CHAPTER 115: CHAPTER 115: FOOTAGE

The attendants packed the last of the chosen ensembles with reverence, garments folded into lacquered cases as though they were relics. Elias remained where he stood, red socks still a mockery at his ankles, glasses glinting as he watched the silent choreography around him.

Victor rose only when the final case clicked shut, the black ring catching in the light with every unhurried movement. He adjusted the cuff of his jacket with the ease of a man who had already declared the day a victory. "We’re finished here," he said, and the attendants bowed like they’d been dismissed from a war council.

Elias tugged at the sleeve of the jacket he still wore, mouth pressing into a thin line. The suit was flawless, the fit obscene, but his silence carried more defiance than argument. He let Victor guide him out of the VVIP suite, his hand firm at the small of Elias’s back, a gesture that told the staff and the polished marble halls alike whose omega walked beside him.

The car was waiting at the curb, its engine a low purr that drowned the hum of the city. Adam moved smoothly to open the door, but Elias didn’t slide in immediately. His gaze swept once over the glittering storefronts, the faint reflection of himself in the glass: tailored, sharpened, branded.

Victor was already seated, crimson eyes tracking him with unbothered patience. "Satisfied?" he asked, voice velvet, smug.

Elias settled into the seat at last, shutting the door with a little more force than necessary. He folded his arms across his chest, turned his head toward the window, and said evenly, "Show me the video."

Victor’s mouth curved, indulgent. "I was wondering when you’d break the silence."

"I’m not playing your game," Elias said without looking at him. "Not after this circus." His glasses caught the reflection of passing light as the car pulled away. "You promised. I wore your flag, your rubies, and your brand. Now I want what you promised me. Matteo. The footage."

Victor swirled the ring on his finger once, a calculating motion. "So quick to cut through indulgence, Elias."

Elias finally turned his head, dark eyes sharp, voice low but steady. "I indulged you enough. Now it’s your turn."

Victor sighed, long and unhurried, the kind of sound that suggested he wasn’t conceding, only choosing to amuse. "You will see it at home." His gaze cut to the driver through the partition, voice crisp with command. "Take us back to the manor."

The driver gave a short nod, the car gliding into the avenue’s stream of traffic without hesitation.

Elias leaned back against the seat, jaw set, his reflection sharp in the tinted glass of the window. "You mean to tell me I’ve just survived red socks and rubies, only for you to delay on the one thing I asked for?"

Victor’s mouth curved, patient, predatory. "I don’t delay. I decide the timing. And you’ll thank me when you’re not watching corpses crawl across a screen in the back of a moving car."

Elias huffed, adjusting his glasses with a single sharp motion. "That’s not concern. That’s control."

Victor’s crimson eyes lingered on him, a glint of satisfaction in their depths. "Control is concern, when it’s mine."

Silence stretched, filled only by the muted hum of the engine. Elias didn’t answer right away, only folded his arms across his chest, the stubborn set of his shoulders saying enough.

Victor leaned back, one hand draped lazily over the armrest, the black stone of the ring catching stray light like a secret. "Be patient, Elias. You’ll have your truth soon enough. And when you see it, you’ll understand why I don’t waste it in transit."

Elias’s lips twitched, the faintest shadow of a laugh breaking through his irritation. "You’re insufferable."

Victor tilted his head, smile widening just enough to make it dangerous. "And your mate."

The rest of the ride passed in silence, thick but not empty. Elias kept his eyes fixed on the blur of streets sliding past the tinted glass, jaw tight, the bond humming with his irritation like a low current. Victor didn’t press. The smug satisfaction radiating off him was enough to fill the car.

By the time the gates of the manor opened and the car rolled up the sweeping drive, Elias had already unclasped his seat belt, ready to cut through whatever ceremony Victor intended to drag out. Adam moved to open the door, but Elias stepped out before he could, shoulders squared, stride brisk.

The grand doors opened for them without a touch, and staff lined neatly out of the way, eyes lowered. Elias ignored them all, his focus narrowed on one thing. "Where?" he asked flatly, not slowing his pace as Victor’s steps matched his own.

Victor’s hand brushed the small of his back, guiding without pressure but claiming nonetheless. "My study."

The word "my" caught like a burr, but Elias didn’t argue. His legs carried him through the marble halls, up the staircase, and into the quiet sanctum of Victor’s private rooms. The study was already lit, screens were waiting, and files were laid out with clinical precision on the long desk.

Victor dismissed Adam with a flick of his fingers, and the door clicked shut behind them. Silence settled again, broken only when Victor crossed to the desk and tapped the sleek console.

The screen flared alive.

Elias moved closer before Victor even gestured, his reflection caught in the glow. The footage began: grainy security feed, Matteo’s body lying motionless on the steel table. For a moment, Elias thought it would be nothing, just the quiet of a morgue, sterile and still.

Then, with horrifying casualness, the body sat up.

Elias’s breath stilled, the soundless jolt visible only in the sharp angle of his jaw. The corpse swung its legs over the side and stood, movements fluid, intentional. No dragging limbs, no stiffness. Just... walking.

The tracker’s signal pinged in the corner of the screen, blinking steadily as the figure crossed the frame and moved through the door like any other man.

Elias’s fingers tightened against the edge of the desk. His voice was even but too quiet. "That’s not resurrection. That’s control."

Victor leaned against the desk beside him, crimson eyes catching the shifting light of the feed. "Indeed."