Viktor's mind was a storm of thoughts, even as he struggled to focus on the glowing vial in Alex's hand.

"What does he mean, the technology of Blackthorne is child's play?" he wondered.

The words carried both shock and curiosity. Was Alex mocking them? Or revealing a truth far beyond what Viktor had imagined?

"Did the Blackwoods develop this?" he questioned silently, brow furrowed. "Are they really that far ahead?"

The implications were staggering. If this came from Blackwood... if their reach and mastery of such technology were true... then Viktor had to reconsider everything he thought he knew about the House Blackwood.

As far as Viktor knew, the Blackwoods were not the aggressive type. They had always kept to themselves, distant and aloof, bound more by their ancient prophecy than by any hunger for conquest.

They did not interfere in the mundane world, not in the way the Blackthornes or the other Houses did.

That was what unsettled him most.

If this really came from them… why now? Why reveal such power at this moment?

His chest tightened... not just from the pain but from the gnawing uncertainty.

If the Blackwoods had truly advanced this far, then either they were preparing for something bigger… or the prophecy was beginning to move in ways none of them could control.

But even in awe, a spark of hope flared. "If they are capable of this… then maybe there's hope in the upcoming storm."

Despite the fatigue and the blood, despite the shadow of death hovering over him, Viktor's mind found a slender thread of strategy. Perhaps, even now, the tide could turn.

For the first time in days, Viktor felt something beyond despair. A fragile, dangerous hope.

***

Alex reached into his other pocket and withdrew a set of keys, setting them on Viktor's bedside table with a soft click.

"Along with your medicine," Alex said, "you'll need somewhere secure to recover. I've purchased a villa... isolated, private, with everything you'll need. The address is programmed into the key fob."

Viktor's eyes moved from the impossible vial to the keys, his mind struggling to process the magnitude of what was being offered.

"You bought us a house?" Pavel asked, his earlier anger replaced by stunned disbelief.

"I bought you safety," Alex corrected. "A place where you can heal without looking over your shoulders. No Sacred Order treaties, no family politics, no risk of discovery."

Damien picked up the keys, his hands trembling slightly. "This is... this is too much. The cost alone..."

"Is already paid," Alex said simply. "Along with your cooperation for the next two years, as agreed."

Viktor looked between the vial and the keys, understanding that this moment would define not just his fate, but the fate of all his men.

"Even if this works," Viktor said slowly, "even if it's everything you claim... drinking it goes against everything I know about medicine. If it doesn't work, if it's poison..."

"Then you die," Alex said with brutal honesty. "But you're already dying. The question is whether you want to die here, in this hospital bed, knowing you never tried... or whether you want to take the chance that might save you and your men."

The silence stretched unbearably.

Viktor's breathing grew more labored, another coughing fit wracking his frame. When it subsided, blood stained his lips darker than before.

"Time's running out," Damien whispered urgently.

Viktor's eyes met Alex's, and in that gaze Alex saw the weight of command, the burden of lives depending on a single decision.

"This is our last hope," Viktor said finally, his voice barely above a whisper.

He reached for the vial with shaking hands. Alex placed it carefully in his palm, the impossible light reflecting in Viktor's fevered eyes.

"Then let's see what miracles look like," Viktor whispered, and slowly raised the vial toward his lips.

The room held its breath as their commander prepared to drink liquid starlight, betting everything on the word of a young man who claimed to possess power beyond the Sacred Houses themselves.

Viktor paused, the vial inches from his lips, meeting Alex's gaze one final time.

"If this kills me," he said quietly, "you still honor the agreement with my men."

"If this kills you," Alex replied, "then I've learned something valuable about the limits of what I can actually do. But it won't kill you, Viktor. It's going to save you."

With that promise hanging in the air, Viktor tilted his head back and drank the liquid light.

The vial was empty in seconds, and Viktor's eyes closed as something that felt like fire and ice and electricity all at once coursed through his veins.

His men watched in breathless silence as their commander's breathing began to change, as color slowly returned to his ashen cheeks, as the impossible became reality in a cramped hospital room.

And Alex smiled, knowing he had just gained the loyalty of four very dangerous, very grateful men.

***

The afternoon had stretched endlessly as Linda sat by Nina's bedside, her eyes never straying far from the door. The hospital room felt different now... charged with anticipation and dangerous possibility .

