Chapter 5 THE SILENT WAR

The city was bleeding.

Not in the way the street preachers screamed about, not with rivers of blood pouring through the gutters - but in the slow, methodical way that meant something dangerous was moving under the surface.

Three Red Fang lieutenants dead in as many nights. Two Black Dagger rackets burned to the ground. Nobody admitted to striking first, but everyone knew war had begun.

Kael kept his head down and his eyes open. He had no choice.

Donnat Veyra summoned him the morning after the fight in the safehouse. The boss's office smelled faintly of cigar smoke, though Veyra hadn't lit one yet. He sat behind his desk, one massive hand resting on a map of Virelia, red pins marking areas under Black Dagger control.

"You've been busy," Veyra said without looking up.

Kael kept his voice neutral. "You sent me to find Marev's killer."

"I sent you to find the truth," Veyra corrected. His gaze lifted, sharp as broken glass. "But the truth I'm hearing is that you've been seen in Red Fang territory. With Liora Vael."

Kael didn't blink. "I go where the trail leads."

Veyra leaned back in his chair, studying him. "You're a good enforcer, Kael. Smart. Careful. Loyal... so far. But if I start to think you've forgotten which family you belong to, we'll have a problem."

"I haven't forgotten."

Veyra nodded slowly. "Good. Then this should be easy for you."

He slid a folded piece of parchment across the desk. Kael opened it. A name was written there in neat, deliberate script.

Corven Vael.

Kael's jaw tightened. "He's already dead."

Veyra smiled without humor. "So I've heard. Which means someone else will take his place. A man named Darius Vael - Liora's brother. I want you to find him and cut him down. Make it look like the Red Fangs did it themselves."

Kael's pulse thudded in his ears. "That'll start a war."

Veyra's smile widened, cold and certain. "Exactly."

Kael left the House of Ash with the weight of the order pressing on him like a millstone. If he refused, Veyra would start asking questions he couldn't answer. If he obeyed, he'd put a blade through the heart of the one person keeping the Blood Prince from killing them both.

By the time he reached the bell tower that night, his mood was darker than the streets.

Liora was already there, her crimson dress replaced with a long black coat that made her look more like an assassin than a syndicate heir.

"You look like hell," she said.

"Veyra gave me a job," Kael replied.

"And?"

He met her gaze. "Your brother's the target."

Her expression didn't change - not immediately. But he saw the flicker of tension in her jaw.

"And what will you do?" she asked quietly.

"I'm thinking about it," he said.

"You're thinking too long, Kael. If Veyra suspects you've turned, you're dead."

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "And if I kill your brother, you'll slit my throat in my sleep."

For a moment, neither spoke. The wind rattled through the broken arches of the tower.

Finally, Liora said, "Darius isn't involved in our dealings. He's... different. But if he's a target, it means the Blood Prince might use him as bait."

"Which means we find him first," Kael said.

Her gaze softened - not much, but enough. "And keep him breathing."

Finding Darius meant slipping deeper into Red Fang territory than Kael had ever dared. Liora led the way through the old merchant district, where boarded-up windows and locked doors hid watchful eyes. She moved with a confidence that told Kael every guard on these streets knew better than to stop her.

They found him in an old apothecary turned private den, playing chess with himself by candlelight. He looked nothing like Liora - his hair was sandy-blond, his eyes a bright, human blue.

"Liora," he said, smiling warmly. "And you've brought company."

"Darius, this is Kael," Liora said. "He's... an associate."

Kael didn't miss the pause.

Darius looked between them, then set down his chess piece. "This isn't a social call, is it?"

Liora's voice was brisk. "You're in danger. We need to move you somewhere safe."

He tilted his head. "From whom?"

"Everyone," Kael said.

They didn't get far.

The first sign was the silence. No barking dogs, no creaking shutters. Then Kael caught the glint of movement on the rooftops - figures keeping pace with them, leaping gaps with inhuman ease.

"Blood Prince's men," Liora murmured.

Kael drew his dagger. "Guess we're not taking the scenic route."

The first attacker dropped from above, a pale figure with eyes like molten gold. Kael slashed upward, catching it across the chest, but it barely slowed. Liora was already on another, her coat flaring as she moved with lethal grace.

Darius, to his credit, didn't freeze. He grabbed a broken plank from the street and swung it like a club, knocking one assailant's head sideways with a crack.

They fought their way down a narrow alley, shadows lunging from every angle. Kael's muscles burned, his breath coming ragged, but they kept moving.

By the time they burst into the open square, the attackers had melted away.

Kael glanced at Liora. "That feel like a warning to you?"

Her expression was grim. "No. That felt like a test."

They got Darius to a safehouse on the border of the neutral quarter - an old tavern whose owner owed Kael enough favors to keep quiet.

As they stepped inside, Liora turned to Kael. "You've just made yourself a target for both our families."

"Story of my life," he said.

She didn't smile. "If you'd carried out Veyra's order, you'd be in less danger."

"And you'd be burying your brother," Kael replied.

Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, something unreadable in her eyes. Then she turned away. "Get some rest. We'll need it."

That night, Kael sat alone in the tavern's back room, listening to the rain on the roof. The war between the syndicates was no longer a shadow game - it was moving into the streets. And somewhere in that chaos, the Blood Prince was watching, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Kael wasn't sure who would get to him first - Veyra, the Red Fangs, or the thing with ember eyes.

All he knew was that the silent war had just turned loud.