I looked over at Prince Eric, the exiled Fae bartender I had previously crossed paths with at the Drunken Moon, as he maintained a smug, self-satisfied air, looking entirely like a man who had just pulled off a remarkably successful prank.
Chloe let out a long-suffering, exhausted sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Prince, would you please stop with your childish theatrics? We are attempting to hold a serious strategy meeting here."
"Why, but of course, you only need to ask," Eric replied smoothly, flashing a dazzling smile. "As the savior of my life, I could hardly refuse to comply with such a simple demand."
Finished with his brief display, he sauntered over to an unoccupied couch and settled into the cushions with a natural, effortless elegance and aristocratic majesty that made it feel as though he were reclining upon a grand imperial throne.
Curiously, he projected an aura of profound, almost overwhelming vitality. His skin, hair, and eyes seemed to subtly glow with a radiant health, making him look even more blindingly enchanting than before. Even I, as a straight male, could objectively acknowledge his striking presence; if it were somehow physically possible, he felt more vibrantly alive than any living creature had a right to be.
Shifting her focus away from the Fae prince, Chloe addressed the final member of her strike team who had yet to speak—the stark, white-haired vampire woman.
"Kalia, I am glad to see you made it. I do hope Vector isn't giving you any unnecessary trouble these days."
"He certainly isn't. It would be quite difficult for him to do so, considering he is currently a pile of ash." Kalia's voice carried the sub-zero chill of a midwinter storm. It lacked even a microscopic trace of standard human emotion or warmth.
Chloe arched a single slender brow in genuine surprise. The casual bomb Kalia had just dropped was entirely unexpected.
"How?"
"I killed him." The simplicity of the declaration caused every single supernatural in the room to freeze dead in their tracks for a moment.
Incredulity was painted plainly across Chloe's flawless face. What Kalia had just stated felt fundamentally impossible to everyone gathered in the space.
I was startled as well, though I suspected my internal reaction stemmed from a slightly different place than theirs. She had spoken of murdering this Vector character with an utterly chilling, matter-of-fact callousness.
What genuinely caught me off guard wasn't the act of killing itself; since gaining my glitchy immortality and awakening my supernatural powers, I had slaughtered plenty of hostile combatants with my own bare hands. No, the genuinely unsettling aspect was her total absence of emotion. There was no lingering anger, no sorrow, no confusion, no relief, and certainly no twisted joy. There was simply nothing at all.
The word 'inhuman' genuinely came to mind as I stared into her flat, empty eyes. She either harbored a bottomless hatred for the man or viewed his execution as something entirely mundane, akin to brushing dirt off a coat.
"How?" Chloe pressed directly, cutting through the heavy silence.
"I broke the sire-bond." Kalia's words rocked the entire foundation of the room once more.
From the stunned stillness that rippled through the elite operatives, I quickly deduced that severing a 'sire-bond' was widely considered an absolute physical impossibility in vampire lore.
"That should be fundamentally impossible," Chloe muttered under her breath. But in a room packed with heightened supernaturals, every whispered syllable carried clearly.
"It is not entirely impossible, Miss Chloe. There is a rare scenario where it breaks naturally," Kalia noted coolly.
"Namely, upon the actual death of the sire. Attempting to force the bond to shatter by any other means traditionally results only in the immediate death of the sired."
"Indeed, that is universally the case, except..." She left the thought hanging, turning her gaze directly toward the swordsman sitting across the room. Lorn blinked in surprise before blurting out:
"A reverse spell."
"Indeed," Kalia validated with a subtle nod.
Lorn, who until that exact moment had worn the intensely focused expression of a dedicated warrior or scholar, now had sheer shock plastered all over his chiseled features.
"Lorn, would you care to explain?" Chloe asked, looking entirely lost.
"As you all know," Lorn paused, casting a brief, sideways glance at me before shrugging, "Kalia possesses the highest proficiency in blood-power manipulation currently active in our world. Even the ancient elders of your bloodline, including your own father, would readily agree with that assessment. Correct?" He paused, looking to Chloe for confirmation.
Hearing the specific term 'blood power' triggered a sudden memory of the specialized energy Chloe had unleashed during our skirmish with the rogue faction.
Chloe, along with everyone else in the room—even Prince Eric—nodded slowly in agreement. I realized then that this silent, white-haired woman was clearly a legendary figure within the broader supernatural underworld.
"What is magic?" Lorn's sudden question felt so wildly out of left field that we were momentarily thrown off. He didn't wait for a response.
"Magic is simply the application of logic or specific foundational rules to raw energy with the deliberate purpose of manifesting supernatural phenomena." The rest of the group nodded along with muted expressions, as if to say, We obviously know this. What on earth does basic spellcasting theory have to do with our current crisis?
Noticing their silent impatience but entirely unbothered by it, Lorn continued unhurriedly.
