By the time we reached the apartment, Seraphina's lips had almost no color left. Her steps grew shorter with every block. Each movement looked like it cost her something.
If she had been a full vampire, her blood would have handled this easily.
Her human side slowed everything down.
She was fragile.
For now.
I pushed the apartment door open with my shoulder and guided her inside.
She took one long look at the room. The narrow bed. The crooked wardrobe. The single chair and scuffed desk.
"This is your lair?" she asked. There was a faint smirk in her voice. "Impressive."
"I did not bring you here for luxury," I said. "Sit."
She complied, dropping onto the chair. The motion pulled at her wounds and made her hiss under her breath.
"You could have left those men to finish their work," she said quietly. "Hunters do not waste time on nobodies."
"You are not a nobody," I said. "That is your problem. And your use."
I went to the bathroom, took the small first aid kit from under the sink, and came back. Her eyes tracked each movement, sharp even through exhaustion. She did not trust me. That was sensible.
"You are oddly calm for someone who just picked a fight with three armed men," she said.
"I have had worse nights," I answered.
I cleaned the burns and cuts on her arms. She did not flinch, but her jaw tightened with each touch.
"Why were they after you?" I asked, though I already knew. Sometimes hearing the words mattered more than knowing them.
She stared at the peeling wallpaper.
"Because someone sold my name," she said. "Someone realized what I was. What I could become. Hunters pay good money for bloodlines they can drain and bottle."
Her mouth twisted.
"In the last place I stayed, they tried to cut the power out of my veins," she said. "It did not work. They got angry."
"You ran," I said.
"I killed one," she corrected. "Then I ran."
A small smile touched my lips.
"I see."
The system slid a quiet log across my vision.
[Kill confirmed: Seraphina Night][First blood before full awakening][Potential combat talent: Significant]
She noticed my expression change.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"That you are either very unlucky," I said, "or very valuable."
Her eyes narrowed.
"There it is," she said. "The price. What do you want?"
I closed the kit and set it on the desk.
"I want an empire," I said simply. "I want this city. I want the power that hides in its cracks. You are one piece in a very large puzzle."
"And what do I get?" she said.
"You get the chance to live," I said. "You get a place where hunters learn that crossing the threshold means they leave as corpses. You get a leader who will not sell your name for bounty money."
She laughed once. There was no joy in it.
"Why should I believe you?" she asked.
"You should not," I answered. "You should watch me. Then decide if my ambition is safer than their greed."
We held each other's gaze.
The system whispered.
[Choice point detected][Seraphina Night is ready for contract offer][Recommended: Oath of mutual interest. No binding yet. Trust based]
I extended my hand.
"Stay until you can walk without falling," I said. "Watch what I do to this city. If you like what you see, you stay longer. If you do not, you leave."
"No chains."
Her red eyes searched mine.
"No chains," she repeated in a low voice.
"Not for you," I said. "I reserve chains for people who betray me."
Something flickered in her expression then. Not fear.
Recognition.
She took my hand.
"Fine," she said. "I will watch. If you lie, I will drink you dry."
I smiled, and for the first time that night, it felt almost genuine.
"Deal."
The system chimed.
[First Follower recruited: Seraphina Night][Loyalty: 0][Interest: 60 percent][Potential: Extreme]
Another window opened.
[Faction created][Name: Empty][Population: 2]
I dismissed it.
Seraphina leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. The worst of the bleeding had stopped. The faint burn on her skin was already fading.
Her bloodline was working, even in this unstable form.
"So," she said, eyes still closed. "What happens now?"
I moved to the window and pushed the curtain aside. The city looked ordinary from here. Cars passing. Signs glowing. People walking. No one looking up to notice that something new had just been born above a convenience store.
"Now," I said, "I wait to see how my brother reacts to being humiliated in front of the entire city."
I let the curtain fall back into place.
"And I wait to see what Evelyn does with the fear she felt tonight."
Seraphina opened her eyes.
"The girl with the badge?" she asked.
"Yes."
"She smells like trouble," Seraphina said.
"She is trouble," I said. "That is why she will be useful."
I thought of Victor's eyes in the alley. Calm. Amused. Certain.
"And the vampires?" she asked.
"They are already watching," I said. "Good. I want them to."
The system gave a quiet update.
[Sin Points: 690][Fear index: 17 percent]
Progress.
The night stretched ahead, full of possibilities and knives.
Somewhere out there, Lucas was already scrambling to explain why he had knelt in front of me. Somewhere else, Evelyn was choosing between duty and the part of her that could not stop looking at me.
Above us, creatures like Victor Draven shifted in their thrones and turned their attention toward a single city.
My city.
Seraphina closed her eyes again and let her breathing even out.
I sat on the edge of the bed and let my mind move three, five, ten moves ahead.
This was the smallest my Dominion would ever be.
Two people in a cramped room.
By the time I was finished, this city, this country, this world would remember this place as the spot where everything began.
And when the retaliation came in the morning, as it always did, I would greet it with open arms.