrial aesthetic, minimal furniture. Michael's unconscious form was visible through an open doorway, strapped to a medical gurney. IV dripping sedatives into his arm. Veins black with spreading infection.
Footsteps from the back room. Blood Appraisal painted the approaching signature.
[ RIGEL - 92 BP ]
He emerged with weapons drawn, face shifting from combat focus to confusion to something worse when he recognized me.
"Lucius? What the hell—"
I shot him through the kneecap.
The silver round shattered bone, dropped him instantly. He screamed—short, sharp, the sound of someone who'd experienced pain before but not betrayal. Not from someone he'd called ally.
"Sorry, brother." I kept my weapon trained on him as I moved toward Michael. "This is bigger than friendship."
"You killed them." Rigel's voice was ragged, but his eyes tracked my movement with professional awareness. "Kohen and Vance. You killed Death Dealers."
"They were in my way."
"For what? A bitten human?" He tried to push himself upright, failed, collapsed against the wall. "You're throwing away everything for—"
Movement behind me. Enhanced Reflexes screamed warning. I spun, Berettas rising, and found myself facing Nathaniel.
[ NATHANIEL - 52 BP ]
[ STATUS: COMBAT READY ]
We stood ten feet apart, weapons aimed at each other's skulls. His expression was cold—the detachment of someone who'd killed before and would kill again without hesitation.
"Lower your weapons," he said. "Surrender the human. Maybe Kraven will be merciful."
"Kraven is a traitor."
The words hit like silver rounds. Nathaniel's aim wavered—imperceptible to human eyes, obvious to Enhanced Reflexes.
"What did you say?"
"Kraven has been conspiring with Lucian for two hundred years. The war you've been fighting? Theatre. Managed conflict to keep both sides busy while they plot to kill the Elders." I let Charisma Lv.1 color my voice with conviction. "This human is proof. The Corvinus bloodline in his veins makes him immune to both vampire and Lycan infections. He's the key to everything—and Kraven wants to hide him because exposure means execution."
Nathaniel's weapon lowered by inches. Not belief—not yet—but doubt. Enough doubt to hesitate.
Hesitation was all I needed.
I closed the distance before he could react. Enhanced Reflexes turned his counter into slow motion. My left hand deflected his gun arm while my right delivered a precise strike to his temple. Not lethal. Not permanent. Just unconscious.
He crumpled. I caught his Berettas before they hit the floor—never waste good weapons.
Rigel watched from his position against the wall, blood pooling beneath his shattered knee.
"You better be right about Kraven," he said. His voice held no anger—just the cold assessment of a soldier evaluating a situation beyond his control. "Or I'll kill you myself. Assuming I ever walk again."
"You'll walk. Silver didn't hit the bone itself, just the joint. Vampire healing will handle it in a few hours." I moved to Michael's gurney, began unfastening restraints. "When Kraven arrives, tell him what you saw. Tell him I took the human and Selene. Let him decide how to spin it."
"Selene?"
As if summoned by her name, the sound of a motorcycle engine cut through the night. Enhanced Senses tracked the signature approaching from the east—familiar, distinctive, unmistakable.
[ SELENE - 178 BP ]
[ STATUS: HOSTILE. ARMED. CLOSING FAST. ]
I grabbed Michael—dead weight, maybe a hundred eighty pounds—and threw him over my shoulder. The fire escape was fifteen feet away. The motorcycle in the alley was thirty feet beyond that.
I made it to the fire escape before Selene's boots hit the roof.
She came through the shattered front door with both Berettas drawn, swept the room in less than a second, and locked onto my position with the precision of six centuries of combat experience.
"Put him down. Now."
Her voice was ice. Her aim was perfect. The distance between us was twelve feet—close enough that even Enhanced Reflexes couldn't dodge a bullet already in flight.
[ COMBAT ASSESSMENT: SELENE ENGAGEMENT ]
[ LETHAL INTENT DETECTED ]
[ SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IF COMBAT: 34% ]
I met her eyes. Let her see something she wasn't expecting—not fear, not defiance, but invitation.
"Viktor lied about your family."
The words hung in the air. Selene's expression didn't change, but something shifted in her stance—a microsecond of tension, invisible to anyone without Charisma Lv.1's microexpression reading.
"Kraven killed the Elders." I pressed the advantage. "And this human is the only way to prove it. Shoot me, and you lose the truth forever."
"You're insane."
"I'm right. And some part of you knows it, or you would have pulled that trigger already."
Silence stretched between us. Michael's weight pressed against my shoulder. Rigel watched from the doorway, blood still flowing, face unreadable.
"Selene."
Rigel's voice broke the standoff. She didn't turn—too disciplined to take her eyes off a threat—but her attention split.
"I've known Lucius six weeks. He's saved my life twice. Fought beside me against Raze." Rigel's words came slowly, pain filtering through professional composure. "If he says Kraven is traitor... maybe listen before shooting?"
Selene's aim didn't waver. But her finger on the trigger relaxed by a fraction.
"Sixty seconds," she said. "Explain why I shouldn't execute you for treason."
I shifted Michael's weight, found my balance, and spoke the truth that would shatter her world.
"Viktor didn't kill your family to protect you from Lycans. He killed them because your father built William's prison, and Viktor needed the location secret. Sonja's pendant is the key to finding it. Kraven has been conspiring with Lucian since the original rebellion, faking the war's progress, managing casualties to keep both species weak."
Her expression flickered. Micro-flinch. Charisma Lv.1 caught it, cataloged it, filed it away.
"And this human—" I gestured with my free hand to Michael's unconscious form "—carries the Corvinus bloodline. Same genetic strain as Alexander Corvinus himself. He's immune to both infections, which means he can become something neither vampire nor Lycan has ever seen. A true hybrid."
"Impossible."
"The Lycans thought so too. That's why they bit him tonight—testing the theory. They confirmed it works. Now everyone wants him: Lucian for his experiments, Kraven to hide the evidence, Viktor to destroy anything that threatens his power."
Selene's weapons remained steady, but her eyes were changing. Doubt creeping in where certainty had lived for six centuries.
"Shoot me," I said quietly, "take him to Viktor, and discover I'm right when Viktor executes you for learning too much. Or get on this bike, help me secure him somewhere safe, and I'll prove every word with blood memories that can't lie."
I kick-started the motorcycle. The engine roared to life.
Ten seconds passed. Fifteen.
Selene holstered her weapons.
"If you're lying," she said, swinging onto the bike behind me, "I'll gut you myself."
"Deal."
We roared into Budapest night with Michael secured between us. Behind us, Rigel reached for his communicator. His report would reach Kraven within minutes.
Canon was shattering. The war was changing. And I was at the center of it, exactly where I needed to be.
MORE POWER STONES And REVIEWS== MORE CHAPTERS
To supporting Me in Pateron .
with exclusive access to more chapters (based on tiers more chapters for each tiers) on my Patreon, you get more chapters if you ask for more (in few days), plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $6/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes like [ In The Witcher With Avatar Powers,In The Vikings With Deja Vu System,Stranger Things Demogorgon Tamer ...].
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
👉 Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!