"Now, what is blood power? Fundamentally, it is a specialized form of energy derived directly from blood." Chloe let out a sharp gasp as the immense implications finally clicked into place.
"Are you telling me she used actual magic to break the sire-bond and kill him?"
Lorn didn't answer her directly, instead pressing on with his technical breakdown.
"Although history dictates that no vampire has ever been capable of casting traditional magic, that historical precedent does not mean it is fundamentally impossible. I firmly believe Kalia here is the very first individual in history to successfully accomplish this extraordinary feat." Lorn cast an expression of deep professional admiration in her direction.
"I prefer to call it 'blood magic,' seeing as the foundational origin of the energetic fuel required to cast it is entirely blood," Kalia noted, a rare, faint tinge of pride coloring her flat tone.
It was quite literally the first visible emotion she had displayed since our introduction.
"Before our parting last time, she approached me and proposed a deeply complex, theoretical line of reasoning. She asked: If she retained her capacity to cast spells much like she did back when she was still a living human mage, what exact configuration of arcane mechanics would be required to effectively fracture a permanent sire-bond?"
From his explanation, I quickly synthesized two vital takeaways: first, Kalia had been a trained spellcasting mage prior to her vampiric conversion; second, Lorn clearly operated as some form of master arcanist or scholar himself—otherwise, why would she seek him out to consult on esoteric magical theory?
"To directly answer your question, Miss Chloe, she indeed utilized true magic. I deduce that she engineered a customized reverse spell specifically targeting the esoteric architecture of their unique sire-bond. Only an individual bound as intimately to him as she was could have possibly calculated and executed such a precise spell design."
"A reverse spell is by no means an all-purpose magical bandage. It must be painstakingly tailored and calibrated to a singular, specific target."
"The single most hazardous obstacle when attempting to sever a sire-bond is the catastrophic magical backlash generated by the disruption. That violent backlash targets the subordinate, invariably resulting in their instantaneous death."
"Were it not for that lethal feedback loop, any competent mage worth their salt should theoretically be capable of dissolving the connection with a standard unbinding incantation."
"However, by employing a reverse spell, Kalia managed to completely circumvent the fatal backlash, cleverly redirecting the kinetic and energetic feedback right back at her maker to terminate him." Lorn's elaborate breakdown left Chloe momentarily speechless as she processed the sheer magnitude of the feat.
So, if I'm tracking this correctly, this Kalia woman just pulled off an unprecedented miracle that the entire organized vampire community—and the wider supernatural world at large—considered an absolute impossibility. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this monumental breakthrough carries profound, cascading ramifications for the future of the entire vampire race. Not to mention the revelation that vampires are theoretically capable of wielding magic. (Though Luke naturally doesn't count, given his bizarre half-breed nature).
Well, that is assuming they possess the staggering, one-in-a-billion innate talent of this particular lady. I seriously doubt this is a feat that can be easily replicated.
Studying Chloe's expression, I could tell she had successfully connected the dots and grasped the full political and existential gravity of the situation. My suspicion was instantly confirmed when a massive, suffocating wave of royal aura violently surged outward from her body, sealing the entire living room behind an oppressive red haze.
"Now, do not misunderstand my intent. I trust every single one of you with my very life, but this information is far too volatile," Chloe commanded, her voice dropping to a dangerous, absolute register.
"I demand that every person here swear an unbreakable oath never to breathe a single word of this conversation to any living soul—nor even to the dead. Do not even consciously hold onto the memory. As you are all well aware, there are higher entities out there capable of forcibly plucking intelligence straight out of a target's mind."
She was entirely dead serious, and every operative in the room could physically feel the crushing weight of her intent.
"Who on earth am I going to tell anyway? Aside from you lot, I don't exactly maintain a bustling social circle." Kalia spoke up casually, unbothered by the heavy pressure. "Furthermore, I am the one who will be hunted down and imprisoned if this ever comes to light. So you have my absolute word; I will keep it strictly to myself."
Following her lead, the rest of the crew readily voiced their compliance. Naturally, I chimed in and made the promise as well.
Chloe let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief, finally retracting her overwhelming aura. She raised a hand to massage her temples as though she were nursing a severe migraine—an absolute physical impossibility for a high-born vampire. It served as undeniable proof of how deeply shaken she had been by the revelation.
Peculiarly, not a single person in the room seemed to harbor any sentimental grief for the deceased Vector. Even Chloe wasn't the least bit bothered by his passing; her anxiety was strictly confined to the dangerous, rule-breaking circumstances surrounding his termination.
Well, since I hadn't even known the guy, I certainly didn't care either. Additionally, I could comfortably deduce that he had been a complete asshole based purely on the sharp, disdainful tone Chloe used whenever his name came up. Kalia's chilling, emotionless callousness regarding the whole affair was also a remarkably strong indicator.