Sarah was the first to voice what everyone was thinking.

"It's been almost an hour," she said gently, glancing at Lila. "Maybe we should get something to eat? Alex seems to be taking longer than expected."

Lila nodded eagerly, clearly hungry after their morning activities. "The cafeteria actually has decent food here. We could grab something and come back."

Danny looked up from where he'd been reading to Nina. "That's not a bad idea."

Mike stretched in his chair. "My stomach's been growling for the past twenty minutes."

Linda seized the opportunity with practiced maternal concern. "You should all go eat," she said, her voice warm and encouraging.

"I'll be right here if anything happens. Take your time... get proper meals, not just vending machine snacks."

"Are you sure, Mom?" Danny asked. "We could bring something back for you."

"I'm fine," Linda assured them, her pulse quickening at the thought of being alone when Alex arrived. "Just maybe grab me a sandwich for later. Go, enjoy yourselves."

As their voices faded down the corridor, Linda felt the familiar electricity of anticipation coursing through her veins. The room suddenly felt intimate, private... exactly what she'd been hoping for.

Her eyes fixed on the door with laser focus. Every footstep in the hallway made her heart race. Every shadow that passed by the frosted glass made her breath catch.

How will he enter? she wondered, her mind painting vivid scenarios. Will he smile when he sees me? Will he notice that I'm alone?

She imagined rising from her chair, crossing the room to greet him.

The excuse was already forming... she'd been so worried, so grateful he'd come, so emotionally overwhelmed by everything with Nina.

A perfectly reasonable explanation for any physical contact.

I could embrace him, she thought, heat pooling in her stomach. Just a simple hug between family friends. Nothing inappropriate. Nothing anyone could question.

But even as she planned the innocent gesture, her mind was already racing beyond it. The feel of his body against hers, the scent of his cologne, the warmth of his skin...

The door handle turned with a soft click, and Linda's entire world narrowed to that single point of focus.

Alex stepped through the doorway, and time seemed to slow. He looked exactly as she'd been imagining... strong, confident, devastatingly handsome in that effortless way that made her pulse race.

For a few seconds, they simply looked at each other across the small hospital room.

Linda felt her carefully planned composure begin to crumble under the weight of weeks of suppressed desire.

He's here. He's finally here.

Without conscious thought, Linda shot to her feet, her chair scraping against the floor.

Something in her expression must have triggered Alex's instincts, because she saw him tense slightly as she moved toward him. But there was no time for second thoughts, no time for rational consideration.

Linda crossed the room in quick strides, her body moving with desperate purpose. When she reached him, she didn't pause, didn't hesitate... she threw her arms around him with the force of weeks of pent-up longing.

"Mom, what..." Alex began, but his words were cut off as her weight pressed against him.

His enhanced reflexes kicked in automatically, his arms coming up to catch her, to support her as she pressed her face against his chest.

The familiar weight of her in his arms, the tremor in her body... it triggered his protective instincts even as warning bells rang in his mind.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?" Linda's voice was muffled against his shirt, but he could hear the tears beginning. "I was so worried... I thought you were angry that I was asking questions..."

Her lips found his cheek, pressing desperate kisses against his skin. "I thought you were avoiding me..."

Alex stood frozen, his mind racing to process what was happening. This wasn't the composed Linda he knew. This was someone breaking apart, someone whose carefully maintained boundaries were crumbling.

"Mom, hey, it's okay..." he started to say, but she pulled back to look at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears and something else... something that made his breath catch.

"I was so scared," she whispered. "I thought I'd lost you…"

Then... her mouth brushed the edge of his lips. Once. Twice. Too long to be a mistake.

And before he could react, she closed the distance.

Her lips claimed his... soft at first, trembling, almost pleading… then hungrier, urgent, her hand sliding to the back of his neck to keep him there.

His eyes flew wide. His hands hovered, caught between pushing her away and steadying her. His chest burned, his pulse hammering like he'd stepped off a cliff.

Linda pressed closer, every fiber of her body screaming possession, relief, hunger.

And then... like ice water flooding his veins... the realization struck. Alex went rigid, breath locked in his throat, horror crashing against the raw, forbidden spark he could not deny.

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