The sun was higher in the sky by the time Kai stumbled into the kitchen, shirtless and flushed, one of Adrian's silk robes hanging from his frame like sin itself. He yawned, rubbing sleep from his eyes, the mark on his neck still red and raw.
Adrian was already at the counter, shirt unbuttoned, coffee in hand, watching him with that predator's gaze soft, possessive… dangerous.
"You look edible," Adrian murmured.
Kai smiled, padding over to steal a sip from his cup. "You already devoured me."
"Mmh. I might need seconds."
But even as the words passed his lips, Adrian's jaw twitched. There was a message blinking on his phone screen. Kai noticed the second Adrian turned it face-down.
A crack.
"You're hiding something," Kai said, voice too light to be casual.
Adrian didn't flinch. "I'm protecting you."
Another crack.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "We're doing that again?"
Adrian turned to him fully, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close. "You don't need to worry about what's outside this penthouse. Just trust me."
Kai stiffened slightly in his arms. "That's easy for you to say, Mr. Blood and Fangs Mafia Prince."
Adrian didn't smile. "There are… whispers. About your coven. And the vampires who helped the hunters last week. Someone's leaking information."
The chill swept over Kai instantly. "My people wouldn't do that."
Adrian looked away. "Wouldn't they?"
That crack grew deeper. Kai pulled away from his arms, the warmth of the morning gone like breath from a windowpane.
"You think I'm the leak?" he whispered, voice cracking like glass.
"No," Adrian said immediately. "But someone close to you is. And if I can't figure out who soon"
"What? You'll lock me up again?"
Silence.
"I can't lose you, Kai," Adrian said, barely audible. "But I can't lose this war either."
Another message buzzed. This time, Kai grabbed the phone first.
He read the name. Froze.
Lucien.
The vampire prince who'd once called Kai "pet." The same one Adrian swore was dead.
"You lied to me," Kai said, voice shaking. "He's alive."
Adrian stepped forward. "It's complicated."
"I trusted you," Kai snapped, eyes glassy. "And you trusted me until it got inconvenient."
Then he turned and walked out, robe billowing behind him like a ghost of something soft, now soured.
Adrian didn't stop him. Didn't beg. Just stood there in the echoing silence.
And the fracture spread.